Breeding finish at Tamri

Aylal has left the colony on May 15^th. It has been around Tamri since the beginning of February.

It’s installed in the central part of SMNP. The colonies in the Park have still chicks due to the gap between nesting in Tamri and in Massa.

Mild winter and wet spring have probably contributed to the earlier beginning of the breeding season.

Aylal, again at Tamri

Aylal, which was based in the Douira area since April, has been making trips eastwards, sometimes up to 18 kilometres inland. Occasionally there was also a shift to the south to the Souss-Massa National Park limits.

On October 19th, however, in the morning, it moved northwards, stopping at Cape Ghir and finishing at Tamri area, where it has been spending last days.

Aylal carries a GPS satellite tag, donatedby Dublin zoosince July 2010. This equipment allows us to know where it moves with a greatdetail.

Aylal's update

Since mid April, Aylal stayed in an area in the north of the park and unprotected area beside it. It didn't make big movements. Bassically, it's spent all the night by the same roost on the coast and move by the coast and inland during the day.

Scimitar-horned oryx at Arrouais reserve
(photo Imad Cherkaoui)

Some of those records are on the Arrouais reserve, not far from Tifnit, which is a protected area where gazelles and scimitar-horned oryx are in acclimatation for their further reintroduction in nature. For instance, one reintroduction took place in 2008 in the Mssissi reserve, in Errachidia region.
Vegetation there is formed by Ononis natrix, Retama monosperma, Echinops spinosus, Lycium intricatum, Launaea arborescens, Centaurea sp. and Limonium mucronatum, in addition to some exotic Eucalyptus and Acacia trees that where planted decades ago to avoid wind erosion.
NBI usually don't come into this reserve, maybe because vegetation is too dense, but it seems to be an adequate habitat for feeding in some seasons. In fact, the prefered feeding area is the coastal strip west to the reserve, where the Tiznit village is and where the steppe is well developed among the fixed dunes.

The GPS records show us some other preferred sites outside the National Park. It’s well known that NBI use to feed sometimes outside the limits of the protected area, usually on fallows.

Aylal leaves the colony

Since mid-April, Aylal, who has spent last weeks in the breeding colony, deserted Tamri region to establish in the Northern area of Souss-Massa National Park, the same it has been occupying before breeding season

Nest desertion is not common, but sometimes happens either when one individual in the pair disappears or if clutch is lost. The first quarter has been very dry this year. Between January and March, the total rain amount has been just 5,6 mm and humidity less than 55% on average. On the other side, the same trimester in previous years has been much more humid, with 124 mm in 2010 and 158 mm in 2011 and an average humidity of more than 65%. Those conditions have probably been too bad for overall productivity and for food availability.

First chicks

Since the last week of March, the first chicks started to hatch at Moroccan colonies. As we already commented, our wardens feel that there's a little delay in the phenology, due, mainly, to the lack of rain during last winter that could have an impact on ecosystem productivity and, thus, on food availability.
Data received from Aylal show us that adults in Tamri stay in a narrow coastal area of about 8 km long but less than two kilometers wide.

Aylal at Tamri

Since last post on Aylal, this ibis equiped with a GPS satellite tag stays around Tamri colonie, making short movements three or four kilometters appart from the colony.
This behaviour is absolutely normal during breeding season and shows the importance of having good feeding habitats close to good nesting sites.

Aylal, at the colony

Last data recived from Aylal show us that it's has joined Tamri colony since March, 4th. Aylal has spent last weeks around the area of Tamraght, but now it seems to be full time in the area of the colony.

Nevertheless, our wardens feel that the breeding season is a bit delayed compared to previous years, probably due to drought during winter and some recent cold weather.

New breeding season approachs

NBI start to frequent the breeding areas since the beginning of February, but visits are now much more frequent and some started bringing material to the nests.

Aylal is constantly moving between a coastal area north to Agadir up to the Tamri colony and neighbour fields. 

Aylal

 

On january 21st Aylal has been seen and photographied by Michel Terrier by Tamraght, close to Agadir, with six other individuals.


On Michel's blog we can see an assorment of pictures of Aylal with the other birds, not far from their observers.

.The group was composed of five adults and two young.

All the pictures by Michel Terrier.

Around the breeding quarters

After spending much of the past few months in the southern SMNP, over the past few weeks, Aylal started heading north, over the coastal strip between Agadir and Tamri. It is about the beginning of the breeding season and it is likely that the group of breeders at Tamri are frequenting the area around the colony.

News on Nader

As recently, Aylal is still in the southern part of Souss-Massa National Park. Nader, on its side, is in the north half but between 24th and 26th it went to the Taghazout area, north to Agadir. The accuracy ot its tag doesn't allow us to know where exactly it went, but it confirms that the narrow coastal steppe north to Agadir is very important for Northern Bald Ibis during some periods of the year.
Nevertheless, Nader returned to the area around Massa mouth on 26th.

Data from Aylal and Nader for the first two weeks in December

Since the beginning of December, Aylal and Nader have stayed inside the Souss-Massa National Park. They are, nevertheless, separate most of the time, judging by the records received from their transmitters. Nader is in the north part of SMNP and Aylal is just south of the Massa river mouth. 
The field data show that the birds are moving in flocks of about thirty.

Aylal and Nader in the south of Souss-Massa National Park

Since mid-November, our ibis have established themselves more or less in the southern area of Souss-Massa National Park, occasionally visiting the coastal area outside the protected area. Over the last week they have both established themselves in a roosting place south of the Oued Massa mouth. The entire southern area of the park is made up of cliffs, most of them inaccessible, where ibis can easily find places to spend the night. Both birds are feeding in the neighbouring fields, not far from the roost.

Update on Aylal

Aylal is continuing to travel to sites further and further south. This time, it spent the whole of 20th November in a coastal area about 20 km south of Aglou, which is the southern-most limit of the Souss-Massa National Park. Being gregarious, Aylal is not alone but has been travelling with a group of other ibis, thus this monitoring is providing important data on population level movements.
Nevertheless, it continues to return to the same roost it  used recently in a rugged cliff within the National Park.

Southward Bound

After returning from its' trip to the Tamri area on 31st October, Aylal moved southwards, beyond the mouth of the Oued Massa.Early in the morning of November 5th it was very close to the southernmost border of the Souss Massa National Park. It seems that it had travelled too far to return to its' usual roosting spot and so had stayed overnight in the area, probably with other ibis.
Aylal's behaviour is providing us with a lot of information on the patterns of movement and habitat use of this species and we hope to enhance out knowledge even more by tagging more individuals in the future.
Nader has been a bit less adventurous lately and didn't join Aylal for the journey southwards, staying instead in the northern area of the National Park.

Aylal's escape

Aylal, the adult ibis tagged with the GPS transmitter, made a getaway to the Tamri colony last Sunday (30th) and spent the night there before returning to the Souss Massa National Park on Halloween. Nader didn't follow its parent, confirming that although the birds are using the same feeding and roosting areas, they are now independent.

Although we are missing some data on Aylal's journey up north, on its return to its feeding grounds in the National Park it flew almost 60 km between two consecutive records, which equates to an average speed of at least 30 km/hour. This is the most northerly point reached by Aylal since it was tagged in July, and it actually went beyond the colony to some feeding grounds in the north where it has probably bred in the past.

Tagged ibis, together again

It seems that in recent weeks, Nader and Aylal have met again. 

The data received from their tags indicate that both are back in the northern area of ​​Souss Massa National Park, confirming the great importance of preserving this area where ibis spend a large part of the year, using the large and rich feeding areas.

They have probably lost their family behaviour due to the time they spent appart, but they move in the same group at least during part of the day.

How do Aylal and Naders’ satellite tags work?

It has been mentioned in previous posts that the tags on Aylal and Nader have different levels of accuracy and this is due to the fact that two different systems are being used: Argos and GPS. Both tags use the Argos system but one tag also has a GPS transmitter.

The Argos system is named after the mythical giant with 100 eyes, who was the perfect, all-seeing guardian. This system is based on a series of six polar-orbiting satellites, i.e. which pass over both poles, at an altitude of 850 km. These satellites belong to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) and other agencies will join in the future.

Each platform, i.e. the animal or object carrying the transmitter, can be reached, in theory, about 14 times per day. The position of the platform is calculated using the Doppler Effect, i.e. the variation in the wave frequency (produced by the transmitter) between two objects moving relative to each other (in our case the transmitter and the satellite).

Overlap of the areas covered by two successive passes of the Argos satellite system (http://www.argos-system.org)

With the Argos system there is a certain limit to the number of locations that can be received from each transmitter but it is ideal for following long-distance movements of birds. It is also small and light - the transmitter on Nader weighs just 9 grams (1/4 ounce).

The transmitter on Aylal also carries a GPS unit. The GPS system relies on a denser system of satellites, with 24 satellites (four in each of six different orbits), at an altitude between 10,100 and 20,200 km. Each transmission from the platform is picked up by several satellites and the position can be calculated by measuring the distance from each one. This provides an accurate, three-dimensional location (latitude, longitude and altitude). Not surprisingly, this accurate technique was originally developed for military use.

GPS satellite network, showing how the number of satellites visible from the transmitter varies according to the earth’s rotation and the orbit pattern of the satellites (from Wikipedia)

This type of transmitter was deployed on Aylal to provide us with detailed data on small-scale movement patterns of the species within its normal range. This will help us to identify any potential threats and will complement the day to day work done by the guards on the ground. The transmitter on Nader will provide us with more broad-scale data on the large-scale dispersal patterns of juveniles of this species. This is the same system which has been used to tag ibises in Syria and Turkey.

Funds for these two tags were donated by Dublin Zoo (Aylal) and RSPB (Nader) and installation costs were covered by a collaborative project with Prince Albert II of Monaco Fundation. An expert from MMARM led the tagging operation and provided advice on the capture and taggingprocedures.

The fundraising campaign for the conservation of the bald-headedibis aims to raise money to buy more transmitters such as these, to tag moreindividuals. The data provided from these tags greatly increases our knowledgeof species movements and habitat use and allows us to identify potentialthreats.  

Where are the ibis now?

Aylal and Nader are still apart – Aylal (the adult) has spent a few days moving around the area north of Agadir but hasn’t remained in the same specific location for any length of time. Nader (the juvenile) is still in the SMNP. Although it was known before that Tamri birds visited the Souss-Massa area outside the breeding season, the data from Aylal and Nader are providing important details on the frequency of these movements. 

Latest news from “our” ibis in Souss-Massa: Nader and Aylal have separated

The signals received from Aylal show that she moved north at the beginning of last week, back to the area where she was caught 2 months ago and she has been using the same roosting and feeding areas as before.

While the accuracy of the transmitter on Nader is lower, we saw that this bird also moved north, but was in the vicinity of Tamri, near the river mouth. Soon after, it returned to the Souss-Massa National Park, so it is apparent that the parent and its young have separated, at least for now.

Although the information provided from Nader is less accurate than for Aylal, keep in mind that up till now we had no data at all on the relationship between parents and their offspring after fledging, so this represents a big leap forward in our knowledge of this species. It is possible of course that the other parent is still with Nader, but this is unlikely.