Assessing the Type and Frequency of Band Resighting Errors for Razorbill Alca Torda with Implications for other Wildlife Studies
Visual markers are frequently used in wildlife studies to identify individual animals and to track their behaviour (including movement)and survival. These markers are useful because identification can be made without recapturing individuals, thus minimizing disturbance.However, studies have shown th...
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ftunivtasecite:oai:ecite.utas.edu.au:77905 2023-05-15T13:12:13+02:00 Assessing the Type and Frequency of Band Resighting Errors for Razorbill Alca Torda with Implications for other Wildlife Studies Lavers, JL Jones, IL 2008 application/pdf http://www.marineornithology.org/ http://ecite.utas.edu.au/77905 en eng African Seabird Group http://ecite.utas.edu.au/77905/1/Lavers & Jones 08 - Band Error.pdf Lavers, JL and Jones, IL, Assessing the Type and Frequency of Band Resighting Errors for Razorbill Alca Torda with Implications for other Wildlife Studies, Marine Ornithology, 36 pp. 19-23. ISSN 1018-3337 (2008) [Refereed Article] http://ecite.utas.edu.au/77905 Biological Sciences Ecology Ecology not elsewhere classified Refereed Article PeerReviewed 2008 ftunivtasecite 2019-12-13T21:43:47Z Visual markers are frequently used in wildlife studies to identify individual animals and to track their behaviour (including movement)and survival. These markers are useful because identification can be made without recapturing individuals, thus minimizing disturbance.However, studies have shown that errors associated with reading and recording markers adversely influence the estimation of populationparameters. Using the example of triangular field-readable leg bands on Razorbill Alca torda, we developed a simple experimental protocolfor quantifying band resighting error rates and identifying trends in digit misidentifications. The resighting error rate varied from 0.035 to0.134 depending on observer distance and conditions under which the bands were read. Misidentification of the digits 3 and 5 accounted formore than 48% of all errors made. In our study, 94% of all misread bands corresponded to a valid entry in the banding data base (i.e. misreadnumbers coincidentally referred to other banded birds), probably because more than 12 000 Razorbills have been banded from one longsequence of band numbers between 1980 and 2007. We conclude that band reading error is a neglected phenomenon that has likely hadprofound effects on the accuracy of survival studies, and we provide suggestions for minimizing the frequency of such errors. Article in Journal/Newspaper Alca torda Razorbill eCite UTAS (University of Tasmania) |
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English |
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Biological Sciences Ecology Ecology not elsewhere classified |
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Biological Sciences Ecology Ecology not elsewhere classified Lavers, JL Jones, IL Assessing the Type and Frequency of Band Resighting Errors for Razorbill Alca Torda with Implications for other Wildlife Studies |
topic_facet |
Biological Sciences Ecology Ecology not elsewhere classified |
description |
Visual markers are frequently used in wildlife studies to identify individual animals and to track their behaviour (including movement)and survival. These markers are useful because identification can be made without recapturing individuals, thus minimizing disturbance.However, studies have shown that errors associated with reading and recording markers adversely influence the estimation of populationparameters. Using the example of triangular field-readable leg bands on Razorbill Alca torda, we developed a simple experimental protocolfor quantifying band resighting error rates and identifying trends in digit misidentifications. The resighting error rate varied from 0.035 to0.134 depending on observer distance and conditions under which the bands were read. Misidentification of the digits 3 and 5 accounted formore than 48% of all errors made. In our study, 94% of all misread bands corresponded to a valid entry in the banding data base (i.e. misreadnumbers coincidentally referred to other banded birds), probably because more than 12 000 Razorbills have been banded from one longsequence of band numbers between 1980 and 2007. We conclude that band reading error is a neglected phenomenon that has likely hadprofound effects on the accuracy of survival studies, and we provide suggestions for minimizing the frequency of such errors. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Lavers, JL Jones, IL |
author_facet |
Lavers, JL Jones, IL |
author_sort |
Lavers, JL |
title |
Assessing the Type and Frequency of Band Resighting Errors for Razorbill Alca Torda with Implications for other Wildlife Studies |
title_short |
Assessing the Type and Frequency of Band Resighting Errors for Razorbill Alca Torda with Implications for other Wildlife Studies |
title_full |
Assessing the Type and Frequency of Band Resighting Errors for Razorbill Alca Torda with Implications for other Wildlife Studies |
title_fullStr |
Assessing the Type and Frequency of Band Resighting Errors for Razorbill Alca Torda with Implications for other Wildlife Studies |
title_full_unstemmed |
Assessing the Type and Frequency of Band Resighting Errors for Razorbill Alca Torda with Implications for other Wildlife Studies |
title_sort |
assessing the type and frequency of band resighting errors for razorbill alca torda with implications for other wildlife studies |
publisher |
African Seabird Group |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
http://www.marineornithology.org/ http://ecite.utas.edu.au/77905 |
genre |
Alca torda Razorbill |
genre_facet |
Alca torda Razorbill |
op_relation |
http://ecite.utas.edu.au/77905/1/Lavers & Jones 08 - Band Error.pdf Lavers, JL and Jones, IL, Assessing the Type and Frequency of Band Resighting Errors for Razorbill Alca Torda with Implications for other Wildlife Studies, Marine Ornithology, 36 pp. 19-23. ISSN 1018-3337 (2008) [Refereed Article] http://ecite.utas.edu.au/77905 |
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1766250817717796864 |