As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Wednesday, 14 August 2019

Global tracking devices negatively affect the survival rate of sage-grouses

AUGUST 13, 2019


A new study in The Condor: Ornithological Applications finds that currently-available global positioning system (GPS) tracking devices, previously thought to not alter animal survival rates, can decrease greater sage-grouse survival.

The researchers monitored sage-grouse survival at 14 sites throughout California and Nevada. Between 2012 and 2017, VHF transmitters were attached to 821 female and 52 male sage-grouse. GPS devices were attached to 234 female and 125 male sage-grouse.

Researchers here combined the measured survival of the tracked sage-grouse throughout the duration of the study with models to estimate independent random effects and correlating fatalities, to determine differences in the survival rate for sage-grouse fitted with GPS devices versus those fitted with VHF transmitters.
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