Day and night use of habitats by northern pintails during winter in a primary rice-growing region of Iberia

Abstract

Loss of natural wetlands is a global phenomenon that has severe consequences for waterbird populations and their associated ecosystem services. Although agroecosystems can reduce the impact of natural habitat loss, drivers of use of such artificial habitats by waterbirds remain poorly understood. Using the cosmopolitan northern pintail Anas acuta as a model species, we monitored home-range and fine-scale resource selection across the agricultural landscape. Individuals were tracked using GPS-GSM transmitters, and a suite of environmental and landscape features were measured throughout the winter seasons. Spatial patterns of habitat use were analysed using generalized linear mixed effect models by integrating field-observations with GPS telemetry. All birds used rice fields as foraging grounds at night and commuted to an adjacent reservoir to roost during daylight. Home-ranges and maximum foraging distances of nocturnally foraging birds increased with decreasing availability of flooded fields, and were positively correlated with moonlight levels. Birds selected flooded rice paddies (water depth range: 9–21 cm) with standing stubble and substrate with pebbles smaller than 0.5 cm in diameter. Density of rice seeds, rice paddy size, and other environmental and landscape features did not emerge as significant predictors. Our findings indicate that nocturnal foraging of northern pintails within rice fields is driven primarily by straw manipulation, water level and substrate pebble size. Thus, the presence of standing stubble in flooded paddies with soft bottoms should be prioritized to improve foraging areas for dabbling ducks. These management procedures in themselves would not increase economic costs or affect rice production and could be applied for dabbling-duck conservation throughout the world.

Effect of wind farms on wintering ducks at an important wintering ground in China along the East Asian–Australasian Flyway

“…We excluded data from the first 7 days after marking to avoid any effects of capture and tagging (Kuang et al, 2019), and excluded records from the last 7 days before the departure date of the spring migration because of potentially different habitat use and behaviors before migration (Papers et al, 2008). We defined migration as all locations >50 km away from the study area, and/ or ducks moving in one direction at >20 km/hr (Chan et al, 2019).…”

Aspergillosis, Avian Species and the One Health Perspective: The Possible Importance of Birds in Azole Resistance

“…The presence of resident and migratory birds in plantation areas and their surroundings is very common. These areas serve both as feeding and resting grounds for many avian species, in large part due to the loss of their natural habitats, such as natural wetlands, on which waterbird species depend throughout their life cycle [ 166 ]. Most commonly, the presence of birds in cultivation areas results in conflict, with economic losses in agriculture, such as the case of wine grapes in single vineyards [ 167 ].…”

“…This is a potential route of exposure to azole resistant strains. The contamination of these environments can also occur through an alternative route: the migratory routes of birds is a potentially important route for the dispersion of resistant strains [ 166 , 179 ], as we will discuss next.…”

“…The transportation of pathogens from one crop field to another or to nature can occurs through their digestive tract (beak, gut microbiota and feces), legs, and feathers [ 180 , 185 , 194 , 195 ]. This dispersion can occur over short distances, such as from a foraging field to where the birds rest, or over large distances, as in the case of migratory birds ( Figure 4 ) [ 166 , 170 , 179 , 180 ]. For example, some birds such as Calidris alba (sanderling) migrate every year from the Artic region (where they breed in northern summer) to the southern hemisphere (where they feed during the northern winter), traversing from 3000 to 10,000 km twice a year.…”

Risk evaluation of onshore wind farms in relation to wild duck (Anatidae) movements in the Yangtze River Mouth, China

“…They are considered to be good environ-mental indicators, and form the primary focus of EIAs during risk evaluations for wind farms [25]. Although mortality rates of ducks are minimal throughout the world [14,23], they inhabit shallow, subtidal coastal regions and carry out local movements between foraging sites (inland artificial wetlands) and roosting sites (the intertidal zone) [32,33], which may overlap with onshore wind farms in coastal wetlands [17]. One study using direct observations in offshore areas showed that ducks had reduced the number of landings and flights in proximity to wind turbines [34].…”