Time to focus on breeding

Although overall data has been quite poor over the last two weeks when compared to previous tag performance, we do have enough information to suggest that SHE and SEC are still on their breeding grounds. From the raw data it is difficult to say confidently whether they are actually in nesting phase or are still choosing a suitable patch to make a nest. SEP has likely made his way to his 2019-breeding site in the last week or so – Yes, from feather samples taken at the time of fitting the satellite tag, we can confirm that SEP is a he, (SHE and SEC DNA sexing not yet completed). Many thanks to Marcel Klaassen and his team from Deakin University for their assistance with DNA sexing analysis for this project.

Tracks of Oriental Pratincoles SHE, SEC and SEP 14 April 2020

News from Taiwan

As an extra special addition to this update our Taiwanese colleagues have provided us with information of a nesting attempt in the Xinying District, complete with photos and video footage. Many thanks to CHEN Chien-an for providing these.

Pratincole nest with 2 eggs discovered on harvested Sugarcane. Photo: CHEN Chien-an
Nesting site, recently harvested Sugarcane field. Photo: CHEN Chien-An