Subject: Re: Another bird-of-prey-in-action account
Date: Feb 10 10:41:39 1995
From: Stuart MacKay - stuart.mackay at mccaw.com


Mike Smith wrote:

> Twice I have been 'used' in this manner by Parasitic Jaegars.
> Once after I had successfully located a Pectoral Sandpiper
> nest, I watched a jaegar fly over (it had been sort of
> skulking in a low spot, out of my sight) minutes after I had
> left it, and eat all the eggs.
>

When we first started studying shorebirds up on NordKinnhalvoya,
Finmark, Norway we had particular problems with Jaegers. Within a
couple of days of us first arriving the Jaegers had figured out that
we were visiting shorebird nests - very, very, very smart critters.

The standard precautions of making sure no vegetation, stones, mud,
etc was disturbed near a nest was very successful. We lost 10 times
as many nest to herds of reindeer (caribou) than to skuas - the
Lapps get very upset if you use automatic weapons on their 4-legged
friends - SIGH.

Incidently we are studying the effect of rodent numbers on the
breeding success of passerines and shorebirds. More rodents equals
satiated foxes and skuas. Less rodents equals hungry foxes and skuas
and no nests.

We never had any trouble with Turnstone nests though. I once saw a
turnstone remove tail feathers from a skua in mid air. I never
thought a bird was capable of supersonic flight !!!!!


Stuart