Water body type and group size affect the flight initiation distance of European waterbirds.

ABSTRACT: Human encroachment on nature grows constantly, increasing human-wildlife interactions. Flight initiation distance (FID, the distance at which animals flee from an approaching threat) is often used to measure antipredator behaviour and establish buffer zones to reduce human impact on wildlife. In this study, we approached 10 waterbird species on larger lakes and narrower rivers using a motorboat. We investigated whether water body type, season (winter/spring), approach starting distance, species body mass, and group size influenced bird FID. Average bird FID was 145 ± 92 m and differed between species. In general, FID of all species was larger on lakes than rivers and increased with increasing group size and approach starting distance. When analysed separately for the two most common specie

SUBMITTER: Mayer M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6634859 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature