The breeding bird fauna of the Sulzkaralm

On the Sulzkaralm almost all typical species of this altitude could be observed. Compared to the other alpine pastures studied in 2004, there are no observations of Auerhuhn, Haselhuhn, Cuckoo, Steinschmätzer and Turmfalke. The cuckoo was found only on the Scheucheggalm and is rare in the area. The stone scabber also occurs only in very low densities in the Gesäuse. The tower falcon can be expected as a food guest in the upper areas of the alpine pasture (e.g. Brunnkar, Brunnet). The absence of the tree pie is surprising, as the loose trees and open forest areas should provide ideal habitats. At the beginning of June, a singing male could be observed in the area of the former red deer feeding, which could no longer be confirmed in the course of grid mapping. In Lentner (2001), the appearance of the tree pieper was limited to areas below the forest boundary. On the other hand, the mountain pieper on the Sulzkaralm could only be detected in the upper, i.e. south-western part of the alpine pasture, especially on the most moderately intensive grazing areas. Probably the absence of the tree pieper and the distribution of the mountain pieper are related to the increased eutrophication of the areas and, above all, the intensive grazing of the central part of the alpine pasture. The decline of the mountain pieper is also attributed to increasing eutrophication in the Swiss Mittelland. The current distribution and the different settlement densities of the tree pieper are likely to be related to the quantities of fertiliser. For an explanation with climate data, there are no indications for both species (GLUTZ VON Botzheim, U. N. 2000). Lentner (2001) describes the mountain pieper as the dominant species of alpine pastures above 1 500 m, with grazing intensity likely to play an essential role in the density of the deposit.