Candidate for the position of Coordinator, Urban Parrots
Michael P. Braun, biologist PhD student Heidelberg University Institute of Pharmacy and Molecular Biotechnology Dep. Biology Im Neuenheimer Feld 364 69120 Heidelberg Germany
[email protected] At the IOC in Campos do Jordão (Brazil, 2010) I met Juan Masello, Don Brightsmith, Igor Berkunsky and Dominique Homberger and it was a great honour for me to be one of the founders of the Parrot Researcher’s group. Together with Roelant Jonker I have been Coordinator for the “Urban Parrot section” (formerly called “Extra-Tropical Region”) for the past years. We achieved to invent the first World Parrot Count WPC across the globe with more than 70 participants counting 70,000 individuals of 40 parrot species (both native and non-native populations). Therefore I am deeply grateful to everybody who participated. The aim of the WPC is to study the distribution of parrots in the cities around the globe, their success and failure. The results are intended to contribute to parrot conservation. We can use the knowledge e.g. for re-introduction programs of threatened species. Since 2003, I’ve been working with an introduced population of Psittacula krameri in Heidelberg, Germany. I’ve been ringing chicks and adults in nest boxes provided on buildings. I am studying chick development and several aspects on life history of this species. This is one of the few long-term studies on this species. Furthermore, I’m working on the genetics, especially phylogenetics of parrots in general. For my PhD (Michael Wink’s lab) I collected many DNA samples, especially from the Loro Parque parrot collection on Tenerife. I am very thankful to Mr. Kiessling, David Waugh and Matthias Reinschmidt that I was given this opportunity. Based on the DNA sequences I made studies on phylogeography of Australasian parrots, the molecular evolution of the genus Psittacula and parrots in general (on most parrot species available in captivity). Furthermore, I was involved in creating the bird-tracking Android app “AndroBird”. Beside the Parrot Researcher’s Group, I am involved in a recently founded EU-project called ParrotNet (leader is Jim Groombridge, UK). This network is working on the European parrot populations in cities, especially Psittacula krameri. My mother tongue is German, but I also speak English. Furthermore, I can read and speak French and Spanish. As I am still involved in parrot research, I enjoy being part of the research community and I am willing to cooperate with other research fields, I am looking forward to being coordinator for the “Urban Parrots”. All the best,
Michael P. Braun
Publications
Braun, M. & Reinschmidt, M. (2005). "Untersuchungen zum Neugierverhalten bei Papageien im Loro Parque." Gefiederte Welt: 81-83.
Braun, M. & Wegener, S. (2005). Verbreitung und Ökologie des Halsbandsittichs (Psittacula krameri Scopoli, 1769) in Heidelberg. Artenvielfalt in Heidelberg. D. Brandis, H. Hollert and V. Storch. Heidelberg, Selbstverlag Zool. Inst. Heidelberg: 227-231.
Braun, M. (2007). "Teneriffas Papageien." Papageien 7: 246-249.
Braun, M. (2007). "[How does thermal insulation on buildings – as a result of EU climate protection – affect the breeding biology of tropical Ring-necked Parakeets (Psittacula krameri) in temperate Central Europe?]." Ornithologische Jahreshefte Baden-Württemberg 23(2): 39-56.
Braun, M. & Wegener, S. (2008). "[It's not as bad as all that! The public perception of the Rose-ringed Parakeet in Heidelberg.]" Natur und Landschaft 9: 452-455.
Braun, M. (2009). "[Population development of the Ring-necked Parakeet (Psittacula krameri) in Europe, Germany, and the Rhine-Neckar Region (Germany: Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse), 1962-2008]." Vogelwelt 130(77-89).
Braun, M., Buyer, R. & Randler, C. (2010). "Cognitive and emotional evaluation of two educational outdoor programs dealing with non-native bird species." International Journal of Environmental and Science Education 5(2): 151-168.
Randler, C., Braun, M. & Lintker, S. (2010). "Foot preferences in wild living Ring-necked Parakeets (Psittacula krameri, Psittacidae)." Laterality.
Braun, M. S., Braun, M. & Wink, M. (2010). "Hohe Siedlungsdichte des Gartenrotschwanzes (Phoenicurus phoenicurus) und Brutdichte anderer ausgewählter Brutvogelarten im Handschuhsheimer Feld bei Heidelberg." Ornithologische Jahreshefte Baden-Württemberg.
Czajka, C., Braun, M. & Wink, M. (2011). "Resource use of non-native Ring-necked Parakeets (Psittacula krameri) and native Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) in Central Europe." The Open Ornithology Journal.
Braun, M., D. Franz & M. Schmolz (2011). "Ausbreitungstendenz nach Westen: Halsbandsittiche in Rheinland-Pfalz. ." Der Falke 58: 460-461.
Mettke-Hofmann, C., Wink, M., Braun, M., Winkler, H. (2012): Residency and a broad feeding spectrum are related to extensive spatial exploration in parrots. Behavioral Ecology: 1365-1371
Braun, M., Braun, A. & Heine, G. (2013): AndroBird – ein neues GPS-basiertes Erfassungssystem für Vögel, Amphibien und Reptilien für Android-Smartphones. Vogelwelt.
Braun, M. and M. Wink (2013). "Nestling Development of Ring-necked Parakeets (Psittacula krameri) in a Nest Box Population " The Open Ornithology Journal 6: 9-24.
