The Marion Paviour Award

Poisoning events fuelled by conflict with large carnivores are not uncommon in many countries where coexistence with large carnivores is part of everyday life. Poisoning carcasses for large carnivores, like lions or leopards, to feed upon is seen as a strategy to decrease threats to livestock. Unfortunately, many species can be impacted by this kind of approach. Kioko’s project focuses on reducing human-wildlife conflict and protecting critically endangered White-backed Vulture (Gyps africanus) and Rüppell’s Vulture (Gyps rueppelli) populations, by engaging, collaborating with and empowering local communities.

Using his Marion Paviour Award, so far Kioko:

• Has initiated fieldwork to find nests
• Has initiated community engagement

Rüppell’s Vultures (Gyps rueppelli) are listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The only known breeding colony of this species in Uganda is found in Luku Central Forest Reserve. As the first project of its kind in Uganda, this work will be the foundation for future efforts to conserve this species of vulture. Ivan is using his Marion Paviour Award to gather data to determine the size of the breeding population in this area, as well as identifying factors that influence nest location choices of Rüppell’s Vultures. He is also studying their breeding success rate and what factors could be influencing this.

Using his Marion Paviour Award, Ivan:

• Estimated the population and the number of breeding pairs of Rüppell’s Vultures in Luku Central Forest Reserve
• Recorded breeding success of the of Rüppell’s Vultures and identified another nesting location in the area
• Identified the likely reasons behind breeding success and potential future threats to the breeding vultures

The Martial eagle (Polemaetus bellicosus) is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. One of the biggest threats faced by these eagles is habitat loss, particularly the loss of large trees they require for nesting, that are being cut down to allow space for crop fields. It is thus vital to assess the extent to which a population persists in places they have been seen in. Sopani used his Marion Paviour Award to help collect vital data on the presence and space use of the Martial Eagle in and around Vwaza Marsh Wildlife Reserve, Malawi, where the knowledge of their existence and conservation status is extremely limited.

Using his Marion Paviour Award, Sopani:

• Collected data on the total count of eagles and nests sighted, the sighting locations, and the time and activity of the birds observed
• Produced an overview of Martial Eagle distribution in and around Vwaza Marsh Wildlife Reserve
• Identified future research requirements for the area

In the vineyards of Napa Valley, California, wine grape growers are installing nest boxes to encourage Barn Owls (Tyto alba) to nest locally. There is an expectation that Barn Owls provide pest control services in the vineyards through their consumption of rodents. Previous research in this system showed Barn Owls tend to select wooden nest boxes at least 3 metres high, with high proportions of grasslands surrounding the nest box. Jaime built upon this, using her Marion Paviour Award to study where Barn Owls prefer to nest, how healthy they were and what effects nesting location had on reproduction success.

Using her Marion Paviour Award, Jaime:

• Studied the effects of habitat preferences and individual condition of the owls on annual reproductive success
• Showed that Barn Owls assumed an adaptive selection of breeding habitat and that specific nest box selection was also possibly adaptive
• Observed that boxes with higher probabilities of occupancy also had higher reproductive success for the Barn Owls using them

Eurasian Kestrels (Falco tinnunculus) are facing continuous population decline in the UK, the reason for which is unclear. Kestrels are an adaptable species, and so any changes in landscape or prey availability may have resulted in the adoption of novel diets, which could have unknown consequences for their fitness and ability to survive. Georgia noticed that a lot of the UK kestrel diet literature is fairly dated, produced several decades ago, and habitats and prey availability have likely changed since. As such, she used her Marion Paviour Award to understand the diet of contemporary kestrels, providing the UK conservation managers, policy makers and wider science community with the best information with which to build strategies to stop the decline in UK kestrel populations.

Using her Marion Paviour Award, Georgia:

• Employed a novel data analysis technique of stable isotope analysis of feathers (where birds’ feathers are analysed to determine variations in different elements found in the feathers, such as Carbon, helping to indicate their diet preferences and habits, following the principle of ‘you are what you eat’)
• Compared data from traditional pellet dissection with data from the feather stable isotope analysis
• Provided important information for kestrel conservation across land use types

King Vultures (Sarcoramphus papa) are one of the less-studied raptors in South America. Their population decline, as with all vultures, can have grave wider ecological and environmental consequences. Diego used his Marion Paviour Award to help fund his work in central Bolivia, surveying roosts, foraging grounds and nests of King Vultures. These represent critical sites for their conservation, with the potential to provide important information on their status, distribution and population abundance in these areas. Such information helps managers, decision makers and local communities to be better informed on how to effectively preserve and protect King Vultures.

Using his Marion Paviour Award, Diego:

• Surveyed roosts, foraging grounds and nests of King Vultures
• Defined important areas for their conservation and setup preliminary management strategies for their management
• Worked with local people to better understand King Vulture behaviour and reduce threats to these birds

The Striated Caracara (Phalcoboenus australis) is listed as Near-Threatened on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Persecution by humans has been a considerable reason behind their drop from a historically healthy abundance to the current, much lower, population estimate. Katie used her Marion Paviour Award to help fund her trip to the Falkland Islands, which is thought to hold much of their population. Katie’s work focused on understanding the movement patterns of caracaras. By knowing how and where a species moves, conservationists are better equipped to focus their efforts in the areas that appear most important to that species’ well-being.

Using her Marion Paviour Award, Katie:

• Used tail-mounted data loggers to collect high-resolution data of caracara body movements
• Calculated their daily activity budgets to help work out their daily energy use
• Produced results contributing information critical to the conservation management of this remarkable species