Client: Wopfinger Transportbeton GmbH

Project Duration: 2025 (part of a long-term study since 1996)

Project Content:

The focus of this study is a long-term assessment of the Eurasian stone-curlew (Burhinus oedicnemus) population in the “Steinfeld” Special Protection Area (SPA), one of the most important distribution areas of the species in Austria, alongside the SPA “Sandboden und Praterterrasse” in the Marchfeld (Markgrafneusiedl and Untersiebenbrunn sub-areas). A particular emphasis is placed on gravel pits, which serve as unique habitats providing crucial breeding sites for ground-nesting birds such as the stone-curlew and the Northern wheatear, as well as for cavity-nesting species such as the sand martin and the European bee-eater.

The surveys and reporting for the year 2025 in the Steinfeld were conducted by TB Raab GmbH and funded by Wopfinger Transportbeton GmbH. The accompanying figure shows the survey points and observation sites from 2025, from which the stone-curlew territory for 2025 was derived.

Conservation efforts for the stone-curlew in the Steinfeld have been implemented since 1996, and successes were recorded in the interim. However, in recent years a decline in sightings has been observed, indicating that the situation for the species’ preservation in Austria is alarming. Against this background, the conservation concept for the Steinfeld is being revised to ensure the sustainable protection and further development of habitats for the stone-curlew and other valuable species.

A central measure involves a concept of purposefully created stone-curlew areas, combining suitable gravel pits as breeding habitats with extensively managed feeding habitats such as grazed dry grasslands. The long-term study thus makes an important contribution to scientifically sound and practice-oriented nature conservation.