| | Accession Number | 5005128 |
| | Title | Exploring the use of recorded sounds for monitoring waterbird populations |
| | Project Description | Colonial waterbirds have been the subject of increased population monitoring efforts in recent |
| | years and estimates of population trends are frequently used to establish conservation priorities |
| | for these taxa. While some colonial-nesting birds are conspicuous and relatively easy to monitor, |
| | other colonial waterbird populations poses considerable challenges. The enormous numbers of |
| | birds present at a colony or aspects of their breeding biology such as nesting in crevices and |
| | burrows and/or nocturnal attendance at colonies do not allow for the easy enumeration of breeding |
| | adults. Methods for monitoring these taxa are poorly developed, if they exist at all, and frequently |
| | result in very imprecise estimates of population trends. In recent years, the technology for |
| | recording and analyzing bird vocalizations has undergone considerable improvements. Analyses of |
| | vocalizations that formerly required use of sophisticated equipment in specialized laboratories |
| | can now be accomplished on personal computers. Improved analytical techniques allow for the |
| | identification of individual birds by their vocalizations. Although the few current studies have been |
| | conducted with a small number of passerine species, these techniques may be equally useful for |
| | colonial-nesting birds and other non-passerines and hold the potential for developing innovative |
| | approaches for monitoring populations of many bird species. We propose to explore the use of |
| | vocalizations of individual birds in the development of monitoring techniques for colonial waterbirds. |
| | In this study, we will determine whether individuals of specific taxa can be distinguished and |
| | identified by their vocalizations. The primary emphasis will on nocturnal and crevice/burrow nesting |
| | species because reliable monitoring methods do not presently exist for most of these taxa. If this |
| | study finds that individuals can be positively identified by their vocalizations, a second study will |
| | be necessary to explore using vocalizations in capture-recapture models to estimate population |
| | size. |
| | Keywords | acoustics, colonial, monitoring, seabird, vocalizations, |
| | Principal | Melanie J Steinkamp, USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center: melanie_steinkamp@usgs.gov; |
| | Investigators |
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