Rise-Up mist-netting (RUM): a mobile protocol for trapping wary territorial birds

Paulo Sérgio Amorim,André De Camargo Guaraldo,Mariana Fonseca Rossi

doi:10.11606/1807-0205/2021.61.10

Paulo Sérgio Amorim, André De Camargo Guaraldo + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.11606/1807-0205/2021.61.10

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Abstract

Many bird species avoid traditional traps such as mist nets, thus alternative trapping methods are often needed. The Rufous Hornero (Furnariidae: Furnarius rufus) is one such species that was captured so far using conventional mist netting in rural areas or using nest-targeted traps, which risk nest damage and abandonment. Here we describe the novel rise-up mist-netting (RUM) protocol and its catchability for the wary and territorial Rufous Hornero in an urban area. The RUM trap allowed us quickly capturing 40 Rufous Hornero individuals even in paved parking lots and streets during the bird’s breeding period. The RUM is an active and targeted protocol that demands a single and quickly trainable field assistant. Therefore, it should also enable the capture of many understudied territorial but wary species. Moreover, it has enough mobility to fit studies in urban areas, and whenever researchers may deal with limited space and, at the same time, should reduce negative visual impacts to the general public of birds’ capturing and banding procedures.

Highlights

When studying bird ecology and their community interaction dynamics and behavioral adaptations to the urban environments, researchers often demand techniques to capture and mark individuals
We describe a new protocol that combines playbacks to a single small (6 m) mist net handled in an innovative way for capturing Rufous Horneros during its breeding period
The mist net was set to the poles as it would be in the conventional protocol

Summary

Introduction

When studying bird ecology and their community interaction dynamics and behavioral adaptations to the urban environments, researchers often demand techniques to capture and mark individuals. Ornithologists developed many non-lethal capture methods, such as the classic mist net (Keyes & Grue, 1982), but more sophisticated methods exist, such as explosive-propelled (Dill & Thornsberry, 1950) and compressed-air cannon nets (Bamford et al, 2009; Caudill et al, 2014), submerged mist nets (Breault & Cheng, 1990), claptraps (Koopman & Hulscher, 1979), flip nets (Adams et al, 2019), leg lasso (Herring et al, 2008; Adams et al, 2019), crossbow-net (Martins et al, 2014), pressure-operated drop net (Bush, 2008), above-water suspended mist net (Ware et al, 2013), and nest traps (Marvelde et al, 2011; Sousa & Stewart, 2011; Braga et al, 2014) Many of these methods were improved through time to overcome the limited catchability of specific taxa such as those secretive or wary (Cerboncini et al, 2015), hummingbirds (Ruschi, 2009), large-bodied endangered species (Bush, 2008), and even to suit to challenging scenarios such as dense forest.

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