When using this dataset, please cite the original article.
Holland RA, Wikelski M, Kuemmeth F, Bosque C (2012) The secret life of oilbirds: new insights into the movement ecology of a unique avian frugivore. PLoS ONE 4(12): e8264. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008264 |
Additionally, please cite the Movebank data package:
Holland RA, Wikelski M, Kuemmeth F, Bosque C (2012) Data from: The secret life of oilbirds: new insights into the movement ecology of a unique avian frugivore. Movebank Data Repository. doi:10.5441/001/1.35fs26kq
Package Identifier | doi:10.5441/001/1.35fs26kq | ||
Abstract | Background: Steatornis caripensis (the oilbird) is a very unusual bird. It supposedly never sees daylight, roosting in huge aggregations in caves during the day and bringing back fruit to the cave at night. As a consequence a large number of the seeds from the fruit they feed upon germinate in the cave and spoil.
Methodology/Principal Findings: Here we use newly developed GPS/acceleration loggers with remote UHF readout to show that several assumptions about the behaviour of Steatornis caripensis need to be revised. On average, they spend only every 3rd day in a cave, individuals spent most days sitting quietly in trees in the rainforest where they regurgitate seeds.
Conclusions/Significance: This provides new data on the extent of seed dispersal and the movement ecology of Steatornis caripensis. It suggests that Steatornis caripensis is perhaps the most important long-distance seed disperser in Neotropical forests. We also show that colony-living comes with high activity costs to individuals. |
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Keywords | animal movement, animal tracking, GPS logger, oilbirds, seed dispersal, Steatornis caripensis, Venezuela, |