SATELLITE TELEMETRY IN ORNITHLOGY

CONVENORS
Prof. Bernd-U. Meyburg
Chairman, World Working Group on Birds of Prey and Owls (WWGBP)
Advisory Member of the  Species Survival Commission (SSC),  IUCN - The World Conservation Union
Wangenheimstr. 32, D-14193 BERLIN, GERMANY
E-mail: BUMeyburg@aol.com, Work Fax: ++49-30-892 80 67, Phone: ++49-30-826 34 99
www.Raptors-International.de
www.Raptor-Research.de

Dr. Adrian Aebischer
Rte de Schiffenen 17, CH-1700 Fribourg, Schweiz/Suisse/Switzerland
Tel :  0041 / 26 / 481 23 66, adaebischer@pwnet.ch

DESCRIPTION
Satellite telemetry (ST) has revolutionised the study of bird migration. This is because tracking systems  used in ST can estimate and record an individual’s location worldwide for up to several years. The development of the technical side of  ST has been extremely fast during the past 20 years. To begin with there will be  given a short overview of  the present state of the art. ST has been based for many years on Ultra High Frequency (UHF) technologies such as the Argos system. This technology uses the Doppler phenomenon for location estimates. The birds have to be equipped with transmitters (PTTs) weighing 5 g or more. Since the introduction of transmitters using the Global Positioning System (GPS) few years ago, the application is no longer limited to studies of bird migration. These transmitters receive transmissions from at least four GPS satellites enabling them to calculate their position in three dimensions for PTTs weighing at present 22 g or more.The GPS fixes are consistently accurate to within a few metres so that not only an exact analysis of the size of the area of activity during e.g. the breeding season is possible, but also the spatial and habitat use in the breeding, wintering or stop-over territory can be determined. In addition, some GPS transmitters provide data on flight height, speed and direction so that conclusions on the bird’s behaviour can also be made. In some cases GPS ST will soon supersede land-based VHF conventional ground tracking. This symposium will concentrate on studies using the Argos system using both, GPS and Doppler locating.

KEYNOTE 1: Howey, P. W.
Satellite Bio-Telemetry,  just the beginning ?

KEYNOTE 2: Meyburg, B.-U. and Meyburg, C.
Satellite tracking of raptors in 1992-2009: an overview and some highlights of our results

Gaidet, N., Cappelle, J., Newman, S., Takekawa, J., Prosser, D., Iverson, S., and Dodman T.
Potential dispersal range and rate of H5N1 HPAI virus by wild waterfowl: estimation from satellite-tracked bird movements

Nygård, T.
The use of satellite transmitters in eagle research in Norway

Trierweiler, C., Drent, R.H. (†), Exo, K.-M., Komdeur, J.,  Bairlein, F. and Koks, B.J.
Autumn migration routes and migratory connectivity of European Montagu’s Harrier (Circus pygargus) populations – results from satellite tracking