Search

Much of the annual cycle of threatened migratory shorebirds is spent in non‐breeding areas, but there have been few studies on how that habitat is used at fine‐scale. Tracking data from 13 endangered far eastern curlews at three Australian non‐breeding locations revealed that home range size and maximum daily displacement varied substantially among study areas and between years. Home range overlap also varied with tidal cycle, generally being lower at low than high tide, though there was considerable variability across time and between sites. Variation in site fidelity may indicate behavioral flexibility but may also suggest that resources critical to survival vary between years. If the latter is the case, protection of what appears to be critical habitat in 1 year may not be adequate in subsequent years, necessitating a precautionary approach to the conservation of habitat extent over the long term. For species like the far eastern curlew, which are exceptionally hard to capture and highly threatened, tracking data should be analyzed from as many perspectives as possible to justify the cost to both researchers and birds. In this study, use of tracking data previously analyzed to reveal migration routes has yielded important insights into their ecology and optimal management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the absence of the high-pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 lineage 2.3.4.4b in Australia for the second consecutive year. The HPAI H5N1 has had a significant impact on the poultry industry and wildlife globally. While wild birds, particularly waterfowl, were initially thought to be responsible for the spread of HPAI, recent viral incursions suggest that seabirds are also involved. The absence of HPAI in Australia may be attributed to the absence of waterfowl species that migrate to the region and potential cross-protection from ancestral HPAI lineages in Asia. Continued surveillance is necessary to detect and respond to any potential incursions in the future. [Extracted from the article]

Overall, for South East Australia, breeding success in the Arctic summer of 2020 was average or slightly below average for all but one of the four species successfully monitored (Red-necked Stint Calidris ruficollis (18.5%), Curlew Sandpiper C. ferruginea (18.2%), Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres (13%), with one species Sharp-tailed Sandpiper C. acuminata (10.2%) having low breeding success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migratory connectivity describes the extent to which migratory species' populations are connected throughout the annual cycle. While recognized as critical for understanding the population dynamics of migratory species and conserving them, empirical evidence of links between migratory connectivity and population dynamics are uncommon. We analyzed associations between spatiotemporal connectivity and differential population trends in a declining and endangered migratory shorebird, the far eastern curlew (Numenius madagascariensis), with multiyear tracking data from across the Australian nonbreeding grounds. We found evidence of temporal and spatial segregation during migration and breeding: curlew from southeast Australia initiated northward migration earlier, arrived at breeding sites earlier, and bred at lower latitudes than curlew from northwest Australia. Analysis of land modification intensity revealed that populations from southeast Australia face greater human impacts compared to those from northwest Australia at both the breeding and nonbreeding grounds, a pattern that aligns with steeper population declines in southeast Australia. This alignment between migratory connectivity, human impacts, and differential population change highlights the importance of a full annual cycle approach to conservation that includes mitigating threats on the breeding grounds and better protecting nonbreeding habitats in Australia where far eastern curlew spend over half of each year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shorebird expeditions have been run in the Northern Territory sporadically since 1995 and have focussed on birds from five sites along the Top End coastline. Over the years, there has been 2510 shorebirds caught from 19 species from a combination of cannon netting and mist netting. From 2014 onwards, we applied engraved leg-flags to shorebirds and this has allowed for a more detailed understanding of site fidelity on the non-breeding grounds and migration pathway connectivity. Since that time, there has been more than 3403 leg-flag resightings from six countries in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway. In 2018, the objective of the expedition was to capture the critically endangered Far Eastern Curlew Numenius madagascariensis to attach GPS tracking devices to birds to learn about their local movements on the non-breeding grounds of Australia. One GPS tag was deployed on a Curlew during this expedition. Shorebird catching expeditions allow researchers to collect useful data on age demographics within populations, and to target species for more detailed studies such as those on movements of birds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article talks about the number of waders in south-east and north-west Australia based on the data collected by Victorian Wader Study Group (VWSG) and Australasian Wader Studies Group (AWSG) in 2013. Topics include counting of first-year (juvenile) waders during non-breeding season, cannon-netting method, and breeding success measurement. Tables displaying juvenile waders percentages in cannon-net catches and annual percentage juvenile catches in 2013-2014 and 1998-1999 are presented.

Tagging is essential for many types of ecological and behavioural studies, and it is generally assumed that it does not affect the fitness of the individuals being examined. However, the tagging of birds has been shown to have negative effects on some aspects of their lives. Here we investigate the influence of tagging on apparent survival. We examined the effects of flipper bands and injected transponders on the apparent survival of adult Little Penguins by comparing the survival probabilities of 2483 Little Penguins marked at Phillip Island, Australia, between 1995 and 2001 in one of three ways: with bands, with transponders or with both. The design of the study and our method of analysis allowed us to estimate tag loss and ensured that tag loss did not bias the survival estimates. Birds marked with flipper bands had lower survival probabilities than those marked with transponders (with apparent survival probabilities in the first year after tagging of 75% for banded birds and 80% for birds fitted with transponders, and in subsequent years of 87% for banded birds and 91% for birds fitted with transponders). We estimated both band and transponder loss probabilities for the first time, and found that transponder loss probabilities were substantially higher than band loss probabilities, particularly in the first year after marking when the tag loss probability was 5% for transponders and 0.7% for bands. Survival probabilities were lower in the first year after marking than in subsequent years for all birds. Studies of penguins that have used flipper bands to identify individuals may have underestimated annual adult survival probabilities, as banded penguins were likely to have lower than average survival probabilities than those of unbanded birds. The higher annual survival probabilities of individuals marked with transponders indicate that this should be the preferred marking technique for Little Penguins. However, future studies will, like ours, need to consider the higher rates of transponder loss when estimating survival, possibly by double-tagging some birds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study on the breeding success of wader species in the 2012 season. Topics include findings of the study which are based on juvenile ratios of wader species who spend their non breeding season in Australia, the importance for arctic waders to have a above-average breeding result, and the species of waders that were involved in the study like the Red-necked Stint and the Bar-tailed Godwit.