Increasing retention of shorebird tags?

Tagging
1

Hi everyone,

For the past couple of field seasons, we have attached 1-g nanotags (NTQB-4-2) to Piping Plovers. We attach the transmitters in the inter-scapular region, to clipped feathers, using super-glue gel (Gorilla). The retention time is variable - usually around 66% of our tagged plovers depart from the study area 2-3 months later with transmitters still attached.

We are interested in ways to increase the retention time this field season. Has anyone out there tried attaching fabric to nanotags to improve the surface area/grip of the attachment to the bird? If so, is there a particular fabric and adhesives (for attaching fabric to transmitter, and fabric to bird) that you would recommend for this?

Any ideas around this would be much appreciated. Thanks so much,

Pam

2

Dear Pam et al.,

Probably the most successful shorebird harness out there is one developed by Chan et al. 2015 (http://www.metawad.nl/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/JOrnithol2015-harness-testing-red-knots-Chan-et-alEVERSION.pdf)

I don’t know of anyone that has tried it on smaller shorebirds, but I don’t see why it couldn’t work. Longevity of the tag would then depend on harness material. You could probably make a near life-long tag using stretch magic, or teflon. Elasticized thread would likely fall off within 6-12 months.

Cheers,

Stu