Evidence of Past Nest Poaching
Evidence of past nest poaching. A makeshift ladder nailed up to the nest cavity opening
During last week Gemma was in the field watching Slender-billed Conures. I was with her during the weekend. We managed to get to one nest. No eggs yet (this was the smallest hole so far). We are working at a site ca 10 km E of home. It has been extremely difficult to find nests, although there are 3-4 active groups of birds around and there much past poaching evidence (4-5 cavities). We expect that activity will start soon as the parrots start to return and claim their nesting cavities. Then we will start to monitor each nest for signs of the first eggs. We will be monitoring the nests on a regular basis to determine when to expect fledglings. Then we can start to plan for this season’s telemetry collaring of fledglings and adults. This season we hope to radio collar some adults…we will use custom mist nets over the nest cavity entrance to catch the adults as they leave their nests early in the morning. Of course, we will place the nets selectivey and returning at first light to check the net will be mandantory. The net will then be removed from the entrance to allow the adults to freely visit their chicks.
Poachers' Makeshift ladder to the nest cavity
Poachers have cut open the nest entrance to extract the chicks
