VIDEO HERE: Instagram
The Greater White-collared Swift (Streptoprocne zonaris) uses Portachuelo Pass as a travel route in Henri Pittier National Park in Venezuela. Over the last 30 years, more than 2500 individuals have been banded and released, with the oldest individual being 27 years old. However, recapturing them is neither easy nor frequent, so we do not know how their temporal presence varies on a finer scale.
To study the daily and annual presence of the species, six adult individuals were equipped with tracking devices from [@cellulartrackingtechnologies] to help us answer this question using [#motuswts] technology.
Preliminary results show that individual detections occur during the day and never at night. Marked individuals can be detected flying alone or in groups.
Individuals use Portachuelo Pass in multiple times during a single day, or on multiple occasions during the study weeks.
We are grateful for all the support received from our partners, especially [@cellulartrackingtechnologies] for donating the necessary equipment for this task, and [@fundacionphelps] and [@anilladodeavesportachuelo] for their academic and technical field support. We would like to thank [@inparquesoficial] and [@minec.oficial] for the necessary permits, and the bioestacionebafy for their logistical support. We also thank all the volunteers working to continue developing our Venezuelan ornithological science from [@uvovenezuela]
All birds were captured, banded, handled, and released under strict ethical and scientific standards and with the corresponding permits.