McGill University
M.Sc. candidate
Supervisor: Kyle Elliott
Kevin Fraser, University of Manitoba
Start: 2018-09-04
End: 2021-01-01

Project

Purple martin movement ecology
The purple martin (Progne subis) is a declining colonial aerial insectivore. Purple martins breed in North America, usually in manmade nest boxes, and winter in Brazil. This project aims to have direct conservation implications for Montreal’s purple martins using an annual cycle model. The dispersal habitats of young martins are not well known. Martin chicks were tagged with Motus radio tags in southern Quebec and tracked with both stationary and hand-held receivers in order to gain insight into post-fledging dispersal, particularly roosting locations, fledgling survival, and departure dates. I also aim to collect GPS data in purple martin breeding grounds and in their non-breeding grounds to determine foraging range and habitat use to identify essential habitats. Understanding dispersal and habitat use allows us to better understand the purple martin annual cycle model and identify important habitats to conserve.

Keywords

Conservation, biodiversity, Bird ecology, Movement ecology, automated radio telemetry, GPS tracking, birds

Publications

1- Muscle fiber structure in an aging long‐lived seabird, the black‐legged kittiwake ( Rissa tridactyla )
Brown, Karl, Ana Gabriela Jimenez, Shannon Whelan, Kristen Lalla, Scott A. Hatch, Kyle H. Elliott
2019 Journal of Morphology