Deploying lightweight GPS tags on hornbills in East Africa

Deploying lightweight GPS tags on hornbills in East Africa
September 19, 2014

Walter Jetz, KT MertesBen Carlson, and Gwen Antell recently returned from field work at Mpala Research Centre in Laikipia, Kenya. The team tackled several field priorities in 2014, including surveying for select bird species along precipitation and elevation gradients, performing detailed foraging and behavioral observations, and deploying lightweight GPS tags on red-billed hornbills (Tockus erythrorhynchus).

In total, Walter, KT, Ben, Gwen, and a corps of field assistants (including Korir Elkana, Hellen Chemuk, and Stephanie Siller) attached tags to 10 red-billed hornbills during July – September 2014. The current generation of GPS tags – constructed by Martin Wikelski’s group at the Technical Workshop at the University of Konstanz, Germany – weigh approximately 10g, with a final deployment weight of 12g (including harness materials).

Location data generated by these tags will be combined with data from 20 active tags deployed on other East African bird species - including the kori bustard, Ardeotis kori; white-bellied bustard, Eupodotis senegalensis; and Von der Decken’s hornbill Tockus deckeni - to investigate scale-dependence in species-environment relationships, as well as broader questions about bird movement ecology.

 View updated bird movement data generated by this research on Movebank.