WhinchatWhinCHAT 2016 I / 1 Siering - ToleranceBorder about - Whinchat woody densities, work in the reeds UK and 2016/17 paths
Whinchat work in the UK 2016 to 2017 J B (The ord, United Kingdom)
B J 2017: Whinchat work in the UK 2016 to 2017. WhinCHAT 1, 91 95.
This brief report gives you a review of the Whin ferences at the two scales. In general the same chat work of me and some selected researchers habitat characteris cs were important at both in the UK in 2016 to 2017. spa al scales, however, due to the diff erences in how the data was measured and extrapolated, Jennifer Border (previously Jennifer Taylor) some responses diff ered for territory and lands Over the last year I have been working for the cape scales. This suggests that though landscape BTO with Ian Henderson on a collabora on with scale modelling can guide conserva on ac on to the RSPB to a ach geolocators to Whinchats. We wards suitable regions, fi ne scale measurements a ached 20 geolocators to adult male Whinchats will s ll be needed to form reliable detailed ma last breeding season (2016), this year we are ho nagement plans. ping to re catch some of these males to retrieve Border JA, Henderson IG, Hartley IR 2017: Cha the tags. racterising demographic contribu ons to obser I have also been busy wri ng up my PhD papers. ved popula on change in a declining migrant I have 2 Whinchat papers out since November bird. J Avian Biol. Accepted Author Manuscript. (there are 2 more to come some me in the fu doi:10.1111/jav.01305 ture). Abstract: Popula ons of Afro Palearc c migrant Paper summaries: birds have shown severe declines in recent de cades. To iden fy the causes of these declines, Border JA, Henderson IG, Redhead JW, Hartley accurate measures of both demographic rates IR 2016: Habitat selec on by breeding Whin (seasonal produc vity, apparent survival, immig chats Saxicola rubetra at territory and lands ra on) and environmental parameters will allow cape scales. Ibis. doi: 10.1111/ibi.12433. conserva on and research ac ons to be targe Or see this blog post about the paper: h ps:// ted eff ec vely. We used detailed observa ons of www.bou.org.uk/border whinchat habitat/ marked breeding birds from a ‘stronghold’ popu Abstract: In order to effi ciently focus conserva la on of Whinchats Saxicola rubetra in England on ac on we need to iden fy strongholds of (stable against the declining European trend) to habitat that s ll exist. Habitat preferences and reveal both on site and external mechanisms areas of suitable habitat can be determined from that contribute to popula on change. From fi eld fi ne scale habitat sampling and corresponding data, a popula on model was developed based surveys of species abundance. However, this on demographic rates from 2011 to 2014. Ob method is too expensive and me consuming to served popula on trends were compared to the conduct over extensive areas or in very remo predicted popula on trends to assess model ac te loca ons. If we can use freely available large curacy and the infl uence of outside factors, such scale data to model species distribu ons there as immigra on. The sensi vity of the projected is a poten al to cover a much larger area for a popula on growth rate to rela ve change in each frac on of the cost and me. In order to explo demographic rate was also explored. Against ex re the pros and cons of landscape scale data in pecta ons of high produc vity, we iden fi ed more detail, we inves gated habitat selec on in low seasonal breeding success due to nocturnal breeding Whinchats, Saxicola rubetra. We aimed preda on and low apparent fi rst year survival, to determine which habitat features were most which led to a projected popula on growth rate strongly associated with Whinchat occurrence at of 0.818, indica ng a declining trend. However, each scale and to explore the consistency in pre this trend was not refl ected in the census counts,
91 WhinCHAT I Border - Whinchat work in the UK 2016/17
Fig. 1: Male Whinchat tagged with a geolocator in Salisbury Plain (Photo: © J. BORDER). sugges ng that high immigra on was probab ornithological society annual report. ly responsible for buff ering against this decline. Will Cresswell Elas city analysis indicated was most sensi ve Will Cresswell currently has a paper on Whinchat to changes in adult survival but with covariance connec vity in review. His team have published between demographic rates accounted for, was the following papers on Whinchats over the last most sensi ve to changes in produc vity. Our couple of years: study demonstrates that high quality breeding habitat can buff er against popula on decline but Blackburn E, Burgess M, Freeman B, Risely high immigra on and low produc vity will expo A, Izang A, Ivande S, Hewson C, Cresswell W se even such stronghold popula ons to poten al 2016: An experimental evalua on of the eff ects decline or abandonment if either factor is unsus of geolocator design and a achment method tainable. First year survival also appeared low, on between year survival on whinchats Saxicola however this result is poten ally confounded by rubetra. Journal of Avian Biology 47, 530 539. high natal dispersal. First year survival and/or di Abstract: Data from loca on logging tags have spersal remains a signifi cant knowledge gap that revolu onised our understanding of migra on poten ally undermines local solu ons aimed at ecology, but methods of tagging that do not com counterac ng low produc vity. promise survival need to be iden fi ed. We com Other ar cles: pared resigh ng rates for 156 geolocator tagged and 316 colour ringed only Whinchats on their A 2 page ar cle in the Sanctuary military maga African wintering grounds a er migra on to and zine (p64 65, available at: h ps://www.gov.uk/ from eastern Europe in two separate years. We government/uploads/system/uploads/attach experimentally varied both light stalk length ment_data/fi le/576010/sanctuary_45_2016_re (0,5 and 10 mm) and harness material (elas c or duced.pdf ) non elas c nylon braid ed on, leg loop ‘Rappo And there will be an ar cle appearing in Wiltshire le’ harnesses) in the second year using a reaso
92 WhinchatWhinCHAT 2016 I / 1 Siering - ToleranceBorder about - Whinchat woody densities, work in the reeds UK and 2016/17 paths nably balanced design (all tags in the fi rst year rather than higher winter mortality of individuals used an elas c harness and 10 mm light stalk). with shorter residency. Our results suggest that Tags weighed 0.63 g (0.01 SE), represen ng 4.1% mortality occurs primarily outside the winte of average body mass. There was no overall signi ring period, probably during migra on, and that fi cant reduc on in between year resigh ng rate wintering condi ons have minimal infl uence on (our proxy for survival) comparing tagged and survival. The similarity between survival rates for untagged birds in either year. When comparing all age and sex classes when measured on the within tagged birds, however, using a ed har wintering grounds implies that any diff erence in ness signifi cantly reduced resigh ng rate by 53% survival with age or sex occurs only during the on average compared to using an elas c harness fi rst migra on or during the post fl edging stage, (in all models), but stalk length eff ects were not and that selec on of wintering habitat, or terri sta s cally signifi cant in any model considered. tory quality, makes li le diff erence to survival in There was no strong evidence that the fi t (rela Whinchats. Our fi ndings suggest that the winte ve ghtness) or added tag mass aff ected survi ring grounds do not limit popula ons as much val, although ed tags were fi ed more ghtly as the migratory and breeding stages, with im later in the study, and birds fi ed with ed tags plica ons for the conserva on of declining Afro later may have had lower survival. Overall, on a Palaearc c migrants more widely. precau onary principle, deploying tags with non Blackburn E, Cresswell W 2015. High winter site elas c ed harnesses should be avoided because fi delity in a long distance migrant: implica ons the necessary fi t, so as not to reduce survival, is for wintering ecology and survival es mates. J. me consuming to achieve and does not neces Ornithol. 157, 93 108. sarily improve with experience. Geolocator tags of the recommended percentage of body mass Abstract: The decision for a migratory animal to fi ed with elas c leg loop harnesses and with be site faithful in its non breeding season has short light stalks can be used without survival ef profound implica ons for migratory connec fects in small long distance migrant birds. vity, resilience to winter habitat loss and popu la on dynamics through carry over eff ects on Blackburn E, Cresswell W 2016: High within future breeding success and fi tness. Knowledge winter and annual survival rates in a declining of the temporal and spa al scale of site fi delity Afro Palaearc c migrantory bird suggest that and dispersal is also central to accurate survival wintering condi ons do not limit popula ons. es mates. We established the observed spa al Ibis 158, 92 105. and temporal scale of site fi delity and the abi Abstract: For migratory birds, it is necessary to lity to detect small scale dispersal within and es mate annual and overwinter survival rates, between years for a wintering long distance Pa iden fy factors that infl uence survival, and as learc c migrant, the Whinchat Saxicola rubetra, sess whether survival varies with age and sex if by comparing predicted and observed detec on we are to understand popula on dynamics and rates within the study site. Across two years, 54% thus inform conserva on. This study is one of the of birds returned to the study site and all retur fi rst to document overwinter and annual survival ning birds reoccupied the territories they used from the wintering grounds of a declining Afro in the previous winter. Observed dispersal was Palaearc c migrant bird, the Whinchat Saxicola very low despite the high probability of detec ng rubetra. We monitored a popula on of marked any local dispersal, sugges ng that return rates individuals for which dispersal was low and de are indica ve of true between winter survival tectability was high, allowing accurate es mates rates for this popula on. In any winter, 50% of of survival. Annual survival was at least 52% and returning individuals had a previously occup did not diff er signifi cantly across demographic ied but now empty territory that was less than groups or with habitat characteris cs or residen one territory span away from the centre of their cy me in the previous winter. Overwinter survi current territory; high site fi delity was therefore val was very high and monthly survival at least very unlikely to be because of limited territory 98% at some sites. Although winter residency availability. Over winter residency me (defi ned varied spa ally and with age, lower residency by departure month) diff ered signifi cantly across did not correlate with reduced annual survival, sites and with age, but did not determine the sugges ng occupancy of mul ple wintering sites probability of whether a bird returned in the fol
93 WhinCHAT I Border - Whinchat work in the UK 2016/17 lowing year. This suggests the use of more than The RSPB tagged 19 adults at Geltsdale and 2 at one wintering site for some individuals, rather Dartmoor in 2016. In 2017 they aim to retrieve than reduced over winter survival. This study is the tags and tag 35 more on Ex moor; this work one of the fi rst to comprehensively document is fully funded and will employ Judit Mateos on site fi delity at the territory scale in a Palearc c Exmoor to do this (Judit is about to start a PhD system, although less comprehensive studies or with Will Cresswell on Whinchats in Africa). Last anecdotal evidence suggest that high winter site ly the RSPB are involved in a PhD at Exeter under fi delity may be rela vely common. Here we pro taken by Sara Zonneveld. She has four study spe vide evidence for the serial residency hypothesis, cies and some quite varied analyses. Whinchats where selec on acts for individual migrants to features in two of these analyses. One looks at have generalist habitat requirements, allowing ming of moorland management (burning and them to survive in and remain site faithful to bracken bruising) in rela on to ming of bree even rela vely low quality, but suffi cient and ding and shows confl ict between management familiar sites. Lower dispersal and higher site fi ming (bracken bruising only for Whinchat) and delity compared to that during breeding suggest breeding ming. Another looks at microclimate that annual survival es mates are more accurate of nests using a solar index but this has not so far when measured on the wintering grounds. This found very much of interested. study supports previous fi ndings that wintering Christopher Murray, Jeroen Minderman, James condi ons do not limit Whinchat popula ons. Allison, John Calladine David Douglas They published: In 2016 RSPB commenced a major new research project to be er understand the causes of Whin Murray C, Minderman J, Allison J, Calladine J chat declines across the UK. Popula ons in the 2016: Vegeta on structure infl uences foraging UK have declined by 54% between 1995 and decisions in a declining grassland bird: the im 2013, and whilst the loss of extensively managed portance of fi ne scale habitat and grazing re grassland is likely to have contributed to declines gime. Bird Study, 1 10. in lowlands, there is also evidence of widespread Abstract: Whinchat Saxicola rubetra foraging be declines across the upland range. If these upland haviour was signifi cantly infl uenced by habitat areas no longer support stable popula ons the structure and grazing. re is an urgent need to iden fy why this is the case and design conserva on management. This Aims: To assess how foraging habitats selected by project uses fi eld data collec on and analysis to breeding Whinchats diff ered from wider territo examine the extent to which varia on in the qua ry a ributes under contras ng grazing manage lity of upland breeding habitat has driven decli ment in mul ple upland areas in Scotland: princi nes, and inform the design of trial management pally sheep grazed, Red Deer grazed or ungrazed, interven ons. The project is scheduled to run and to iden fy how diff ering land use may limit un l 2019. The aim of fi eldwork in 2016 was to suitable foraging areas. iden fy whether habitat characteris cs such as Methods: We compared fi ne scale vegeta fi eld layer vegeta on are associated with the lo on structure in patches chosen for foraging by ca on of Whinchat territories, working from sou Whinchats in contras ng grazing management thwest England to the Sco sh Highlands. Future regimes. work will examine the extent to which changes Results: Whinchats were less likely to forage in in Whinchat abundance over me are associated patches with a greater cover of bracken and tall with diff ering habitat quality. non bracken vegeta on, regardless of grazing re Malcolm Burgess gime. Grass cover infl uenced foraging behaviour Other Whinchat work the RSPB is involved in in in ungrazed habitats only, where Whinchats were cluding the Retrapping adults for survival scheme less likely to forage in areas with high grass cover. at Geltsdale (which is discussed more in a separa Conclusion: Whinchats appear to require a mo te ar cle here by Stephen Westerberg) and a a saic or range of sward structures within breeding ching geolocators to Whinchats in collabora on territories, highligh ng the importance of estab with the BTO. lishing how vegeta on structure infl uences bree
94 WhinchatWhinCHAT 2016 I / 1 Siering - ToleranceBorder about - Whinchat woody densities, work in the reeds UK and 2016/17 paths
ding birds at diff erent spa al scales. Our results Whinchats that are compa ble with other land suggest that suitable foraging patches were plen use and conserva on objec ves. ful within grazed habitats but poten ally limi Stephen Westerberg, Leo Smith ted in ungrazed habitats. Further work is needed See separate papers in this magazine. to iden fy management regimes and interven ons to maintain condi ons suitable for breeding
Author´s address: J B , Bri sh Trust for Ornithology, The Nunnery, The ord, Norfolk IP24 2PU, United Kingdom, E mail: [email protected]
95 WhinCHAT I Paper show 2016
Paper show 2016 I W W G
On the following pages you fi nd abstracts of new papers with „Whinchat in main focus“ published in 2016. The Bri sh papers can be found on the previous pages compiled by Jennifer Border.
Interna onal The tested alterna ve mowing regimes may Broyer J, Sukhanova O, Mischenko A 2016: therefore locally increase popula on density How to sustain meadow passerine popula without nega ve density dependent eff ects ons in Europe through alterna ve mowing on hatching rates. Implemen ng rota onal management. Agriculture, Ecosystems & mowing could reduce habitat loss caused by Environment 215, 133 139. farming abandonment in Russia. Postponing mowing un l a er mid July in patches of hay Abstract: Two decades of agri environmental fi elds may sustain meadow bird demography policy did not prevent a long term decline of in the remaining strongholds of western Eu grassland birds in Europe. Addi onal mea rope. sures are therefore needed to sustain the popula ons. This study explored alterna ve Germany mowing management regimes likely to secu Feulner J, Rudroff S, Brendel U 2016: Ein re demographic sources in the early mown Schwarzkehlchen Männchen Saxicola tor- grassland systems of western Europe, and quata als Bruthelfer beim Braunkehlchen S. to limit habitat loss a er farming abandon rubetra. Ornithol. Anz. 54, 297 299. ment in countries of the former Eastern Bloc. Abstract: An unpaired male stonechat ap Postponing grass cu ng un l a er mid July peared as a breeding helper for the whinchat from 2009 to 2014 in half of the area of 4 in the Teuschnitzaue/ Franconian Forest. The study sites (29 55. ha each) in the Saône Val aggressions between both males that were ley (France), led to increased territory den determined in the fi rst instance were disap sity and improved hatching success. Bird re pearing a er a couple of days and the male sponse however was species specifi c: Corn stonechat began to support the breeding Bun ng Emberiza calandra territory density whinchat pair by feeding, removing of feces, benefi ted the most from the alterna ve ma warning and leading of fl edglings. nagement, Yellow Wagtail Motacilla fl ava ter ritory distribu on tended to match the late Heindl, M 2016: Brutbestandsentwicklung mown areas, whereas the Whinchat Saxicola von Braunkehlchen Saxicola rubetra und rubetra did not change its ini al distribu Grauammer Emberiza calandra auf einer on. Temporary interrup on of mowing in 8 Photovoltaik Freifl ächenanlage bei Dem meadow units (11.7 15.1. ha) of the Moskva min. Ornithol. Rundbr. Mecklenbg. Vor Valley (Central Russia) was similarly correla pomm. 48, 303 307. ted with higher territory density. Whinchat Development of the breeding popula ons of territory density decreased a er one single Whinchat and Corn Bun ng in an open area year of mowing. A er two consecu ve years photovoltaic plant near Demmin. of mowing, Whinchat hatching success was lower and the Lesser Citrine Wagtail Mota- cilla citreola werae virtually disappeared.
96 WhinCHAT I Paper show 2016
Poland Zawadzki M, Tańczuk T 2015 : Próby zimo Orlowski G, Frankiewicz J, Karg J 2016: Nest wania pokląskwy Saxicola rubetra na Śląsku ling diet op miza on and condi on in rela [Wintering of the Whinchat Saxicola rubetra on to prey a ributes and breeding patch in Silesia]. Ptaki Śląska 22, 156–158. size in a patch resident insec vorous passe This paper is from 2015, but we will present rine an op mal con nuum and habitat con it here, because it is not too easy to fi nd. straints. J. Ornithol. 158/1. Summary: On 17.12.2014 a Whinchat Abstract: Direct observa onal studies are in female plumage was observed near needed to address dietary adjustment in Chrząstowice (Opole Province). On the same species breeding in isolated non forest ha day 3 kilometers north of this site, near bitat islands with respect to the energy de Lędziny (Opole Province), a male and a bird mands of growing nestlings and breeding in female plumage were observed. The male patch size. Using new dietary records deter observed in Lędziny was last seen in this lo mined for nestlings of Whinchat Saxicola ru- ca on on 27.12.2014. This is the latest ob betra , a drama cally declining insec vorous serva on of this species in Poland and the passerine and an indicator species of the fi rst recorded wintering a empt. cessa on of agricultural ac vity, we inves Switzerland gated the rela onships between changes in the main dietary characteris cs, numerical Horch P, Spaar R 2016: Landwirtscha und and biomass contribu ons of major taxono Naturschutz im oberen Goms: Gemeinsa mic and func onal prey groups (expressing mer Einsatz für das Braunkehlchen. Jahres chi n content, ver cal distribu on, habitat bericht 2015. preference and vagility within the landscape) Zusammenfassung: Seit 2014 werden durch and brood age, nestling condi on and size das Vernetzungsprojekt im Oberen Goms of abandoned fi elds (i.e., breeding patches). vier „Fördergebiete Braunkehlchen“ gesi Broods from larger abandoned fi elds recei chert, die für die Braunkehlchen wich g sind. ved more sedentary and heavier prey like Die Wiesen müssen für acht Jahre extensiv Orthoptera and soil dwelling invertebrates, oder wenig intensiv genutzt werden und whereas the propor on of caterpillars, aerial können als Biodiversitätsförderfl ächen an insects and prey from vegeta on decreased gemeldet werden. Die erste Nutzung erfolgt with increasing patch size. Nestling condi on ab dem 15. Juli und muss eine Mahdnutzung was posi vely correlated with the propor on sein. Das Braunkehlchen Monitoring, das die of caterpillars and Orthoptera or sedentary Vogelwarte seit 2006 auf Teilfl ächen durch prey taxa, but nega vely with the propor on führt, wurde 2015 fortgesetzt. Aufgrund der of Coleoptera or vagile prey taxa in the diet, neuen Perimeter ist nur ein Vergleich der though not with patch area. This suggests Dichten pro 10 ha sinnvoll. Über die letzten that parent Whinchats can overcome the 10 Jahre gesehen geht der Bestand zurück, habitat constraints resul ng from the small hat sich aber im Vergleich zu 2014 in den area of an abandoned fi eld by interchan meisten Flächen leicht erholt. 2016 wird das geably incorpora ng the two major prey Monitoring des Braunkehlchenbestands im groups ( Orthoptera or Lepidoptera ) into the oberen Goms fortgesetzt. diet they feed to their nestlings. This implies a con nuum in dietary op miza on that is a trade off between a brood‘s nutri onal de Please support us and send us abstracts mands and the parents‘ ability to deliver top from ‚2017 papers‘ un l 01 December 2017. ranked invertebrates present mostly within Email: [email protected] the breeding patch.
97 Please send a copy of your WhinCHAT magazine to competent authori es, nature conserva on associa ons and to all interested people. WhinCHAT is free and should be spread.
WhinCHAT II will be released on 31 December 2017. Editorial deadline: 01 December 2017. We are interested in original ar cles, summaries of new papers, reports about conserva on projects, conference informa ons, whinchat photographs and all news about whinchats.
Please send your manuscripts and photos to the IWWG, [email protected]
All members of the IWWG will get one magazine via email. An online version will be here: h ps://braunkehlchen.jimdo.com