Article Abstract:
Studies of habitat and resources are important in understanding population dynamics and animal behavior but are sometimes difficult if a specie's home range is large. Ciconiiformes, such as tricolored herons and snowy egrets, are easy to study because of their size and conspicuousness. A new study of the ecology of breeding tricolored herons and snowy egrets seeks to discover the effect of water level variation on their resource use across the whole of their home ranges. The study shows similar patterns of flight direction in the two species. During periods of drought, only the tricolored heron nests successfully.
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Article Abstract:
A comparison of aerial and ground techniques to determine the size, species composition and nesting colonies of wading birds reveals that the ground methods are more efficient in locating the colonies. The techniques have been compared in the central Everglades of Florida, which is a homogenous habitat with excellent visibility for aerial survey. Aerial survey is a major tool in quantifying number of colonies and nests of colonially-nesting waterbirds. However, the method should be used only with additional information from systematic ground surveys and censuses.
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Article Abstract:
Seabirds nesting in dense and small sub-colonies enjoy greater protection against aerial predation by Peregrines than those in large and loose aggregations. The nesting density is independent of the the size of the colony. Grouping in the breeding colonies helps the prey to detect, confuse and defend against the predators. However, some predators have also evolved to exploit such rich food patches.
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