Development of Non-Explosive-Based Methods for Mass Capture of Vultures

Bamford, Andrew J.; Monadjem, Ara; Diekmann, Maria; Hardy, Ian C.W.

doi:10.3957/056.039.0201

Cited by 11 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…We have relied on our own perception of colouration, but as birds can detect wavelengths, and thus colours, that humans cannot (Bennett & Thery 2007), future work might investigate how vultures perceive the characteristics noted here, ideally employing a manipulation of colouration. It would add greatly to understanding the vultures’ social system to study a population of marked individuals, with the constraint that lappet‐faced vultures are difficult to capture and mark (Bamford et al. 2009a).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Associations of Avian Facial Flushing and Skin Colouration with Agonistic Interaction Outcomes

2010

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Facial flushing, a colour change caused by variation of blood flow through highly vascularized skin, has been observed in taxonomically diverse bird species but the function of the behaviour has not been assessed. Lappet‐faced vultures, Aegypius tracheliotos, have unfeathered heads that can rapidly flush from pink to dark red, and this has been hypothesized to indicate contest ability in vulture gatherings. We show that adults with flushed heads won most interactions against those with pale heads. A previously unnoticed colour variation of the throat, visible only when the head is flushed, was also related to the outcome of interactions: blue‐throated adults participated in, and won, more interactions than red‐throated adults. We suggest that the non‐fixed groups of which lappet‐faced vulture populations consist promote the evolution of signals of dominance that can be adjusted extremely rapidly.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Associations of Avian Facial Flushing and Skin Colouration with Agonistic Interaction Outcomes

2010

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“…1). A walk-in cage trap (6×3×3 m) constructed from a lightweight steel frame overlaid with wire mesh and baited with domestic livestock or wild ungulate carcasses was used to catch the vultures [22]. Six immature African white-backed vultures were caught and fitted with GPS-GSM tracking units during three separate captures.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Foraging Ranges of Immature African White-Backed Vultures (Gyps africanus) and Their Use of Protected Areas in Southern Africa

Phipps

Willis

Wolter³

et al. 2013

PLoS ONE

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Vultures in the Gyps genus are declining globally. Multiple threats related to human activity have caused widespread declines of vulture populations in Africa, especially outside protected areas. Addressing such threats requires the estimation of foraging ranges yet such estimates are lacking, even for widespread (but declining) species such as the African white-backed vulture (Gyps africanus). We tracked six immature African white-backed vultures in South Africa using GPS-GSM units to study their movement patterns, their use of protected areas and the time they spent in the vicinity of supplementary feeding sites. All individuals foraged widely; their combined foraging ranges extended into six countries in southern Africa (mean (± SE) minimum convex polygon area = 269,103±197,187 km2) and three of the vultures travelled more than 900 km from the capture site. All six vultures spent the majority of their tracking periods outside protected areas. South African protected areas were very rarely visited whereas protected areas in northern Botswana and Zimbabwe were used more frequently. Two of the vultures visited supplementary feeding sites regularly, with consequent reduced ranging behaviour, suggesting that individuals could alter their foraging behaviour in response to such sites. We show that immature African white-backed vultures are capable of travelling throughout southern Africa, yet use protected areas to only a limited extent, making them susceptible to the full range of threats in the region. The standard approach of designating protected areas to conserve species is unlikely to ensure the protection of such wide-ranging species against threats in the wider landscape.

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“…The birds were captured in a specially designed walk‐in trap (Diekmann et al ., ; Bamford et al ., ) that was erected alongside the vulture restaurant. Birds were captured and released, or rehabilitated birds released, on six different sessions between November 2005 and September 2008.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Survival of theAfrican white‐backed vultureGyps africanusin north‐easternSouthAfrica

2012

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Old World vultures are in decline across their entire range. Although critical for the formulation of effective conservation measures, neither survival nor movement patterns of African vultures are adequately known. This paper presents survival and movement data on the African white‐backed vultures (Gyps africanus) from South Africa. Survival estimates were modelled on resightings of tagged vultures. Birds were captured en masse and resighted between November 2005 and December 2010. A total of 93 adult and subadult birds were fitted with uniquely numbered patagial tags, which were resighted 3707 times(mean of 39.8 resightings per bird). The programme MARK was used to estimate survival. The best model was one where survival and recaptures varied only with time (e.g. year). However, owing to the fading (illegibility) of tags in later years, the relationship with time is probably spurious. The second best model was one where survival and recaptures varied with age and time. Annual survival estimates increased from 85.2% in second‐year birds to 99.9% in adults. This corresponds well with the survival of two other Gyps vultures that have been studied to date and underscores the point that additional mortality of adults in these long‐lived species will result in rapid population declines.

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Development of Non-Explosive-Based Methods for Mass Capture of Vultures

Cited by 11 publications

References 6 publications

Associations of Avian Facial Flushing and Skin Colouration with Agonistic Interaction Outcomes

Associations of Avian Facial Flushing and Skin Colouration with Agonistic Interaction Outcomes

Foraging Ranges of Immature African White-Backed Vultures (Gyps africanus) and Their Use of Protected Areas in Southern Africa

Survival of theAfrican white‐backed vultureGyps africanusin north‐easternSouthAfrica

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