Biology background

My PhD, carried out at Umeå University, focused on the breeding ecology of Tengmalm’s owl (Aegolius funereus), in particular, brood sex ratios and sexual size dimorphism, and how this is related to the cyclic abundance of its prey. I am still involved with research on Tengmalm’s owls in Umeå.

Prior to working at SLU I worked for a regional government authority with recovery plans for endangered species and environmental monitoring in woodland and wetland habitats. I am interested in applied research on threatened species, and bridging the gap between scientific research and practical conservation.

Research group

Voles, predators, zoonoses (group leader Birger Hörnfeldt)


Research project

I currently work as acting project manager on a study on the ranging behaviour and habitat use of golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos). Wind farm development in northern Sweden potentially conflicts with golden eagles, but there is currently little ecological information on forest-living eagles, and this hinders environmental impact assessment. By marking and tracking golden eagles with GPS transmitters, this project will be able to advise the wind energy industry and statutory bodies on “eagle friendly” placement of wind farms. The project is financed by the Swedish Energy Agency’s Vindval programme, Vattenfall R&D AB and Statkraft Sverige AB, and is supported by the Swedish Golden Eagle Society.

Scientific publications

Hipkiss, T., Stefansson, O. & Hörnfeldt, B. (2008) Effect of cyclic and declining food supply on great grey owls in boreal Sweden. Canadian Journal of Zoology 86: 1426–1431. Link

Hipkiss, T. (2007) Can migrating Tengmalm’s owls Aegolius funereus be reliably sexed in autumn using simple morphometric measurements? Ringing and Migration 23: 201–204. Link

Hörnfeldt, B., Hipkiss, T. & Eklund, U. (2005) Fading out of vole and predator cycles? Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences 272: 2045–2049. Link

Hipkiss, T. & Hörnfeldt, B. (2004) High interannual variation in the hatching sex ratio of Tengmalm’s owl broods during a vole cycle. Population Ecology 46: 263–268. Link

Hipkiss, T. (2002) Sexual size dimorphism in Tengmalm’s owl (Aegolius funereus) on autumn migration. Journal of Zoology 257: 281–285. Link

Hipkiss, T., Hörnfeldt, B., Eklund, U. & Berlin, S. (2002) Year-dependent sex-biased mortality in supplementary-fed Tengmalm’s owl nestlings. Journal of Animal Ecology 71: 693–699. Link

Hipkiss, T., Hörnfeldt, B., Lundmark, Å., Norbäck, M. & Ellegren, H. (2002) Sex ratio and age structure of nomadic Tengmalm’s owls: a molecular approach. Journal of Avian Biology 33: 107–110. Link

Hörnfeldt, B., Hipkiss, T. & Eklund, U. (2001) Juvenile sex ratio in relation to breeding success in capercaillie Tetrao urogallus and black grouse T. Tetrix. Ibis 143: 627–631. Link

Hörnfeldt, B., Hipkiss, T., Fridolfsson, A.-K., Eklund, U. & Ellegren, H. (2000) Sex ratio and fledging success of supplementary-fed Tengmalm’s owl broods. Molecular Ecology 9: 187–192. Link