Steve Portugal recently visited the Hawk Conservancy Trust in Andover (Hampshire) to deploy accelerometery loggers that measure body movements to categorise the different flight styles of numerous species of captive raptors. The Hawk Conservancy Trust is a conservation charity and visitor attraction that has for many years worked in the fields of conservation, education, rehabilitation and the research of birds of prey, both in the UK and overseas. In collaboration with Campbell Murn (Hawk Conservancy), Dr. Lewis Halsey (Roehampton University), Dr Emily Shephard and Professor Rory Wilson (Swansea University), the loggers were deployed on a number of species ranging from owls (Snowy, Great-grey and Milky Eagle-owl), falcons (Saker), and eagles (Bald and Tawny) to vultures (Griffon and Turkey) and hawks (Harris). The purpose of categorising the different behaviours in captive birds is so that the accelerometers can be deployed on wild birds to elucidate certain aspects of their behaviour. In particular, it is hoped that this approach can be used to investigate flight patterns in African and Asian endangered vulture populations, to inform decision making with respect to the location of vulture supplementary feeding stations. Certain populations of vultures have been brought to the brink of extinction through the use of the drug diclofenac to treat disease in cattle. Unfortunately, the drug is fatal when ingested by vultures which subsequently feed on cattle carcasses.
(photos show Harris Hawk and Snowy Owl fitted with accelerometers and ready to fly)
