Research interests

I am currently running a project, financed by the Swedish Energy Agency and the energy companies Vattenfall and Statkraft, on the effects of wind power exploitation on the habitat use and reproductive success of golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos). Using satellite telemetry, adult and juvenile eagles on territories close to planned wind farms will be compared before and after wind power exploitation and with eagles on territories at unexploited sites.

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

My earlier research has 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. More recently, I have become more interested in how birds of prey in boreal Scandinavia are affected by climate change.

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