Island Vertebrates Lab

CHARLES WITTMER NARANJO

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    • MICHAEL SKIRROW
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The conservation management of wildlife requires detailed information about the target species. This is necessary to develop management plans that reflect the habitat condition, demographic trajectories, and nutritional and reproductive requirements of species of interest. The Floreana mockingbird (Mimus trifasciatus) is one of the rarest and most endangered species of bird, which disappeared from the lowlands of Floreana Island in the early 1900’s. Currently the species is found only on two islets with different habitat characteristics in the Galapagos province. Due to its rarity (less than 500 individuals) and the inaccessibility to these islets, the biology of the Floreana mockingbird is little known, which has prevented the development of management plans directed towards increasing the number of individuals and populations, in particular via reintroduction to the lowlands of Floreana Island  From November 2015 to January 2016, I conducted a study with the aim of quantifying the diet of Floreana mockingbirds, and to characterise its behaviour. Further, in this study I was able to compare foraging patters, diet diversity and behaviours between the two remnant populations. Overall, Floreana mockingbirds show an ample diet that includes 33 species and various food types such as flowers and nectar; fruits and seeds; small vertebrates; vertebrate carrion and eggs. On both islets, mockingbirds shift their diet significantly between months, indicating that this species is opportunistic rather than a food specialist. The three most frequent behaviours (i.e. 72% of total observations) are resting, preening and walking, and these are consistent between islets. The frequency of foraging on both islets does not differ significantly an alpha value 0,05 and 0,10, despite significant differences in dietary diversity between months and apparent habitat differences. In the context of management of this species via reintroduction, my study indicates that Floreana mockingbirds require arthropods and flowers during the trimester prior to the breeding season.

You can access by BSc thesis by clicking here.
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  • Home
  • OUR TEAM
    • LUIS ORTIZ-CATEDRAL
    • EMMA FEENSTRA
    • ENZO RODRIGUEZ-REYES
    • HARRISON SOLLIS
    • SERENA SIMMONDS
    • KIRTANA KUMAR
    • MICHAEL SKIRROW
    • ELI CHRISTIAN
    • AMY WALDMANN
    • CHARLES WITTMER NARANJO
  • PROJECTS
  • GALLERY
  • PUBLICATIONS