Evaluation of a net launcher for capturing urban gulls

Clark, Daniel E.; Koenen, Kiana K. G.; MacKenzie, Kenneth G.; Pereira, Jillian W.; DeStefano, Stephen

doi:10.1002/wsb.435

Cited by 9 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Wintering birds caught in Massachusetts were captured using a Coda net launcher hidden under a pickup truck. Bait was placed in front of the net, and the launcher was detonated from inside the truck’s cab [30]. At the Massachusetts and Great Lakes sites, devices were attached using variations of a chest harness, with the transmitter resting on the upper back, secured with loops around the wings and joined at the chest [31].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Winter home range and habitat selection differs among breeding populations of herring gulls in eastern North America

et al. 2019

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Background Recognizing the factors influencing migratory individuals throughout their annual cycle is important for understanding the drivers of population dynamics. Previous studies have found that Herring Gulls ( Larus argentatus ) in the Atlantic region have lower survival rates than those in the Great Lakes and the Arctic. One possible explanation for divergent survival rates among these populations is differences in their non-breeding habitats. Methods We tracked Herring Gulls from five populations, breeding in the eastern Arctic, the Great Lakes, Newfoundland, Sable Island, and the Bay of Fundy. We assessed the extent of migratory connectivity between breeding and wintering sites, and tested if there were differences in home range size or habitat selection among these populations during the winter. Results The tracked Herring Gulls had strong migratory connectivity between their breeding and wintering areas. We found that Herring Gulls from the Arctic spent most of the winter in marine habitats, while the other populations used a wider variety of habitats. However, the Newfoundland and Sable Island populations selected for urban habitats, and almost all individuals the specialized in urban habitats came from one of the three Atlantic populations. Conclusions Our results suggest that there could potentially be a link between urban habitat use during the winter and reduced adult survival in Atlantic Canada Herring Gulls. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s40462-019-0152-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Winter home range and habitat selection differs among breeding populations of herring gulls in eastern North America

et al. 2019

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“…We used a net launcher (2008–2012) to capture gulls (Clark et al ). We fitted ring‐billed gulls (2008–2012) with solar powered 9.5‐g (Microwave Telemetry, Columbia, MD) or 9.5‐g (Northstar Science and Technology, King George, VA) ARGOS platform terminal transmitters (PTTs).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The study area had 4 distinct seasons (summer, fall, winter, and spring); summers were warm and humid, and winters were cold and snowy. We captured ring‐billed and herring gulls at 18 trapping locations, which were located in urban or suburban areas around the cities of Worcester (42°15′N, 71°48′W) and Springfield (42° 6′N, 72°35′W; Clark et al ; Fig ). We chose trapping locations opportunistically to maximize capture success and included a variety of areas including parking lots, landfills, wastewater treatment plants, and inland beaches.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Roost site selection by ring‐billed and herring gulls

Clark¹,

DeStefano

MacKenzie³

et al. 2016

J Wildl Manag

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Gulls (Larus spp.) commonly roost in large numbers on inland and coastal waters, yet there is little information on how or where gulls choose sites for roosting. Roost site selection can lead to water quality degradation or aviation hazards when roosts are formed on water supply reservoirs or are close to airports. Harassment programs are frequently initiated to move or relocate roosting gulls but often have mixed results because gulls are reluctant to leave or keep returning. As such, knowledge of gull roost site selection and roosting ecology has applied and ecological importance. We used satellite telemetry and an information-theoretic approach to model seasonal roost selection of ring-billed (L. delawarensis) and herring gulls (L. argentatus) in Massachusetts, USA. Our results indicated that ring-billed gulls preferred freshwater roosts and will use a variety of rivers, lakes, and reservoirs. Herring gulls regularly roosted on fresh water but used salt water roosts more often than ring-billed gulls and also roosted on a variety of land habitats. Roost modeling showed that herring and ring-billed gulls selected inland fresh water roosts based on size of the water body and proximity to their last daytime location; they selected the largest roost closest to where they ended the day. Management strategies to reduce or eliminate roosting gulls could identify and try to eliminate other habitat variables (e.g., close-by foraging sites) that are attracting gulls before attempting to relocate or redistribute (e.g., through hazing programs) roosting birds. Ó 2016 The Wildlife Society.

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“…At the Massachusetts sites, wintering birds were captured using a Coda net launcher hidden under a pickup truck. Bait was placed in front of the net, and the launcher was detonated from inside the truck's cab [43]. These devices were attached using variations of a chest harness, with the transmitter resting on the upper back, secured with loops around the wings and joined at the chest [44].…”

Section: Trackingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Both short and long distance migrants use energy-minimizing migration strategies in North American herring gulls

et al. 2020

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Background: Recent studies have proposed that birds migrating short distances migrate at an overall slower pace, minimizing energy expenditure, while birds migrating long distances minimize time spent on migration to cope with seasonal changes in environmental conditions. Methods: We evaluated variability in the migration strategies of Herring Gulls (Larus argentatus), a generalist species with flexible foraging and flight behaviour. We tracked one population of long distance migrants and three populations of short distance migrants, and compared the directness of their migration routes, their overall migration speed, their travel speed, and their use of stopovers. Results: Our research revealed that Herring Gulls breeding in the eastern Arctic migrate long distances to spend the winter in the Gulf of Mexico, traveling more than four times farther than gulls from Atlantic Canada during autumn migration. While all populations used indirect routes, the long distance migrants were the least direct. We found that regardless of the distance the population traveled, Herring Gulls migrated at a slower overall migration speed than predicted by Optimal Migration Theory, but the long distance migrants had higher speeds on travel days. While long distance migrants used more stopover days overall, relative to the distance travelled all four populations used a similar number of stopover days. Conclusions: When taken in context with other studies, we expect that the migration strategies of flexible generalist species like Herring Gulls may be more influenced by habitat and food resources than migration distance.

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Evaluation of a net launcher for capturing urban gulls

Cited by 9 publications

References 17 publications

Winter home range and habitat selection differs among breeding populations of herring gulls in eastern North America

Winter home range and habitat selection differs among breeding populations of herring gulls in eastern North America

Roost site selection by ring‐billed and herring gulls

Both short and long distance migrants use energy-minimizing migration strategies in North American herring gulls

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