Dutch owl researcher Marjon Savelsberg wins award for owl vocalization studies
Marjon Savelsberg, a Maastricht-based owl researcher, will receive the Special Achievement Award on Saturday at the International Festival of Owls in Houston, Minnesota, for her contributions to owl research worldwide. The award grants her a place in the World Owl Hall of Fame.
Savelsberg, who has studied owls for 15 years, has become an international authority on Eurasian Eagle Owl vocalizations. Using her musically trained ear, she can identify individual owls by their calls and interpret the meaning of their vocalizations related to behavior, territory, and social interactions. She combines near-daily field observations with sound recordings to study owls in the Sint-Pietersberg nature reserve, home to Eurasian Eagle Owls and Tawny Owls.
“I can identify individual birds by their calls and have observed mate replacement, juveniles mooching food from unrelated adults, and evidence of non-native raccoons killing recently fledged owls,” Savelsberg said in a press release.
She also provides expertise on habitat management and oversees media productions involving the owls. Her research has been featured on television, radio, newspapers, and in Jennifer Ackerman’s What an Owl Knows.
Savelsberg’s work began when health issues derailed her music career at Zuyd University of Applied Sciences. She discovered owl cameras and realized her auditory skills were ideal for studying Great Horned Owls in Minnesota, which she monitored remotely. Fieldwork in Maastricht followed, often conducted on a mobility scooter.
