gray plover birdPluvialis squattarula) He was killed at an altitude of 3000 metres, on the coast of the Wadden Sea, in the Netherlands. In a study published in the magazine ecologyScientists point out that this is the highest recorded level of bird predation. The prime suspect in the gray plover killing is the world’s fastest bird: the peregrine falcon, which can reach speeds of up to 320 km/h. Read the full original article at this link.
Understand the issue
For a study on bird migration – with the aim of understanding why they fly at such high altitudes – scientists linked a GPS to eight gray plover in January 2023. At the end of May of that year, it was observed that one of the birds changed direction – heading to the southeast, while The others headed northwest.
At the time of the transfer, researchers assumed the bird descended to land in a quarry — something considered unusual for a piping plover. Soon after, the bird’s tracking device stopped moving, leading scientists to conclude that the bird had been killed by a predator.
At high altitudes
“At 21:58 local time on 27 May (25 minutes after sunset), one of the tagged birds suddenly interrupted its migratory flight.” “Two minutes later (i.e. 22:00), the recorder placed a GPS tag at 2882 meters above the ground (about 2900 meters above sea level).”
“You put a lot of effort into putting these trackers on birds, and you want to get information about breeding sites,” said Michel Boehm, a migration ecologist at the University of Amsterdam and lead author of the study. “So, at that point, we were very sad that we had lost a bird,” he continues.
Analyzing the whole situation, scientists noted the high altitude at which changes in the birds’ behavior were recorded, which is considered higher than the altitude at which birds of prey usually hunt. Upon investigation into what had happened, it was noted that the plover had accelerated before changing direction – most likely, the bird had noticed a predator and attempted to escape.
During the search, scientists found a peregrine falcon nest just meters away from the remains of a gray plover. He concluded that the two birds were fighting for survival at altitudes of approximately 3,000, which is rare, according to Boehm.
Why these high flights?
Some theories suggest that the reason these birds fly at high altitudes during migrations is to avoid overheating. “The application of high-resolution tracking now makes it possible to address questions about where, when and at what altitude birds are at risk of predation during their migratory flight and, for example, whether they fly at extreme altitudes during the day,” say the authors of the article. To avoid predators, our observation suggests that this may not always be the case, as increasing flight altitude to 3000 m above the ground is clearly not sufficient for migrants to avoid the risk of predation.
*Intern under the supervision of Ronier Nunes
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