Movements of Australian Wood Ducks (Chenonetta jubata) in an agricultural landscape

Title
Movements of Australian Wood Ducks (Chenonetta jubata) in an agricultural landscape
Publication Date
2019
Author(s)
McEvoy, John F
Hall, Graham P
McDonald, Paul G
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9541-3304
Email: pmcdon21@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:pmcdon21
Type of document
Journal Article
Language
en
Entity Type
Publication
Publisher
Taylor & Francis Australasia
Place of publication
Australia
DOI
10.1080/01584197.2018.1562306
UNE publication id
une:1959.11/28074
Abstract
We deployed satellite transmitters to provide the first detailed picture of the movement behaviour of Australian Wood Ducks (Chenonetta jubata) through agricultural landscapes where the availability and spatial arrangement of resources are highly predictable. We measured movement distances and home-range areas of individual Australian Wood Ducks and investigated their site fidelity by comparing the overlap of successive home-range areas on a fortnightly temporal scale. First passage time (FPT) analysis was used to determine the spatial scales at which foraging occurs within home-range areas. We found a peak of movement activity around the periods of dawn and dusk similar to many waterfowl species. The mean overlap of core home-range areas over successive 2 week periods was 89.81% (± 2.38 SD), which demonstrates strong site fidelity. Area-restricted search (ARS) occurred at the scale of individual foraging (ca.100 m), with no clear peaks at larger spatial scales. This finding implies that search effort was expended equally across the combined utilisation distribution of Australian Wood Ducks in this agricultural landscape. Our results support the conclusions of previous studies suggesting that the movement behaviour of Australian Wood Ducks is shaped strongly by the temporal and spatial predictability of their grazing areas and access to water in the form of farm dams.
Link
Citation
Emu - Austral Onithology, 119(2), p. 147-156
ISSN
1448-5540
0158-4197
Start page
147
End page
156

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