Abstract
Information on movement ecology is key in understanding the drivers and limitations of life history traits and has a potential role in indicating environmental change. Currently we have a limited understanding of the parameters of movement of territory-bound raptors, which are sensitive to environmental change. In this study we used GPS tracking technology to obtain spatially (within 3 m) and temporally (c. 3 mins) high-resolution movement data on a small sample of Verreaux’s eagle Aquila verreauxii during the pre-laying period (n = 4) with one additional example during the chick rearing period. We present GPS-derived home range estimates for this species and we examine temporal (timing, duration, frequency and speed) and spatial (total path length and maximum distance from nest) patterns of trips away from the nest. For eagles tagged in the agriculturally developed Sandveld region (n = 3), which is made up of a mosaic of land use types, we also undertook a habitat selection analysis. Home ranges were small and largely mutually exclusive. Trip activity was centred around midday, which is likely to be related to lift availability. Our habitat selection analysis found that eagles selected for near-natural and degraded habitat over natural or completely modified areas, suggesting that these eagles may have benefitted from some of the agricultural development in this region. Although our sample sizes are small, the resolution of our tracking data was essential in deriving this data over a relatively short time period and paves the way for future research.
Highlights
Understanding spatio-temporal patterns of animal activity is the central theme in the growing field of movement ecology
Using high-resolution GPS fixes this study provides information on the spatial and temporal ranging behaviour of the Verreaux’s eagle
GPS data have regularly been used to investigate coarse migratory routes and home range size in raptorial species [48,49], with only a few exceptions, the use of high-resolution tracks derived from free-living raptors remains rare [50,51]
Summary
Understanding spatio-temporal patterns of animal activity is the central theme in the growing field of movement ecology. Information on individual animal movement and space use is key in understanding the environmental drivers and the limitations on a species life history traits, as well as forecasting their persistence and implementing conservation strategies in a rapidly. Ranging Behavior of Verreaux’s Eagles Determined Using High Resolution Tracking. These all contributed to field work, data analysis and write up costs. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript
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