[1] The Max Planck Institute for Behavioural Physiology was inaugurated in Seewiesen in 1958 under the direction of Erich von Holst and the later Nobel Prize winner Konrad Lorenz.

[2] The Max Planck Institute is a member of the European Union for Bird Ringing (EURING).

[2] In 1999, the Max Planck Institute for Behavioural Physiology closed down and became the research unit for Ornithology of the Max Planck Society by making the departments of Eberhard Gwinner (Andechs) and Peter Berthold at the ornithological station in Radolfzell independent.

[2] Until June 2019, the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology had a branch in Radolfzell on Lake Constance and in Konstanz, with the directors Margaret Crofoot, Martin Wikelski and Iain Couzin.

It has been especially designed for the investigation of aerodynamic aspects and allows the researchers to observe and record animals in flight in a flying section.