Mark R. Fuller

Radio-telemetry was not included in the first comprehensive manual of wildlife research techniques (Mosby 1960) because the first published papers were about physiological wildlife telemetry (LeMunyan et al. 1959) and because research using telemetry in field ecology was just being initiated (Marshall et al. 1962; Cochran and Lord 1963). Among the first uses of telemetry to study...

From 1995 to 1998, we tracked movements of adult Swainson's Hawks (Buteo swainsoni), using satellite telemetry to characterize migration, important stopover areas, and movements in the austral summer. We tagged 46 hawks from July to September on their nesting grounds in seven U.S. states and two Canadian provinces. Swainson's Hawks followed three basic routes south on a broad front...

No abstract available.

We evaluated the ability of three large-scale, multi-species surveys in the Arctic to provide information on abundance and habitat relationships of Gyrfalcons (Falco rusticolus) and ptarmigan. The Program for Regional and International Shorebird Monitoring (PRISM) has surveyed birds widely across the arctic regions of Canada and Alaska since 2001. The Arctic Coastal Plain survey has...

We developed methods to monitor the status of Gyrfalcons in Alaska. Results of surveys and monitoring will be informative for resource managers and will be useful for studying potential changes in ecological communities of the high latitudes. We estimated that the probability of detecting a Gyrfalcon at an occupied nest site was between 64% and 87% depending on observer experience and...

Radio transmitters provide data that enhance understanding of raptor biology (Walls and Kenward 2007) and are now used to answer a multitude of research questions (Meyburg and Fuller 2007). However, transmitters affect the birds that carry them (Barron et al. 2010), and it is important to document and evaluate such effects (Casper 2009). For example, decreased survival has been...

We conducted repeated aerial surveys for breeding cliff-nesting raptors on the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge (YDNWR) in western Alaska to estimate detection probabilities of Gyrfalcons (Falco rusticolus), Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos), Rough-legged Hawks (Buteo lagopus), and also Common Ravens (Corvus corax). Using the program PRESENCE, we modeled detection histories of each...

Biologists can equip animals with global positioning system (GPS) technology to obtain accurate (less than or equal to 30 m) locations that can be combined with sensor data to study animal behaviour and ecology. We provide the background of GPS techniques that have been used to gather data for wildlife studies. We review how GPS has been integrated into functional systems with data...

Locations of contaminant exposure for nesting migratory species are difficult to fully understand because of possible additional sources encountered during migration or on the wintering grounds. A portion of the migratory white-faced ibis (Plegadis chihi) nesting at Carson Lake, Nevada continues to be exposed to dichloro-diphenyldichloro-ethylene (DDE) with no change, which is unusual...

We tested whether routes of raptors migrating over areas with homogeneous topography follow constant geomagnetic courses more or less closely than constant geographical courses. We analysed the routes taken over land of 45 individual raptors tracked by satellite-based radiotelemetry: 25 peregrine falcons, Falco peregrinus, on autumn migration between North and South America, and seven...

From 1999–2002, we attached satellite-received platform transmitter terminals (PTTs) to 40 adult female prairie falcons (Falco mexicanus) on their nesting grounds in the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area (NCA) in southwest Idaho. We used 3 variations of a backpack harness design that had been used previously on raptors. Each radiomarked falcon also received a color leg...

We tested whether routes of raptors migrating over areas with homogeneous topography follow constant geomagnetic courses more or less closely than constant geographical courses. We analysed the routes taken over land of 45 individual raptors tracked by satellite-based radiotelemetry: 25 peregrine falcons, Falco peregrinus, on autumn migration between North and South America, and seven...