In this paper we evaluate the effectiveness of GPS data loggers to study the spatial behaviour of the Stone-curlew during the breeding period. Two females were tagged in the Taro River Regional Park (Parma, Italy) in the autumn 2013 and were followed during the next breeding season. The birds reacted well to tagging and for both some breeding attempts were recorded and at least one resulted successful, as proved by the observation of one 7-10-days old chick in July 2014. Regarding the spatial behaviour, the pattern observed was roughly comparable to what was recorded for the same study area using VHF tracking. The high number of recorded data, however, allowed to carry out a more detailed analysis of the behaviour of the animals, resulting in the identification of a series of behavioural changes during the reproductive season apparently not directly related to different phases of the breeding activity. The available data illustrate the great potential of the GPS tracking method, which has to be considered of extreme importance to plan effective conservation actions for the species
Uso di gps logger per descrivere il comportamento spaziale dell’occhione (Burhinus oedicnemus) in periodo riproduttivo: risultati preliminari
GIUNCHI, DIMITRI;MORI, ALESSIA;
2015-01-01
Abstract
In this paper we evaluate the effectiveness of GPS data loggers to study the spatial behaviour of the Stone-curlew during the breeding period. Two females were tagged in the Taro River Regional Park (Parma, Italy) in the autumn 2013 and were followed during the next breeding season. The birds reacted well to tagging and for both some breeding attempts were recorded and at least one resulted successful, as proved by the observation of one 7-10-days old chick in July 2014. Regarding the spatial behaviour, the pattern observed was roughly comparable to what was recorded for the same study area using VHF tracking. The high number of recorded data, however, allowed to carry out a more detailed analysis of the behaviour of the animals, resulting in the identification of a series of behavioural changes during the reproductive season apparently not directly related to different phases of the breeding activity. The available data illustrate the great potential of the GPS tracking method, which has to be considered of extreme importance to plan effective conservation actions for the speciesI documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
