Effects of geolocators on hatching success, return rates, breeding movements, and change in body mass in 16 species of Arctic-breeding shorebirds

• Main Authors: Weiser, Emily, Lanctot, Richard, Brown, Stephen, Alves, José, Battley, Phil, Bentzen, Rebecca, Bêty, Joël, Bishop, Mary, Boldenow, Megan, Bollache, Loïc, Casler, Bruce, Christie, Maureen, Coleman, Jonathan, Conklin, Jesse, English, Willow, Gates, H., Gilg, Olivier, Giroux, Marie-Andrée, Gosbell, Ken, Hassell, Chris, Helmericks, Jim, Johnson, Andrew, Katrínardóttir, Borgný, Koivula, Kari, Kwon, Eunbi, Lamarre, Jean-Francois, Lang, Johannes, Lank, David, Lecomte, Nicolas, Liebezeit, Joe, Loverti, Vanessa, McKinnon, Laura, Minton, Clive, Mizrahi, David, Nol, Erica, Pakanen, Veli-Matti, Perz, Johanna, Porter, Ron, Rausch, Jennie, Reneerkens, Jeroen, Rönkä, Nelli, Saalfeld, Sarah, Senner, Nathan, Sittler, Benoît, Smith, Paul, Sowl, Kristine, Taylor, Audrey, Ward, David, Yezerinac, Stephen, Sandercock, Brett
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: English
• Published: BioMed Central Ltd. 2016
• Subjects: Breeding success; Geologger; Global location sensor (GLS); Research impacts; Return rates; Tracking methods; Waders; Arctic
• Online Access: http://www.movementecologyjournal.com/content/4/1/12

Abstract Background Geolocators are useful for tracking movements of long-distance migrants, but potential negative effects on birds have not been well studied. We tested for effects of geolocators (0.8–2.0 g total, representing 0.1–3.9 % of mean body mass) on 16 species of migratory shorebirds, including five species with 2–4 subspecies each for a total of 23 study taxa. Study species spanned a range of body sizes (26–1091 g) and eight genera, and were tagged at 23 breeding and eight nonbreeding sites. We compared breeding performance and return rates of birds with geolocators to control groups while controlling for potential confounding variables. Results We detected negative effects of tags for three small-bodied species. Geolocators reduced annual return rates for two of 23 taxa: by 63 % for semipalmated sandpipers and by .