Mark R. Fuller

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...

From 1999–2003, we tracked movements of adult female Prairie Falcons (Falco mexicanus) using satellite telemetry to characterize long-range movement patterns and breeding dispersal. We radio marked 40 falcons from April–May on their nesting grounds in the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area in southwest Idaho. All falcons with functioning transmitters left the Snake...

We examined nest-site spacing and selection of nesting cliffs by Peregrine Falcons (Falco peregrinus) in central West Greenland. Our sample included 67 nesting cliffs that were occupied at least once between 1972 and 1999 and 38 cliffs with no known history of Peregrine Falcon occupancy. We measured 29 eyrie, cliff, and topographical features at each occupied nesting cliff and unused...

Four female Peregrine Falcons Falco peregrinus breeding on the Kola Peninsula, Russia, were fitted with satellite-received transmitters in 1994. Their breeding home ranges averaged 1175 (sd = ±714) km2, and overlapped considerably. All left their breeding grounds in September and migrated generally south-west along the Baltic Sea. The mean travel rate for three falcons was 190 km/day...

Video recording of prey deliveries to nests is a new technique for collecting data on raptor diet, but no thorough comparison of results from traditional methods based on collections of prey remains and pellets has been undertaken. We compared data from these 3 methods to determine relative merits of different methods for assessing raptor diet as part of a study of the breeding-season...

No abstract available.

Twenty-four juvenile Steller's Sea Eagles Haliaeetus pelagicus were tracked via satellite from natal areas in Magadan, Kabarovsk, Amur, Sakhalin and Kamchatka. Nestling dispersal occurred between 9 September and 6 December (n = 24), mostly 14 September-21 October, and did not differ among regions or years. Most eagles made stopovers of 4-28 days during migration. Migration occurred 9...

We studied gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus) food delivery and feeding behavior during the nestling period in central West Greenland during the 2000 and 2001 field seasons. We used time-lapse video cameras installed at three nests to record 2677.25 hours of nestling video. Ptarmigan delivered to nests were usually plucked prior to delivery and included the breast and superior thoracic...

We studied food habits of Gyrfalcons (Falco rusticolus) nesting in central west Greenland in 2000 and 2001 using three sources of data: time-lapse video (3 nests), prey remains (22 nests), and regurgitated pellets (19 nests). These sources provided different information describing the diet during the nesting period. Gyrfalcons relied heavily on Rock Ptarmigan (Lagopus mutus) and arctic...

An examination of boundary-layer meteorological and avian aerodynamic theories suggests that soaring birds can be used to measure the magnitude of vertical air motions within the boundary layer. These theories are applied to obtain mixed-layer normalized thermal updraft intensity over both flat and complex terrain from the climb rates of soaring American white pelicans and from...

We used solar-powered time-lapse video photography to document nesting Gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus) food habits in central West Greenland from May to July in 2000 and 2001. We collected 2677.25 h of videotape from three nests, representing 94, 87, and 49% of the nestling period at each nest. The video recorded 921 deliveries of 832 prey items. We placed 95% of the items into prey...