Effects of color banding, radio tagging, and repeated handling on the condition and survival of Lapwing chicks and consequences for estimates of breeding productivity

Many farmland‐breeding wader species have declined across Europe, probably due to reductions in reproductive output caused by high nest losses as a result of agriculture or predation, or low chick survival between hatching and fledging. Most studies have focused on nest failures, and the factors affecting post‐hatching survival of chicks are poorly known. In an experimental approach, we fenced parts of the arable foraging areas of Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus families to quantify chick survival simultaneously in the presence and absence of ground predators. Lapwing chicks were radiotagged to estimate survival probabilities by daily locations, applying multistate capture–recapture models. During the night, chick survival was considerably lower outside fenced plots than within. During the day, chick survival was higher than at night and did not differ between protected and unprotected plots. This suggests that nocturnal ground predators such as Red Foxes Vulpes vulpes were responsible for a significant proportion of chick mortality. Cumulative survival probability from hatching to fledging was 0.24 in chicks within fenced plots, but virtually zero in chicks outside fenced plots. In farmland, temporary electric fences can be effective in minimizing the impact of ground predators and offer a promising short‐term method to increase fledging success of precocial birds.

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“…2009). However, Sharpe et al. (2009) showed that frequent disturbance and repeated handling affect chick body condition and survival probability.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exclusion of ground predators improves Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus chick survival

Rickenbach

Grüebler

Schaub

et al. 2011

Ibis

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“…Sharpe et al . () found that frequent disturbance associated with tracking and recapturing chicks, rather than the attachment of a tag itself, affected body condition, but that a recapture frequency of greater than 8 days was sufficient to reduce this effect. By following this recommendation the chicks we monitored attained body condition equal to or better than expected for their age, and there was no significant difference in condition between tagged and untagged chicks (Table S8; Beintema , Mason & Smart ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…, Sharpe et al . ). Although two‐way interactions between predator activity variables were biologically plausible, we only included main effects in our models, as including interactions would have resulted in model overspecification due to our relatively small dataset (full model parameters n = 9; binomial datapoints: success/predation n = 133, failure/survival n = 1484; Harrell ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Tracking day and night provides insights into the relative importance of different wader chick predators

Mason

Drewitt

2017

Ibis

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Poor reproductive success driven by nest and chick predation severely limits the population recovery of waders breeding on lowland wet grassland. Managing predation requires knowledge of the predators and because these can be grouped into nocturnal or diurnal hunters, detecting the timing of predation can help assess their relative impacts. Wader nest studies investigating the timing of egg predation have identified nocturnal mammals, primarily Red Foxes Vulpes vulpes, as the most important nest predators, but quantifying predator importance for highly mobile wader chicks is more difficult. Manual radiotelemetry can detect whether chicks are alive but cannot detect the time of predation, and predator identity can be determined only in the few cases where remains are recovered. As an alternative we used automatic radio tracking stations (ARTS) to constantly record the signals and predation timing of 179 radiotagged Lapwing Vanellus vanellus chicks, combining this with manual telemetry, inference about predator identity from predated remains and site-level Fox, mustelid and avian predator activity monitoring. This approach succeeded in detecting the time of predation for 60% of the 155 chicks that were predated. Diurnal chick predation accounted for a larger number of predation events, but nocturnal predation was more intensive in terms of predation likelihood per hour. Mammalian predation during both day and night had a larger impact on chick survival than did avian predation. Raptors were primarily responsible for predation by birds and Foxes for predation by mammals, with Foxes also having a larger influence on daily chick predation rates than other predators. Chick predation increased seasonally, implying that earlier-hatching breeding attempts are more likely to be successful. Higher Fox, raptor and mustelid activity resulted in higher proportions of chicks being predated by those predators, so quantifying the activity of those three predator groups on a site could be a quicker alternative to studying chicks when investigating which predator species to target with site-specific predation management.

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“…Although hatchling shorebirds can often be marked using adult-sized leg bands (Sharpe et al 2009), this option is not suitable for young waterfowl (Anseriformes) or rails (Rallidae). Previous methods of marking precocial waterbirds have included colordyeing plumage either before or after hatch (Evans 1951;Eadie and Lyon 1998), web tagging (Alliston 1975), web clipping (Eichhorst 1986), plasticine-filled leg bands (Blums et al 1994), colored nasal-tags (Sugden and Poston 1968), and miniature radio transmitters (Mauser and Jarvis 1991).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of Nape Tags for Marking Offspring of Precocial Waterbirds

et al. 2011

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Effects of color banding, radio tagging, and repeated handling on the condition and survival of Lapwing chicks and consequences for estimates of breeding productivity

Cited by 25 publications

References 37 publications

Exclusion of ground predators improves Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus chick survival

Exclusion of ground predators improves Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus chick survival

Tracking day and night provides insights into the relative importance of different wader chick predators

Use of Nape Tags for Marking Offspring of Precocial Waterbirds

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