Theodor Mebs

Theodor Mebs, 2009

Theodor "Theo" Mebs (born March 8, 1930 in Würzburg , † July 24, 2017 in Castell ) was a German ornithologist and author . In particular, he dealt with birds of prey and owls .

Life

parents house

Theodor Mebs was the son of pastors Gertrud and Rudolf Mebs (1896–1975), since 1929 dean of the Lower Franconian deanery district of Castell.

childhood and education

Mebs discovered his passion for ornithology as a child, inspired by reading Otto Kleinschmidt's work The Birds of Prey in the Homeland . His ornithological observations and information, which he collected immediately after the end of the war, he recorded in diaries. From autumn 1946 he attended the New Gymnasium (now Franz-Ludwig-Gymnasium Bamberg ) in Bamberg after a year and a half school break caused by the war . After graduating from high school, he studied biology , chemistry and geography at the Otto Friedrich University of Bamberg , the Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg and the Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich from 1949 to 1954 . The ornithologist Gerd Diesselhorst encouraged him to do his dissertation in Munich in 1957 .

Professional and literary work

In 1960, through Heinz Brüll , he received a teaching position as a landscape science teacher at the short school in the manor house of Gut Weißenhaus in the Ostholstein district and worked as such for ten years. In 1964 he was at the Faculty of Natural Sciences in Munich with his work Investigations on the biology and population dynamics of the common buzzard (Buteo buteo): With special consideration of the dependence on the mass change of the field mouse (Microtus arvalis) to the Dr. rer. nat. PhD. The work was published in the Journal of Ornithology . His first book was also published in 1964 by Franckh-Kosmos- Verlag in Stuttgart .

In January 1970 he became a research associate at the ornithological station in North Rhine-Westphalia in Altenhundem , which later had its headquarters in Essen and in 1975 as a specialist area "Applied ornithology (bird sanctuary)" at the Recklinghauser State Institute for Ecology, Landscape Development and Forest Planning (LÖLF; now Division 24 of the LANUV ). In 1974 he was able to achieve the introduction of individual labeling of birds of prey and owls in captivity. In 1978 he followed Wilfried Przygodda (1916–1991) as head of the department. He initiated the nationwide establishment of ten state-sponsored care and reconciliation stations for injured and confiscated, illegally kept birds of prey and owls. His conservation efforts also applied to other endangered bird species.

On March 31, 1995, Mebs retired and settled back in his homeland, where he resided in Castell. He died at the age of 87, leaving behind his wife Anna Mebs geb. Arndt (married 1963), four children and several grandchildren. His Kosmos nature guides appeared in several editions and were also translated.

Association activities

Mebs was a member of the Westphalian Ornithologists Society (WOG), which merged in 1998 with the Society of Rhenish Ornithologists (GRO) to form the North Rhine-Westphalian Ornithologists Society (NWO), and in the WOG from January 1972 to 1997 as "Committee Leader Birds of Prey" in the extended board and from 1981 to 1995 also active as treasurer on the executive board. In addition, he headed the working group, which was combined in 1979 from the “working groups of birds of prey” of the WOG and the GRO, which made a decisive contribution to the fact that no birds of prey may be hunted in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Honors

He was an honorary member of the NWO and the Ornithological Society in Bavaria (OG Bayern). In addition, he received the NWO Prize 2014 for his scientific work on birds of prey and owls as well as his extraordinary services to protect birds of prey in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Publications (selection)

Birds of prey in Europe and the basics of falconry . Franckh, Stuttgart 1964 [1. Ed.].
Owls and owls. Strigidae . Franckh, Stuttgart 1968 [1. Ed.].
Water birds of Europe. Franckh, Stuttgart 1970 [1. Ed.].
with Wolfgang Fischer : The birds of prey of the earth. A systematic and biological consideration. Kurth Verlag, Barmstedt 1976.
with Hans-Peter Bögel (Erz.); Jean C. Roché (sound recording): The voices of the birds of prey and owls of Europe. Calls u. Chants; 2 hours of listening experience. Franckh, Stuttgart 1989.
with Wolfgang Scherzinger : The Owls of Europe. Biology, characteristics, stocks. Kosmos, Stuttgart 2000 [1. Ed.].
with Daniel Schmidt : The birds of prey in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Biology, characteristics, stocks. Kosmos, Stuttgart 2006 [1. Ed.].

literature

Robert Pfeifer: Obituary. In memoriam Dr. Theodor Mebs. March 8, 1930 - July 24, 2017. on ZOBODAT
Daniel Schmidt-Rothmund: Dr. Theodor Mebs (1929-2017). In: Annual Report 2017. Working Group Peregrine Falcon Protection Baden-Württemberg in the NABU BAG Peregrine Falcon Protection, 2017, pp. 26-27. ( PDF )
Jürgen H. Eylert: Selected, experienced and remembered about Dr. Theodor Mebs - some comments from a personal point of view. In: Charadrius 46, Heft 1–2, 2010, pp. 8–9.

Web links

Commons : Theodor Mebs - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Literature by and about Theodor Mebs in the bibliographic database WorldCat

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b obituary notice at inFranken.de
↑ ^a ^b ^c Jochen Wiesner and Martin Lindner: Dr. Theodor Mebs - 80 years. German Working Group for the Protection of Owls (AG Eulen), 2010.
↑ ^a ^b ^c Bernd Conrad: Thanks to Theodor Mebs on the occasion of his 80th year of life. Contribution to: Charadrius 46, Heft 1–2, NWO, 2010.
↑ My sponsors. In: The author Dr. Theodor Mebs (March 8, 1930 - July 24, 2017) on the website bruno-baer.net by Michael Gengler; taken from the manuscript of the lecture by Dr. Theo Mebs on November 5, 2006 at the annual meeting of the working group on birds of prey in North Rhine-Westphalia.
^ Theodor Mebs: Studies on the biology and population dynamics of the common buzzard (Buteo buteo). With special consideration of the dependence on the mass change of the field mouse (Microtus arvalis). In: Journal für Ornithologie , Vol. 105. H. 3 (1964), pp. 248-306.
↑ Robert Pfeifer; Wolfgang Scherzinger: New honorary member: Dr. Theodor Mebs . In: Ornithologischer Anzeiger , Volume 49, G Bayern, 2010, p. 73.
↑ NWO Prize 2014 to Dr Theodor Mebs. In: Charadrius 50, Heft 1, NWO, 2014, pp. 103-104. ({ http://www.nw-ornithologen.de/images/textfiles/nwopreis/NWO_Preis_2014_Mebs.pdf PDF})

personal data
SURNAME	Mebs, Theodor
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Mebs, Theo (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German ornithologist and author
DATE OF BIRTH	March 8, 1930
PLACE OF BIRTH	Wurzburg
DATE OF DEATH	July 24, 2017
Place of death	Castell

[Traueranzeige-1] tuary notice at inFranken.de

[AG_Eulen-2] Jochen Wiesner and Martin Lindner: Dr. Theodor Mebs - 80 years. German Working Group for the Protection of Owls (AG Eulen), 2010.

[Bernd_Conrad-3] Bernd Conrad: Thanks to Theodor Mebs on the occasion of his 80th year of life. Contribution to: Charadrius 46, Heft 1–2, NWO, 2010.

[4] My sponsors. In: The author Dr. Theodor Mebs (March 8, 1930 - July 24, 2017) on the website bruno-baer.net by Michael Gengler; taken from the manuscript of the lecture by Dr. Theo Mebs on November 5, 2006 at the annual meeting of the working group on birds of prey in North Rhine-Westphalia.

[5] Theodor Mebs: Studies on the biology and population dynamics of the common buzzard (Buteo buteo). With special consideration of the dependence on the mass change of the field mouse (Microtus arvalis). In: Journal für Ornithologie , Vol. 105. H. 3 (1964), pp. 248-306.

[6] Robert Pfeifer; Wolfgang Scherzinger: New honorary member: Dr. Theodor Mebs . In: Ornithologischer Anzeiger , Volume 49, G Bayern, 2010, p. 73.

[7] NWO Prize 2014 to Dr Theodor Mebs. In: Charadrius 50, Heft 1, NWO, 2014, pp. 103-104. ({ http://www.nw-ornithologen.de/images/textfiles/nwopreis/NWO_Preis_2014_Mebs.pdf PDF})