Satellite telemetry reveals complex mixed movement strategies in ibis and spoonbills of Australia: implications for water and wetland management

Heather M McGinness; Luke R Lloyd-Jones; Freya Robinson; Art Langston; Louis G O'Neill; Shoshana Rapley; Micha V Jackson; Jessica Hodgson; Melissa Piper; Micah Davies; John M Martin; Richard Kingsford; Kate Brandis; Veronica Doerr; Ralph Mac Nally

doi:10.1186/s40462-024-00515-4

Satellite telemetry reveals complex mixed movement strategies in ibis and spoonbills of Australia: implications for water and wetland management

Mov Ecol. 2024 Nov 26;12(1):74. doi: 10.1186/s40462-024-00515-4.

Authors

Heather M McGinness^#¹, Luke R Lloyd-Jones^#², Freya Robinson³, Art Langston⁴, Louis G O'Neill⁴, Shoshana Rapley^{4

5}, Micha V Jackson⁴, Jessica Hodgson⁴, Melissa Piper⁶, Micah Davies⁴, John M Martin⁷, Richard Kingsford⁸, Kate Brandis⁸, Veronica Doerr⁴, Ralph Mac Nally^{9

10}

Affiliations

¹ CSIRO Environment, GPO Box 1701, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia. Heather.McGinness@csiro.au.
² CSIRO Data61, Brisbane, QLD, 4102, Australia.
³ CSIRO Health and Biosecurity, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia.
⁴ CSIRO Environment, GPO Box 1701, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia.
⁵ Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia.
⁶ CSIRO Agriculture, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia.
⁷ Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2000, Australia.
⁸ University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.
⁹ University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT, 2615, Australia.
¹⁰ School of Biosciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, 3052, Australia.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Waterbird population and species diversity maintenance are important outcomes of wetland conservation management, but knowledge gaps regarding waterbird movements affect our ability to understand and predict waterbird responses to management at appropriate scales. Movement tracking using satellite telemetry is now allowing us to fill these knowledge gaps for highly mobile waterbirds at continental scales, including in remote areas for which data have been historically difficult to acquire. We used GPS satellite telemetry to track the movements of 122 individuals of three species of ibis and spoonbills (Threskiornithidae) in Australia from 2016 to 2023. We analysed movement distances, residency periods and areas, and foraging-site fidelity. From this we derived implications for water and wetland management for waterbird conservation. This is the first multi-year movement tracking data for ibis and spoonbills in Australia, with some individuals tracked continuously for more than five years including from natal site to first breeding attempt. Tracking revealed both inter- and intra-specific variability in movement strategies, including residency, nomadism, and migration, with individuals switching between these behaviours. During periods of residency, areas used and distances travelled to forage were highly variable and differed significantly between species. Sixty-five percent of identified residency areas were not associated with wetlands formally listed nationally or internationally as important. Tracking the movements of waterbirds provides context for coordinated allocation of management resources, such as provision of environmental water at appropriate places and times for maximum conservation benefit. This study highlights the geographic scales over which these birds function and shows how variable waterbird movements are. This illustrates the need to consider the full life cycle of these birds when making management decisions and evaluating management impacts. Increased knowledge of the spatio-temporal interactions of waterbirds with their resource needs over complete life cycles will continue to be essential for informing management aimed at increasing waterbird numbers and maintaining long-term diversity.

Keywords: Conservation management; Environmental water; Foraging; Nomadic; Satellite telemetry.