Birgit Fessl

Coordinator of the Galapagos Land Bird Conservation Plan

Birgit has been studying land birds on the Galapagos Islands for just over 20 years and has extensive experience in bird ecology, bird monitoring and host-parasite interactions with a special focus on the impact of the invasive bird nest parasite Philornis downsi.

Birgit led the "Protection and Recovery of Mangrove Finch Population" project from 2006 to 2009. In addition to population monitoring, she conducted nest predation studies and initiated, together with the GNPD, the control of the introduced rat (Rattus rattus) that is still going on. Birgit still offers technical support to the Project.

Since 2014, and in partnership with the Galapagos National Park Directorate, CDF ornithologists and collaborating scientists, Birgit has been coordinating priority actions outlined in the Land Bird Conservation Plan that includes the evaluation of the conservation status of land birds, the identification of the principal threats that some of these species are facing, the development of management actions and a citizen science component.

Articles

Advancing recovery of the Little Vermilion Flycatcher population on Santa Cruz, Galapagos

Press release.- Scientists from the Charles Darwin Foundation have reported that seven Little Vermilion Flycatcher chicks successfully fledged this year. These, plus eight fledglings from 2021 and...

Hope for the Little Vermilion Flycatcher on Santa Cruz Island

Press release.- For the second year running the Charles Darwin Foundation (CDF) and the Galapagos National Park Directorate (GNPD) report that new individuals of the Little Vermilion Flycatcher have...

Birds and Flies: A Conservation Challenge

Scientific knowledge about Galapagos land birds is imperative for their survival. How many land birds are there in Galapagos and where are they found? In which ways does the parasitic Philornis...

Galapagos Landbirds and Their Current Situation in the Archipelago

Galapagos landbirds welcome seven new species! Two former sub-species of the Vermilion Flycatcher are considered proper species, the Large Cactus Finch was split into the Genovesa Cactus Finch and...

New Findings About the Vermillion Flycatcher in Galapagos

Results of a phylogenetic study that used samples of the vermillion flycatcher from the museum collection of the California Academy of Sciences were published on the 24th of May 2016 in the journal...

Identifying Birds in Galapagos Has Never Been Easier with "BirdsEye Galápagos"

The Galapagos Landbird Conservation Program, conducted by the Charles Darwin Foundation (CDF) and the Galapagos National Park Directorate (GNPD), is developing strategies to monitor and assess the...

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The mission of the Charles Darwin Foundation and its Research Station is to tackle the greatest threats and challenges to Galapagos through scientific research and conservation action, in order to safeguard one of the world’s most important natural treasures.

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Contact

Av. Charles Darwin s/n, Puerto Ayora, Galápagos, Ecuador
(593) 5 2526-146 / 2527-013 Ext 101
Quito Office
Francisco Andrade Marín
E6-122 y Av. Eloy Alfaro
+593 (2) 2 231 174

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