Autonomous Recording Units as Effective Tool for Monitoring of the Rare and Patchily Distributed Dupont's Lark Chersophilus duponti

Traba

2019

J. Field Ornithol.

Some birds use social cues, such as the presence of conspecifics, when selecting breeding habitat. This phenomenon, known as conspecific attraction, has been well-documented in migratory species, but has not been assessed for resident species of birds. We used Dupont's Larks (Chersophilus duponti) as a model species to determine if conspecific attraction plays a role in habitat selection by resident species of birds. At our study site in Soria province in central Spain, we monitored two potential habitat patches and one managed site where management actions had provided apparently suitable habitat. At each site, we broadcast recordings of the songs and calls of male Dupont's Larks, and monitored their presence during the breeding season and dispersal period in 2018 using automated recorders and field surveys. No birds were attracted to our study sites. Our results suggest that management of patches of suitable habitat should occur close to areas (within 1 km) already occupied by Dupont's Larks to encourage natural colonization because, based on our results, playback of conspecific vocalizations may not attract the species to new breeding areas. However, additional studies are needed before drawing conclusions about the effectiveness of conspecific attraction for this and other resident species of birds. RESUMEN. Poniendo a prueba la hip otesis de atracci on conespec ıfica con el ave canora residente del centro de España, Chersophilus duponti. Algunas aves utilizan pistas sociales, tales como la presencia de conespec ıficos, cuando seleccionan el h abitat de cr ıa. Este fen omeno, llamado atracci on conespec ıfica, ha sido muy bien documentado en especies migratorias, pero no ha sido evaluado en especies de aves residentes. Utilizamos la Alondra de Dupont (Chersophilus duponti), como especies modelo para determinar si la atracci on de conespec ıficos juega un rol en la selecci on de h abitat de especies residentes. En nuestro lugar de estudio, la provincia de Soria en la parte central de España, monitorizamos dos parches dos parches de h abitat potencial, parche donde las acciones de manejo proveyeron de h abitat aparentemente adecuado. En cada localidad, emitimos grabaciones del canto y llamadas de las alondras, y monitorizamos su presencia durante la epoca de reproducci on y el periodo de dispersi on del 2018, utilizando grabadores autom aticos y censos de campo. Ninguna alondra fue atra ıda a nuestros resultados sugieren que el manejo de parches de h abitat adecuados debe llevarse a cabo en lugares cercanos a areas (dentro de un km) actualmente ocupadas por la pecie para favorecer la colonizaci on de las mismas, ya que seg un nuestros resultados, el uso de grabaciones de conespec ıficos pudiera no atraer individuos a areas nuevas en donde estos puedan reproducirse. Sin embargo, se necesitan estudios adicionales antes de poder concluir sobre la efectividad de la atracci on conespec ıfica, para esta y otras especies de aves residentes.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We considered a Dupont's Lark present at an acoustic monitoring station when the software correctly identified their song in a recording (Pérez‐Granados et al. ). We estimated that the average time required to analyze 1 h of recording was 3 min, including time for data download and validation of results.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Testing the conspecific attraction hypothesis with Dupont's Larks, a resident species of songbird in central Spain

Traba

2019

J. Field Ornithol.

“…The use of ARUs has been assessed previously for monitoring the presence of Dupont's Lark (Pérez‐Granados et al . ,c).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These ARUs have previously shown reliability and effectiveness for bird song recording in similar conditions (Pérez‐Granados et al . ,c).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Vocal activity rate index: a useful method to infer terrestrial bird abundance with acoustic monitoring

Bota

Giralt

et al. 2019

Ibis

Autonomous recording units have been widely used in a large number of bird studies in recent years, but challenges remain in estimating abundance based on acoustic monitoring. We tested whether vocal activity rate index (VAR; the number of songs per unit time for a species), recorded using autonomous recording units, was related to population abundance in two terrestrial bird species, the European Bee‐eater Merops apiaster and the Dupont's Lark Chersophilus duponti. We took recordings at sites where censuses were also carried out to estimate local populations around recorders. We found a positive and significant relationship for the two monitored species. Although our results are not conclusive, the strong and significant relationship found for both monitored species suggests that VAR may be used to infer bird abundance around recorders in terrestrial species. We describe five logical steps for using the VAR with autonomous recording units in other species to guide future studies.

Passive acoustic monitoring of the diel and annual vocal behavior of the Black and Gold Howler Monkey

Schuchmann

2021

American J Primatol