Using playback of vocalisations to survey the Nahan's francolin, a threatened African forest galliform

Ra, Fuller; Akite, Perpetra; Amuno, JB; Fuller, CL; Ofwono, JM; Proaktor, Gil; Ssemmanda, Richard

doi:10.2989/00306525.2012.677510

Cited by 14 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…We conducted breeding season surveys in March 2014 and as the Double-spurred Francolin is territorial (the male sings to attract the female and to defend its territory), we used the point count method enhanced by playback (Hanane and Qninba 2014). Nowadays this technique is commonly used to increase the detection of many secretive bird species (Conway et al 1993, Zuberogoitia and Campos 1998, Brambilla and Rubolini 2004), such as Galliformes (Evans et al 2007, Ponce-Boutin 1992, Kasprzykowski and Goławski 2009, Jakob et al 2010, 2014, Fuller et al 2012). Ten permanent transects were established (1.2–1.5 km), on each of which 4–5 points were identified as being sufficiently far apart (0.2–0.3 km) to avoid double counting.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Post-release habitat utilisation by Francolinus bicalcaratus ayesha, a critically endangered subspecies endemic to Morocco: implications for optimising future release programmes

Hanane

Magri

2015

Bird Conservation International

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SummaryCharacterising the habitat use of released captive-bred birds is required to help optimise future avian reintroduction programmes. The critically endangered Double-spurred Francolin Francolinus bicalcaratus ayesha is endemic to north-west Morocco, where it inhabits forests of cork oak Quercus suber. To improve the viability of this threatened population, 300 captive-bred francolins were released into a game reserve, and post-release monitoring was conducted. This study aimed to identify habitat variables determining the habitat selection of the Double-spurred Francolin. Auditory detection was used during transect surveys of calling males to locate birds and their habitat occupation. Comparison of occupied and random plots showed that this bird is found mostly in flat topography with high cover of shrubs and dense cork oak trees, and close to the release site and water points. Conservation of Double-spurred Francolin depends on the choice of the release point within the cork oak forest, which should be in proximity to suitable cover of cork oak trees, shrubs and water points. Such choices would allow a rapid adaptation to prevailing conditions within release sites. Further multi-scale studies are needed to improve our understanding of the effects of ecological factors on the processes of habitat selection by this endemic subspecies.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Post-release habitat utilisation by Francolinus bicalcaratus ayesha, a critically endangered subspecies endemic to Morocco: implications for optimising future release programmes

Hanane

Magri

2015

Bird Conservation International

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“…Whether animals move prior to responding vocally in call-response surveys has been rarely tested, and could bias density estimates depending on the direction and magnitude of movement (Klavitter andMarzluff 2007, Fuller et al 2012). Movement prior to response could be especially problematic for territorial animals that may investigate the area from which a call originated prior to or perhaps instead of producing a vocalization in response to it (Mills et al 2001, Robbins and McCreery 2003, Fuller et al 2012). Finally, not all animals may respond to a broadcast call (Buckland et al 2004, B€ achler andLiechti 2007) creating differences in availability among individuals that may correlate to a number of factors such as sex, social status, or proximity to the calling device, any of which could introduce biases that underestimate population size (Fulmer 1990, Mitchell 2004.…”

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confidence: 99%

Pairing call‐response surveys and distance sampling for a mammalian carnivore

et al. 2015

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Density estimates accounting for differential animal detectability are difficult to acquire for wide-ranging and elusive species such as mammalian carnivores. Pairing distance sampling with callresponse surveys may provide an efficient means of tracking changes in populations of coyotes (Canis latrans), a species of particular interest in the eastern United States. Blind field trials in rural New York State indicated 119-m linear error for triangulated coyote calls, and a 1.8-km distance threshold for call detectability, which was sufficient to estimate a detection function with precision using distance sampling. We conducted statewide road-based surveys with sampling locations spaced !6 km apart from June to August 2010. Each detected call (be it a single or group) counted as a single object, representing 1 territorial pair, because of uncertainty in the number of vocalizing animals. From 524 survey points and 75 detections, we estimated the probability of detecting a calling coyote to be 0.17 AE 0.02 SE, yielding a detection-corrected index of 0.75 pairs/10 km 2 (95% CI: 0.52-1.1, 18.5% CV) for a minimum of 8,133 pairs across rural New York State. Importantly, we consider this an index rather than true estimate of abundance given the unknown probability of coyote availability for detection during our surveys. Even so, pairing distance sampling with callresponse surveys provided a novel, efficient, and noninvasive means of monitoring populations of wideranging and elusive, albeit reliably vocal, mammalian carnivores. Our approach offers an effective new means of tracking species like coyotes, one that is readily extendable to other species and geographic extents, provided key assumptions of distance sampling are met. Ó 2015 The Wildlife Society.

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“…Of the 23 spurfowl species in Africa, six occur in southern Africa (Hockey et al, 2005;Little and Crowe, 2011), and these were observed with the aid of binoculars in the field from 2002 to 2012 to understand each call in a social context (Table 1). Nahan's Partridge (Ptilopachus nahani), previously regarded as a spurfowl (Sinclair and Ryan, 2003;Fuller et al, 2012), is no longer a spurfowl and is therefore excluded from Table 1 (Crowe, 2010). The sound recordings made by the author were undertaken during research for published papers, but most calls have not yet been published (van Niekerk et al, 2009;van Niekerk, 2004van Niekerk, , 2010van Niekerk, , 2011van Niekerk, , 2012.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, spurfowls are actively hunted in Africa (Viljoen, 2005), and calls can therefore also be used to entice spurfowl responses by using sound-playbacks for management purposes, such as locating territories, sexing, and determining densities and habitat preferences (cf. Wolff, 1978;Little and Crowe, 1992;Fuller et al, 2012;van Niekerk, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vocal structure, behavior and partitioning of all 23 Pternistis spp. into homologous sound (and monophyletic) groups

Niekerk¹

2013

Chinese Birds

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The aims of this research were (1) to provide a description of spurfowl Pternistis spp. calls and their social context; (2) to describe the divergence of advertisement calls; and (3) to appropriate 23 spurfowl species to homologous sound groups which have been synthesized with recognized monophyletic groups within Pternistis spurfowls. Sound group partitioning was primarily based on male advertisement calls. A total of 218 recordings (rendering ~300 identifiable calls) were analyzed covering 22 out of 23 spurfowl species in Africa. One species was assessed from written accounts. The repertoire size per spurfowl varies between 7 and 11 calls. Spurfowl calls were arranged into three broad categories including (1) advertisement calls; (2) maintenance calls including distress calls, juvenile whining ("mews"), cheeps and comfort calls; and (3) male-female and female-offspring bonding calls. Spurfowl species were set out in eight sound groups of which five were more or less congruent with the monophyletic groups of Hall (1963), but sound groups produced more partitioning as Hall described only five groups relevant to Pternistis spp. The divergence of advertisement calls apparently minimizes hybridization between sympatric species but the "genetic distance" between spurfowl species is relatively small causing hybridization among spurfowl species. Despite the vocalizations of Hartlaub's Spurfowl (P. hartlaubi) differing significantly from the rest of the spurfowls, sound analyses suggest that it remains within Pternistis.

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Using playback of vocalisations to survey the Nahan's francolin, a threatened African forest galliform

Cited by 14 publications

References 14 publications

Post-release habitat utilisation by Francolinus bicalcaratus ayesha, a critically endangered subspecies endemic to Morocco: implications for optimising future release programmes

Post-release habitat utilisation by Francolinus bicalcaratus ayesha, a critically endangered subspecies endemic to Morocco: implications for optimising future release programmes

Pairing call‐response surveys and distance sampling for a mammalian carnivore

Vocal structure, behavior and partitioning of all 23 Pternistis spp. into homologous sound (and monophyletic) groups

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