Abstract
The marking of individual birds has a long history in ornithology. This inexpensive and simple practice has been used to shed light on migration, behavior, and age-specific survival and recruitment. However, problems associated with markers and tags have often been overlooked. Wing tags have been used for over 40 years on frigatebirds, but their effects on this family of highly aerial seabirds have not been examined. Following higher than expected nest failure of treatment birds in the previous breeding season, we designed a study to test the impact of wing tagging and other standard capture and sampling methods on the nest success of Magnificent Frigatebirds (Fregata magnificens). Twelve nests were assigned to each of various band, measure, bleed, wing tag, and control treatments in the 2010/2011 breeding season on Barbuda, West Indies. We modeled nest fates using generalized linear models. Wing tags had a substantial negative effect on pre-fledging nest success, which was 42 % (10/24) for control nests, 39 % (14/36) for all non wing-tagged treatments, and 15 % (7/48) for wing-tagged treatments. We also conducted two meta-analyses, with different effect size calculations, to explore the general impact of wing and patagial tags on all birds. Our log odds ratio model showed a significant effect on survival and hatch and nest success, while our standardized mean difference model dealing largely with outcomes of behavioral, condition, and reproductive parameters (e.g., number of chicks and hatch date) showed no difference between marked and control birds. We consider possible mechanisms by which wing tags might contribute to lower nest success in frigatebirds, and propose that alternative markers be considered carefully before being applied to any species.
Zusammenfassung
Flügelmarkierungen sind möglicherweise problematisch: eine Fallstudie und Metaanalyse der Auswirkungen von Flügelmarkierungen
In der Ornithologie hat die Markierung einzelner Vögel eine lange Tradition. Als preiswerte und einfache Methode dient sie schon seit langem dazu, Erkenntnisse über den Vogelzug, das Verhalten und das Überleben und die Fortpflanzung zu gewinnen. Dabei sind aber Probleme, die aus den solchen Markierungen am Vogel resultierten, oft vernachlässigt worden. Seit mehr als 40 Jahren werden bei Fregattvögeln Flügelmarkierungen eingesetzt, aber deren Auswirkungen auf diese ausgesprochen flugintensiven Vögel wurden nie untersucht. Nachdem wir bei markierten Vögeln nach einer Brutsaison einen schlechteren Bruterfolg als erwartet beobachtet hatten, arbeiteten wir eine Studie aus zur Untersuchung der Auswirkungen von Flügelmarkierungen und anderer Fang- und Markierungsmethoden auf den Bruterfolg von Prachtfregattvögeln (Fregata magnificens). In der Brutsaison 2010/2011 wurden auf Barbuda, einer Insel der Kleine Antillen, zwölf Nester für je eine von mehreren Markierung- und Messmethoden sowie für Kontrollbehandlungen ausgewählt. Die weitere Entwicklung der einzelnen Nester wurde anhand linearer Modelle modelliert. Danach hatten Flügelmarkierungen einen substantiell negativen Effekt auf den Bruterfolg während der Zeit vor dem Flüggewerden: 42 % (10/24) bei den Kontrollnestern, 39 (14/36) bei allen Behandlungen außer Flügelmarkierung und 15 % (7/48) bei den Nestern mit Flügelmarkierungen. Außerdem führten wir zwei Metaanalysen für unterschiedliche Effektstärkenberechnungen durch, um den generellen Einfluss von Flügelmarkierungen zu untersuchen. Das von uns eingesetzte logarithmische Quotenverhältnis-Modell („log odds ratio model“) zeigte einen signifikanten Effekt auf den Überlebens- und Schlüpferfolg, während das standardisierte „mean difference“-Modell, das in erster Linie für Messungen von Verhaltens- und Fortpflanzungsparametern eingesetzt wird, keinen Unterschied zwischen den markierten und den Kontrollvögeln zeigte. Wir denken, dass es möglicherweise Mechanismen gibt, die bei an den Flügeln markierten Fregattvögeln zu einem geringeren Bruterfolg führen, und wir empfehlen, alternative Markierungen bei jeder Vogelart vor einer Anbringung sorgfältig zu prüfen.
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Acknowledgments
Funding was provided by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Discovery grant number 170521-2009 to A.W.D., and S.A.T. was funded by a University of New Brunswick William S. Lewis Doctoral Fellowship. Research was conducted under permits from the Barbuda Council and Antigua and Barbuda National Parks, and with kind permission of the Environmental Awareness Group of Antigua. We wish to thank the field assistants who contributed to this project: Sarah Chisholm, Marie-Paule Godin, Geoff Holroyd, James Hudson, Julie McKnight, Rebecca Standen, Josh Sayers, Helen Trefry, Phil Trefry, and Erin Whidden. Jason Addison, Steve Heard, and James Hudson provided useful comments on earlier drafts. Procedures were conducted in accordance with the guidelines for the ethical use of animals and research set forth by the Canadian Council on Animal Care Guidelines and Policies at the University of New Brunswick, under Protocol 10045.
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Communicated by A. Hedenström.
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Trefry, S.A., Diamond, A.W. & Jesson, L.K. Wing marker woes: a case study and meta-analysis of the impacts of wing and patagial tags. J Ornithol 154, 1–11 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-012-0862-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-012-0862-y