Most raptor populations are declining and nearly a fifth are threatened with extinction; thus there is a need to increase collaboration to ensure efficient and effective research, management, and conservation. Here, we introduce the Global Raptor Impact Network (GRIN; www.globalraptors.org), a tool to enhance collaboration and conservation impact of the raptor research community. We provide an overview of the history and current state of GRIN, including plans for expansion. Predecessors to GRIN include The African Raptor DataBank, which was launched in 2012 to ascertain the conservation status of raptors across Africa; and the Global Raptor Information Network, which was launched in the late 1990s as a website to provide information regarding diurnal raptors and facilitate communication among researchers. GRIN expands the data collection and storage capabilities of the African Raptor DataBank to a global scale via mobile application. We have implemented data-sharing rules to ensure the safety of sensitive species, and users of the GRIN mobile app can designate their records as confidential. GRIN staff and partners are developing analyses of species' population trends and geographic distributions to aid in conservation assessments. GRIN is also developing systematic reviews, detailed bibliographies, and online accounts that will summarize the state of knowledge for each raptor species. We hope that GRIN will benefit the entire raptor research community and aid in the collaboration necessary to help raptor populations thrive in the Anthropocene.
ABSTRACT. Andean Condors (Vultur gryphus) are a Near Threatened species that was formerly distributed along the entire length of the Andes from western Venezuela to Tierra del Fuego. Populations have been severely reduced north of Peru, but several thousand Andean Condors still exist in the southern portion of their range in Argentina and Chile. Little is known, however, about the size of the Andean Condor population in the central part of their range in Peru and Bolivia. From June to September 2012, we used feeding stations to attract Andean Condors and estimate the size and structure of the population in the eastern Andes of central and southern Bolivia. We estimated a minimum population of 253 condors, an adult male-to-female ratio of 1:0.6, an immature maleto-female ratio of 1:0.9, and an adult-to-immature ratio of 1:1.1. At our five survey areas, estimated abundance ranged from 15 to 100 condors per area. Males outnumbered females in three areas and the opposite was true in two areas. Our estimated adult-to-immature ratio, overall and in each area, suggests that the populations could be reproducing at a high rate. As previously observed in other Andean Condor populations, skewed sex ratios could be associated with differences between sexes and age classes in habitat selection. Although our results suggest that Bolivian populations of Andean Condors are still reasonably large, population monitoring is urgently needed, including use of feeding stations throughout the entire Bolivian range of the species and intensive searches for roosting and nesting sites. RESUMEN. El estado de la población de cóndores andinos en los Andes del centro y el sur de BoliviaEl cóndor andino (Vultur gryphus) es una especie casi amenazada que se distribuye a lo largo de los Andes desde el oeste de Venezuela hasta Tierra del Fuego. Las poblaciones han sido severamente reducidas al norte de Perú, pero varios miles de cóndores andinos todavía existen en la porción sur de suárea de distribución en Argentina y Chile. Sin embargo, se conoce poco sobreel tamaño de las poblaciones de cóndor andino en la parte central de su distribución en Perú y Bolivia. Se utilizaron estaciones de alimentación para estimar el tamaño y la estructura de la población de cóndor andino en los Andes orientales del centro y sur de Bolivia. Se estimó una población mínima de 253 cóndores andinos, la proporción de entre machos y hembras adultos fue 1: 0.6, la proporción entre machos y hembras inmaduros fue 1: 0.9, y la proporción entre adultos e inmaduros fue 1:1.1. En nuestras cincoáreas de estudio, la abundancia estimada varió de 15 a 100 cóndores porárea. En tresáreas los machos fueron más numerosos que las hembras, en cambio se observó lo contrario en las otras dosáreas. La proporción estimada entre adultos y jóvenes, en general y en cadaárea, sugiere que las poblaciones podrían tener una alta tasa de reproducción. En otras poblaciones del cóndor andino se observó que las proporciones desiguales entre sexos podrían estar asociadas con diferencias en la selección...
The Andean Condor Vultur gryphus is a globally threatened and declining species. Problems of surveying Andean Condor populations using traditional survey methods are particularly acute in Bolivia, largely because only few roosts are known there. However, similar to other vulture species, Andean Condors aggregate at animal carcasses, and are individually recognizable due to unique morphological characteristics (size and shape of male crests and pattern of wing coloration). This provided us with an opportunity to use a capture‐recapture (‘sighting‐resighting’) modelling framework to estimate the size and structure of an Andean Condor population in Bolivia using photographs of individuals taken at observer‐established feeding stations. Between July and December 2014, 28 feeding stations were established in five different zones throughout the eastern Andean region of Bolivia, where perched and flying Andean Condors were photographed. Between one and 57 (mean = 20.2 ± 14.6 sd) Andean Condors were recorded visiting each feeding station and we were able to identify 456 different individuals, comprising 134 adult males, 40 sub‐adult males, 79 juvenile males, 80 adult females, 30 sub‐adult females and 93 juvenile females. Open population capture‐recapture models produced population estimates ranging from 52 ± 14 (se) individuals to 678 ± 269 individuals across the five zones, giving a total of 1388 ± 413 sd individuals, which is roughly 20% of the estimated Andean Condor global population. Future trials of this method need to consider explicitly knowledge of Andean Condor movements and home‐ranges, habitat preferences when selecting suitable sites as feeding stations, juvenile movements and other behaviours. Sighting‐resighting methods have considerable potential to increase the accuracy of surveys of Andean Condors and other bird species with unique individual morphological characteristics.
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