Non-migratory island dwelling Turkey vultures movement ecology in Cuba

In recent decades, the utilization of movement tracking systems have allowed ecologists to study with precision the movement of organisms in the wild, specially highly vagile animals like birds. The focus of the research has been centered on long distance movements like migrations. However, there is a lack of information about movement of resident birds, and this is especially acute in places where the overall amount of studies has been historically few, like the Caribbean.

Turkey Vultures (Cathartes aura) are the most abundant species of avian scavenger in the American continent, but most research centering on the movement ecology on this species has focused on continental populations, which display migratory behaviour. 

This project aims to answer how the landscape-related environmental conditions affect the movements and flight behaviour of resident Turkey Vultures, tagged with GPS trackers in the island of Cuba. To accomplish this, 19 birds were tagged in 2021 and have been relaying movement data to the online repository Movebank ever since. This wealth of information covers both large- and fine-scale measurements, allowing for the study of ecological patterns across a range of spatiotemporal scales. 

Specifically, the study of large-scale data will focus on addressing the description of the habitat selection of the species, contrasting them with the results of previous studies made on populations living on the American continental land. On the other hand, small-scale data will be used to study fine responses in movements to varying environmental factors. This will include the analysis of behaviour before, during and after extreme weather events, which are commonly occurring phenomena in the Caribbean, and are predicted to increase in the future in both frequency and intensity in forecast models. 

Space use studies are fundamental for the understanding of the underlying ecological processes that influence vulture distribution and behaviour. Gathering quantitative knowledge about the movements of Turkey Vultures, which carry out a vital ecosystemic role as carrion eaters, will lead to a solid foundation to be employed as a baseline to understand changes in behaviours in the face of future variations in environmental conditions.