Abstract
For the first time, we measured the home range size and activity pattern of a White-tailed Sea Eagle (WTSE) by GPS telemetry. Positions were recorded three times a day and the activity pattern were continuously recorded by two acceleration sensors. From July to January, we obtained 475 positions and calculated a 95% kernel home range of 4.53 km2 and a 95% minimum convex polygon of 8.22 km2, indicating a rather small area explained by an optimal habitat and by the much more precise location method used here compared to reports in the literature. Biorhythmic analysis of activity data revealed nearly no night-activity, high day-activity with no fixed daily pattern and a strong 24-h period of activity. The stability and synchronisation between the eagle's activity and the environmental 24-h period was evaluated by calculating the degrees of functional coupling (DFC) and the harmonic part (HP). Mostly, DFC was 100% (meaning that the different physiological and behavioural functions are completely synchronised to each other and to the environmental 24-h period) and the few incursions of the DFC we assumed to be caused by clinically relevant lead intoxications. The agonal stage of the WTSE was indicated by a daily decreasing activity level and HPs and highly modified day–night relationship, and decreasing DFCs at the beginning and at the end of dying process, representing changes in the activity structure. The underlying reason for the behavioural changes was found to be a lethal lead intoxication due to an oral ingestion of particles of rifle ammunition. The new technology of a combined GPS receiver and an acceleration sensor allows the automatic measuring of positions and activity of wild animals at a very precise level over prolonged periods which cannot be achieved by manpower.
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Acknowledgments
We are grateful to Dr. W. Mewes, former head of the natural park Nossentiner/Schwinzer Heide, for his help and support. Without his confidence in our abilities and his knowledge about the White-tailed Sea Eagle population in the area this study would not have been possible. We would like to thank Dr. L. Wölfel from the Federal office for the Environment, Conservation, and Geology Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania for the permissions to conduct this study. We also thank Dr. W. Neubauer, Dr. N. Kenntner and numerous volunteers for their support and assistance in the White-tailed Sea Eagle project. We are indebted to the Klara-Samariter Foundation for the generous financial support of the project. We express our gratitude to the Reepsholt Foundation for Nature Conservation and Sustainable Use for the essential logistic support. Finally, we would like to thank two anonymous referees for reviewing the manuscript and their helpful comments.
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Communicated by F. Bairlein.
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Krone, O., Berger, A. & Schulte, R. Recording movement and activity pattern of a White-tailed Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) by a GPS datalogger. J Ornithol 150, 273–280 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-008-0347-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-008-0347-1