Abstract
Our study provides the first GPS tracking data of Little Egret Egretta garzetta from an East Asian population. Our two main objectives were to reveal the migratory route and migratory strategy of Little Egret, and to study inter-annual breeding and wintering site fidelity. Our data, from an adult and a juvenile, suggest that this species is a short-distance high-speed migrant using few or no stopover sites. Both individuals displayed high breeding and wintering site fidelity. They also used very small winter home ranges, probably associated with high prey availability in aquaculture ponds.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 81-86 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Ornithological Science |
| Volume | 22 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Early online date | 26 Jan 2023 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 26 Jan 2023 |
Bibliographical note
We also thank Fion Au for field assistance and the fishpond owners for allowing us to conduct field work at their ponds. We acknowledge the staff of Ecotone Telemetry, particularly A. Grochowska, A. Komoszynska and L. Iliszko for their technical support for GPS tracking.Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Ornithological Society of Japan. All rights reserved.
Funding
This study was funded by the Environment and Conservation Fund of the Government of the Hong Kong SAR, China (EP86/19/271). We thank the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department of the Government of the Hong Kong SAR, China, for project support and providing permission for egret trapping and handling [(43) AF GR CON 09/51 Pt. 6].
Keywords
- East Asia
- GPS tracking
- Little Egret
- Migration
- Site fidelity
