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USGS · 1015966

Application of a modified harness design for attachment of radio transmitters to shorebirds

Peter M. Sanzenbacher·Susan M. Haig·Lewis W. Oring
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Abstract

Radio transmitter attachment methodology is important to the design of radio telemetry studies. In 1998, we attached 5 transmitters to a captive population of Western Sandpipers ( Calidris mauri ) and 7 transmitters to wild Killdeer ( Charadriusv ociferus ) using a modified version of the Rappole and Tipton (1991) figure-8 leg-loop harness. Captive birds fitted with harnesses did not exhibit quantifiable differences in behavior relative to control birds. Based on initial success in using the leg-loop harnesses, we used harnesses to attach transmitters in the wild to 30 Killdeer and 49 Dunlin ( Calidris alpina ) during the winters of 1998-1999 and 1999-2000. This was part of a study on movements of wintering shorebirds in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, USA. Wild birds showed no adverse effects of the harnesses.Thus, the described harness is a practical method for attachment of transmitters to shorebirds. Advantages of this harness method include a reduction in handling time at capture, elimination of the need to clip feathers for attachment, and increased transmitter retention time.

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Wader Study Group BulletinArticle
90° N90° S · 180° W ← longitude → 180° E
Source-reported bounding extent: 43.92163712834673° to 45.867062714815475° latitude; -123.46435546875° to -122.4041748046875° longitude. This indicates report coverage, not an exact sampling location. View area on OpenStreetMap.

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BibTeXRIS

Peter M. Sanzenbacher, Susan M. Haig, Lewis W. Oring. 2000. Application of a modified harness design for attachment of radio transmitters to shorebirds. https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/1015966

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