Effects of Harness-Attached Transmitters on Premigration and Reproduction of Brant

• Published in: The Journal of wildlife management Vol. 59; no. 1; pp. 39 - 46
• Main Authors: Ward, David H., Flint, Paul L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bethesda, MD The Wildlife Society 01-01-1995; Wildlife Society; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Animal migration behavior; Animal reproduction; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Aviculture; Biological and medical sciences; Bird migration; Bird nesting; Branta bernicla nigricans; Breeding; Breeding seasons; Electronics; Female animals; Females; Flint; Freshwater; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Geese; General aspects. Techniques; Lagoons; Methods and techniques (sampling, tagging, trapping, modelling...); Nesting; Radio transmitters; Transmitters; Alaska; United States; North America; America; USA, Alaska; Vertebrata; Reproduction; Radiotelemetry; Radiotransmitter; Body weight; Female; Animal migration; Perturbation; Aves
• ISSN: 0022-541X; 1937-2817
• DOI: 10.2307/3809113

Radio transmitters are an important tool in waterfowl ecology studies, but little is known about their effects on free-ranging geese. We attached transmitters to female brant (Branta bernicla nigricans) to investigate migration schedules at a fall staging area, return rates to nesting grounds, and nesting rates of returning females in subsequent breeding seasons. Radio-tagged females (n = 62) carried either 35-g back-mounted transmitters attached with ribbon harnesses, or 26- or 32-g back-mounted transmitters affixed with plastic-coated wire harnesses (Dwyer 1972). Arrival and departure schedules at Izembek Lagoon, Alaska, did not differ (P > 0.05) between radio-tagged females and the entire population in 1987-89. Color-banded females with transmitters returned to the breeding colony in subsequent nesting seasons (1988-92) at a lower (P ≤ 0.003) rate (≤4%) than color-banded females without transmitters (57-83%). The 1 returning color-banded female with a transmitter did not breed, while an average 90% of the returning color-banded females without transmitters nested in subsequent breeding seasons (P = 0.005). Back-mounted, harness-attached transmitters may bias data in studies of waterfowl behavior, productivity, and survival.