| Title: |
Satellite telemetry informs nesting ecology and management of nomadic ibis and spoonbills ( Threskiornithidae ) in remote breeding sites |
| Authors: |
McGinness, Heather M; Lloyd-Jones, Luke R; Robinson, Freya; Hawken, Matthew; Cook, Damien; O’Neill, Louis G; Rapley, Shoshana; Jackson, Micha V; Piper, Melissa; Davies, Micah; Martin, John; Kingsford, Richard; Brandis, Kate; Doerr, Veronica; Mac Nally, Ralph |
| Contributors: |
Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder; Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation; CEWH Monitoring, Evaluation and Research; CEWH Environmental Watering Knowledge and Research; Australian Department of Agriculture, Water and Environment; Lake Cowal Foundation; Royal Botanic Garden Sydney; Goulburn-Broken Catchment Management Authority; NSW Office of Environment and Heritage |
| Source: |
Ornithological Applications ; volume 127, issue 4, page 1-17 ; ISSN 0010-5422 2732-4621 |
| Publisher Information: |
Oxford University Press (OUP) |
| Publication Year: |
2025 |
| Description: |
Effective water and wetland management for waterbirds during nesting events benefits from knowledge of nesting timing, staging, duration, and associated foraging locations. Such information can inform managers about when, where, and for how long management actions such as environmental watering or predation protection are needed to support specific nesting stages. This is particularly relevant for species nesting in aggregations that are dependent on flooding of key sites to initiate and complete their nesting cycles, such as ibis and spoonbills. These species are frequently targeted for adaptive water and wetland management to support successful breeding events and can be bioindicators of wetland change. However, obtaining on-ground nesting data for highly mobile species in remote or inaccessible sites can be difficult. To solve this problem, we used GPS satellite telemetry to track nesting events for 3 species that frequently nest together in remote wetlands managed with environmental water: Threskiornis spinicollis (Straw-necked Ibis), T. molucca (Australian White Ibis), and Platalea regia (Royal Spoonbill). This is the first time that satellite telemetry for these highly mobile species has been used to analyze: (1) nest stages and nest attendance patterns; (2) distances travelled to forage during nesting; and (3) timing and duration of nesting events. We found both intra- and inter-species variation in nest attendance patterns and foraging distances. There were changes in nest attendance and foraging distance patterns corresponding with transitions between each of the 4 main nest stages: (1) nest establishment; (2) incubation; (3) immobile chicks; (4) mobile chicks. We discuss how this information can be used to implement strategic conservation management of waterbird populations and habitats including environmental watering, nest protection, and predator control. |
| Document Type: |
article in journal/newspaper |
| Language: |
English |
| DOI: |
10.1093/ornithapp/duaf053 |
| DOI: |
10.1093/ornithapp/duaf053/64232134/duaf053.pdf |
| Availability: |
https://doi.org/10.1093/ornithapp/duaf053; https://academic.oup.com/condor/advance-article-pdf/doi/10.1093/ornithapp/duaf053/64232134/duaf053.pdf; https://academic.oup.com/condor/article-pdf/127/4/1/64232134/duaf053.pdf |
| Rights: |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| Accession Number: |
edsbas.3980B04B |
| Database: |
BASE |