Projects per year
Personal profile
Research expertise
Wouter Courtens has been working as an ornithologist in the seabird team of the Institute for Nature and Forest Research (INBO) since 2003. This team studies the occurrence of seabirds at sea and the influence of human activities (such as wind turbines, oil pollution and plastics) and food availability on seabird populations. The research also includes the monitoring of coastal breeding birds (such as gulls and terns) and of the population dynamics, food ecology and habitat use of these species. Initially these were mainly Belgian projects, but in the meantime a lot of research is being done in the Netherlands as well. Wouter also has extensive expertise in breeding bird monitoring, including long-term projects around meadow, marsh and reed birds.
Policy
- Birds Directive
- protected Flemish nature
- special areas of conservation
- Natura 2000
- conservation goals
Geographic List
- Belgium
- Zeeland
- Europe
- West Flanders
Technological
- identification
- fieldwork (observations and sampling)
- statistics and modelling
VODS 2023
- Ecology not elsewhere classified
- Zoological medicine
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- 1 Similar Profiles
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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NID4BirdLIFE
Stienen, E. (Project leader), Courtens, W. (Cooperator), Daelemans, R. (Cooperator), Desmet, P. (Cooperator), Milotic, T. (Cooperator), Van De Walle, M. (Cooperator), Verstraete, H. (Cooperator) & Vijncke, P. (Cooperator)
1/10/24 → 31/12/30
Project: Evinbo
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MONELIA - Monitoring seabirds on the Elia energy island (EVINBO)
Stienen, E. (Project leader), Courtens, W. (Cooperator), Daelemans, R. (Cooperator), Vanermen, N. (Cooperator) & Verstraete, H. (Cooperator)
1/01/24 → 31/12/28
Project: Evinbo
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Flanders Ecosystem Accounting (FLEA)
Van Reeth, W. (Project leader), Adriaens, T. (Cooperator), Alaerts, K. (Cooperator), Courtens, W. (Cooperator), D'hondt, B. (Cooperator), De Keersmaeker, L. (Cooperator), De Saeger, S. (Cooperator), De Vos, B. (Cooperator), Dochy, O. (Cooperator), Dumortier, M. (Cooperator), Heremans, S. (Cooperator), Jacobs, S. (Cooperator), Lettens, S. (Cooperator), Leyman, A. (Cooperator), Leyssen, A. (Cooperator), Maebe, K. (Cooperator), Michels, H. (Cooperator), Onkelinx, T. (Cooperator), Oosterlynck, P. (Cooperator), Packet, J. (Cooperator), Petersen, F. (Cooperator), Peymen, J. (Cooperator), Provoost, S. (Cooperator), Spanhove, T. (Cooperator), Stevens, M. (Cooperator), Thomaes, A. (Cooperator), Van Calster, H. (Cooperator), Van Gossum, P. (Cooperator), Van Landuyt, W. (Cooperator), Vandekerkhove, K. (Cooperator), Vanden Borre, J. (Cooperator), Vandevoorde, B. (Cooperator), Vanhellemont, M. (Cooperator), Vught, I. (Cooperator) & Wils, C. (Cooperator)
23/11/23 → 20/07/26
Project: own initiative (position paper)
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Ecological advice and monitoring coastal breeding birds Zeebrugge-Heist (EVINBO)
Stienen, E. (Project leader), Courtens, W. (Cooperator), Van De Walle, M. (Cooperator), Vanermen, N. (Cooperator) & Verstraete, H. (Cooperator)
1/03/23 → 1/03/26
Project: Evinbo
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PhD - Rise and demise of a marine top predator - Population dynamics and feeding ecology of the Sandwich Tern.
Courtens, W. (Project leader) & Stienen, E. (Cooperator)
1/03/23 → 30/01/28
Project: PhD
Research output
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Effecten van predatie op populaties van grondbroedende akker- en weidevogels en hoe mogelijk negatieve effecten te remediëren: Literatuurstudie
Baert, K., Casaer, J., Courtens, W., D'hondt, B., Devos, K., Dochy, O., Faveyts, W., Gouwy, J., Huysentruyt, F., Jansen, J., Lathouwers, M., Petersen, F., Rutten, A., Scheppers, T., Spanoghe, G. & Steen, F., 2025, Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek. (Rapporten van het Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek; no. 21)Research output: Book/Report › Reports of Research Institute for Nature and Forest
Open AccessFile501 Downloads (Pure) -
Monitoringsrapport Kustbroedvogels voorhaven van Zeebrugge en SBZ-V Kustbroedvogels 2024
Van De Walle, M., Courtens, W., Verstraete, H. & Stienen, E., 2025, Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek. 48 p. (Rapporten van het Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek; no. 2)Research output: Book/Report › Reports of Research Institute for Nature and Forest
Open AccessFile32 Downloads (Pure) -
Samenvatting van de staat van het marien milieu
De Cauwer, K., Courtens, W., De Witte, B., De Schrijver, C. (Editor), Degraer, S., Deneudt, K., Desmidt, J., Desmit, X., Devos, K., Everaert, G., Francken, F., Haelters, J., Hostens, K., Kapasakali, D., Kerckhof, F., Kerkhove, T., Kint, L., Knockaert, M., Lagaisse, R. & LeGrand, S. & 23 others, , 2025, Mariene Strategie Deel 1 voor de Belgische mariene wateren: Staat van Belgische mariene wateren, goede milieutoestand en milieudoelen. Kaderrichtlijn Mariene Strategie - Artikel 8, 9 en 10.. Federale Overheidsdienst Volksgezondheid, Veiligheid van de Voedselketen en Leefmilieu, p. 10-60 51 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Contribution to a report not published by INBO
Open AccessFile223 Downloads (Pure) -
Vogelgriep en Grote Sterns: Impact op grootte en dynamica van de NW-Europese populatie
Courtens, W., Feb-2025. 62 p.Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper/Powerpoint/Abstract
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2024: Een topjaar voor sterns in Zeebrugge
Stienen, E., Courtens, W. & Matheve, H., 19-Sept-2024Research output: Other contribution › Online publication - Web publication
Datasets
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Bird tracking - GPS tracking of Lesser Black-backed Gulls and Herring Gulls breeding at the southern North Sea coast
Stienen, E. (Creator), Desmet, P. (Data manager), Aelterman, B. (Contributor), Courtens, W. (Contributor), Feys, S. (Contributor), Vanermen, N. (Contributor), Verstraete, H. (Contributor) & Van De Walle, M. (Contributor), 18-Jun-2014
DOI: 10.15468/02omly
Dataset
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Photos and measurements of otoliths from fish caught in the southern part of the North Sea
Verstraete, H. (Creator), Courtens, W. (Creator), Daelemans, R. (Creator), Van De Walle, M. (Creator), Vanermen, N. (Creator), Desmet, P. (Creator) & Stienen, E. (Creator), Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek, 29-Oct-2020
Dataset