From 2011 to 2017, I worked at the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research as a PhD-student under supervision of Theunis Piersma and Jan van Gils. I studied the behaviour of red knots at the Banc d'Arguin in Mauritania. Banc d'Arguin is an intertidal ecosystem, and one of the few places in the world where red knots can find enough food to make it through the winter. They do so by searching the mudflats for bivalves, snails, shrimps and seagrass rhizomes during low tide.
I studied how red knots decide what they want to eat, and how they search for it. Why do they like some bivalves, and refuse to eat others? Why do they go to the same places all the time, and why don't all birds go to the same kind of places? |
Research articles
Changes in the waterbird community of the Parc National du Banc d’Arguin, Mauritania, 1980–2017
Thomas Oudman, Hans Schekkerman, Amadou Kidee, Marc van Roomen, Mohamed Camara, Cor Smit, Job ten Horn, Theunis Piersma, El-Hacen Mohamed El-Hacen
(2020) Bird Conservation International 1-16
Thomas Oudman, Hans Schekkerman, Amadou Kidee, Marc van Roomen, Mohamed Camara, Cor Smit, Job ten Horn, Theunis Piersma, El-Hacen Mohamed El-Hacen
(2020) Bird Conservation International 1-16
Resource landscapes explain contrasting patterns of aggregation and site fidelity by red knots at two wintering sites
Thomas Oudman, Theunis Piersma, Mohamed V. Ahmedou Salem, Marieke E. Feis, Anne Dekinga, Sander Holthuijsen, Job ten Horn, Jan A. van Gils and Allert I. Bijleveld
(2018) Movement Ecology 6:24.
Thomas Oudman, Theunis Piersma, Mohamed V. Ahmedou Salem, Marieke E. Feis, Anne Dekinga, Sander Holthuijsen, Job ten Horn, Jan A. van Gils and Allert I. Bijleveld
(2018) Movement Ecology 6:24.
Food web consequences of an evolutionary arms race: molluscs subject to crab predation on intertidal mudflats in Oman are unavailable to shorebirds
Roeland A. Bom, Jimmy de Fouw, Raymond H.G. Klaassen, Theunis Piersma, Marc S.S. Lavaleye, Bruno J. Ens, Thomas Oudman & Jan A. van Gils
(2018) Journal of Biogeography 45:342–354.
Roeland A. Bom, Jimmy de Fouw, Raymond H.G. Klaassen, Theunis Piersma, Marc S.S. Lavaleye, Bruno J. Ens, Thomas Oudman & Jan A. van Gils
(2018) Journal of Biogeography 45:342–354.
Marine biorhythms: bridging chronobiology and ecology
Martin Bulla, Thomas Oudman, Allert I. Bijleveld, Theunis Piersma & Charalambos P. Kyriacou
(2017) Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 327: 20160253.
Martin Bulla, Thomas Oudman, Allert I. Bijleveld, Theunis Piersma & Charalambos P. Kyriacou
(2017) Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 327: 20160253.
Diet preferences as the cause of individual differences rather than the consequence
Thomas Oudman, Allert I. Bijleveld, Marwa M. Kavelaars, Anne Dekinga, John Cluderay, Theunis Piersma & Jan A, van Gils
(2016) Journal of Animal Ecology 85: 1378-1388.
Thomas Oudman, Allert I. Bijleveld, Marwa M. Kavelaars, Anne Dekinga, John Cluderay, Theunis Piersma & Jan A, van Gils
(2016) Journal of Animal Ecology 85: 1378-1388.
The effect of digestive capacity on the intake rate of toxic and non-toxic prey in an ecological context
Thomas Oudman, Vincent Hin, Anne Dekinga & Jan A. van Gils
(2015) PLoS ONE 10: e0136144
Thomas Oudman, Vincent Hin, Anne Dekinga & Jan A. van Gils
(2015) PLoS ONE 10: e0136144
Structurally complex seagrass obstructs the sixth sense of a specialized avian molluscivore
Jimmy de Fouw, Tjisse van der Heide, Thomas Oudman, Leo R.M. Maas & Theunis Piersma
(2015) Animal Behaviour 115: 55-67.
Jimmy de Fouw, Tjisse van der Heide, Thomas Oudman, Leo R.M. Maas & Theunis Piersma
(2015) Animal Behaviour 115: 55-67.
Digestive capacity and toxicity cause mixed diets in red knots that maximize energy intake rate
Thomas Oudman, Jeroen Onrust, Jimmy de Fouw, Bernard Spaans, Theunis Piersma and Jan A. van Gils
(2014) American Naturalist 183: 650-659.
Thomas Oudman, Jeroen Onrust, Jimmy de Fouw, Bernard Spaans, Theunis Piersma and Jan A. van Gils
(2014) American Naturalist 183: 650-659.
Fijnmazige positiebepaling van individuen in groepen: de principes en drie toepassingen van TOA-tracking
Theunis Piersma, Robert B. MacCurdy, Rich M. Gabrielson, John Cluderay, Anne Dekinga, Eric L. Spaulding, Thomas Oudman, Jeroen Onrust, Jan A. van Gils, David W. Winkler & Allert I. Bijleveld
(2014) Limosa 87: 156-167 (not peer-reviewed)
Theunis Piersma, Robert B. MacCurdy, Rich M. Gabrielson, John Cluderay, Anne Dekinga, Eric L. Spaulding, Thomas Oudman, Jeroen Onrust, Jan A. van Gils, David W. Winkler & Allert I. Bijleveld
(2014) Limosa 87: 156-167 (not peer-reviewed)
Red Knot diet reconstruction revisited: context dependence revealed by experiments at Banc d'Arguin, Mauritania
Jeroen Onrust, Jimmy de Fouw, Thomas Oudman, Matthijs van der Geest & Theunis Piersma
(2013) Bird Study 60: 298-307.
Jeroen Onrust, Jimmy de Fouw, Thomas Oudman, Matthijs van der Geest & Theunis Piersma
(2013) Bird Study 60: 298-307.
Toxin constraint explains diet choice, survival and population dynamics in a molluscivore
shorebird
Jan A. van Gils, Matthijs van der Geest, Jutta Leyrer, Thomas Oudman, Tamar Lok, Jeroen Onrust, Jimmy de Fouw, Tjisse van der Heide, Piet J. van den Hout, Bernard Spaans, Anne Dekinga, Maarten Brugge & Theunis Piersma
(2013) Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 280: 20130861.
shorebird
Jan A. van Gils, Matthijs van der Geest, Jutta Leyrer, Thomas Oudman, Tamar Lok, Jeroen Onrust, Jimmy de Fouw, Tjisse van der Heide, Piet J. van den Hout, Bernard Spaans, Anne Dekinga, Maarten Brugge & Theunis Piersma
(2013) Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 280: 20130861.
