Behaviour-specific habitat selection patterns of breeding barn owls

Séchaud, Robin; Schalcher, Kim; Machado, Ana Paula; Almasi, Bettina; Massa, Carolina; Safi, Kamran; Roulin, Alexandre

doi:10.1186/s40462-021-00258-6

Cited by 22 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 52 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Advances in electronic tracking technologies have revolutionized our ability to monitor animal movements and behavior over extended periods of time in both terrestrial and aquatic environments. The use of radio, satellite, global positioning system (GPS), and acoustic tracking devices has expanded research on fundamental ecological topics, such as habitat requirements, dispersal, migratory routes, foraging, and home‐range characteristics (McIntyre et al, 2017 ; Powell et al, 2016 ; Séchaud et al, 2021 ; Snijders et al, 2014 ; Stanley et al, 2021 ). Each technology has strengths and limitations, and trade‐offs exist for current tracking systems depending on research questions and study species (Bridge et al, 2011 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimizing trilateration estimates for tracking fine‐scale movement of wildlife using automated radio telemetry networks

Paxton

Baker

Crytser

et al. 2022

Ecology and Evolution

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A major advancement in the use of radio telemetry has been the development of automated radio tracking systems (ARTS), which allow animal movements to be tracked continuously. A new ARTS approach is the use of a network of simple radio receivers (nodes) that collect radio signal strength (RSS) values from animal‐borne radio transmitters. However, the use of RSS‐based localization methods in wildlife tracking research is new, and analytical approaches critical for determining high‐quality location data have lagged behind technological developments. We present an analytical approach to optimize RSS‐based localization estimates for a node network designed to track fine‐scale animal movements in a localized area. Specifically, we test the application of analytical filters (signal strength, distance among nodes) to data from real and simulated node networks that differ in the density and configuration of nodes. We evaluate how different filters and network configurations (density and regularity of node spacing) may influence the accuracy of RSS‐based localization estimates. Overall, the use of signal strength and distance‐based filters resulted in a 3‐ to 9‐fold increase in median accuracy of location estimates over unfiltered estimates, with the most stringent filters providing location estimates with a median accuracy ranging from 28 to 73 m depending on the configuration and spacing of the node network. We found that distance filters performed significantly better than RSS filters for networks with evenly spaced nodes, but the advantage diminished when nodes were less uniformly spaced within a network. Our results not only provide analytical approaches to greatly increase the accuracy of RSS‐based localization estimates, as well as the computer code to do so, but also provide guidance on how to best configure node networks to maximize the accuracy and capabilities of such systems for wildlife tracking studies.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimizing trilateration estimates for tracking fine‐scale movement of wildlife using automated radio telemetry networks

Paxton

Baker

Crytser

et al. 2022

Ecology and Evolution

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This species is a farmland nocturnal raptor of medium size, that preys almost exclusively on small mammals 37 , 38 . It breeds in farms and barns, and hunts preferentially in extensive open habitats, such as meadows and wildflower strips 39 – 42 . However, it can also exploit more intensive habitats, like grasslands and cereal crops, but shows a strong avoidance for forests and urbanized areas 40 – 42 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Home range size and habitat quality affect breeding success but not parental investment in barn owl males

Séchaud

Schalcher

Almasi

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Life-history theory predicts that parents should balance their limited resources to maximize lifetime fitness, limiting their investment in current reproduction when the fitness value of current progeny is lower than that gained by producing offspring in the future. Here, we examined whether male barn owls (Tyto alba) breeding in low-quality habitats increased their parental effort to successfully complete offspring rearing or limited their investment by paying a fitness cost while saving energy for the future. We equipped 128 males with GPS devices between 2016 and 2020 to collect information on home range size, habitat composition, food provisioning rate to the brood and nightly distances covered. We also recorded nestlings’ growth and survival, as well as males’ body mass variation and future reproductive success. Males living in lower-quality habitats exploited bigger home ranges compared to individuals whose nests were settled in prey-rich habitats. They fed their brood less frequently, while covering longer nightly distance, resulting in a slower growth of late-hatched nestlings and ultimately in a lower fledging success. As males did not differ in body mass variation or future reproductive success our findings suggest that males hunting in home ranges with less prey-rich structures do not jeopardize future reproduction by investing disproportionately larger resources to compensate for their current low home range quality.

show abstract

“…Although birds in both the CPF and commuter group exhibited central place foraging behavior, their foraging movements occurred over markedly different spatial and temporal scales; the commuters specifically made full day (median ~ 6 h) movements between their roost sites and geographically distinct foraging areas, as is typical of commuting species [ 15 ], whereas the CPF group typically made shorter movements (median ~ 0.7 h). Commuting behavior is common in seabirds, waterbirds, wading birds, and owls [ 13 , 14 , 16 , 93 , 94 ]; however, this study is the first to document commuting behavior in a nectarivorous bird, to the best of our knowledge. Though commuting behavior is not usually observed in small passerines (but see [ 95 ]), it is still unknown whether this behavior is uncommon, or just poorly documented due to logistical constraints in tracking.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Individual and seasonal variation in the movement behavior of two tropical nectarivorous birds

Smetzer

Paxton

2021

Mov Ecol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Movement of animals directly affects individual fitness, yet fine spatial and temporal resolution movement behavior has been studied in relatively few small species, particularly in the tropics. Nectarivorous Hawaiian honeycreepers are believed to be highly mobile throughout the year, but their fine-scale movement patterns remain unknown. The movement behavior of these crucial pollinators has important implications for forest ecology, and for mortality from avian malaria (Plasmodium relictum), an introduced disease that does not occur in high-elevation forests where Hawaiian honeycreepers primarily breed. Methods We used an automated radio telemetry network to track the movement of two Hawaiian honeycreeper species, the ʻapapane (Himatione sanguinea) and ʻiʻiwi (Drepanis coccinea). We collected high temporal and spatial resolution data across the annual cycle. We identified movement strategies using a multivariate analysis of movement metrics and assessed seasonal changes in movement behavior. Results Both species exhibited multiple movement strategies including sedentary, central place foraging, commuting, and nomadism , and these movement strategies occurred simultaneously across the population. We observed a high degree of intraspecific variability at the individual and population level. The timing of the movement strategies corresponded well with regional bloom patterns of ‘ōhi‘a (Metrosideros polymorpha) the primary nectar source for the focal species. Birds made long-distance flights, including multi-day forays outside the tracking array, but exhibited a high degree of fidelity to a core use area, even in the non-breeding period. Both species visited elevations where avian malaria can occur but exhibited little seasonal change in elevation (< 150 m) and regularly returned to high-elevation roosts at night. Conclusions This study demonstrates the power of automated telemetry to study complex and fine-scale movement behaviors in rugged tropical environments. Our work reveals a system in which birds can track shifting resources using a diverse set of movement behaviors and can facultatively respond to environmental change. Importantly, fidelity to high-elevation roosting sites minimizes nocturnal exposure to avian malaria for far-ranging individuals and is thus a beneficial behavior that may be under high selection pressure.

show abstract

Behaviour-specific habitat selection patterns of breeding barn owls

Cited by 22 publications

References 52 publications

Optimizing trilateration estimates for tracking fine‐scale movement of wildlife using automated radio telemetry networks

Optimizing trilateration estimates for tracking fine‐scale movement of wildlife using automated radio telemetry networks

Home range size and habitat quality affect breeding success but not parental investment in barn owl males

Individual and seasonal variation in the movement behavior of two tropical nectarivorous birds

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About