Main objective
The main goal of this topic is to evaluate the fitness and physiological condition of Cory’s Shearwater fledglings rescued by volunteers.
Available data
In seabirds, juvenile survival at sea is positively correlated with body condition at fledging. In addition, fledglings are disoriented by artificial lights during their flights from their nests to the sea, and many of them fall on the ground and are rescued by volunteers to mitigate light-induced mortality. The student will have the opportunity to take part of fieldwork on the colonies and during rescue campaigns, collecting biometrics and physiological parameters for analysis. This topic is developed within the project LIFE Natura@night.
Proposed tasks
- Join the fieldwork sessions
- Monitoring colonies and ringing campaigns
- Collect data during rescue campaigns
- Submit the work in a peer-reviewed journal
Framework of the topic
- Is the topic part of an ongoing project/study? Yes – funded project
- Is there any financial support? Yes: fieldwork/material
Supervisor/tutor
Cátia Gouveia, SPEA Madeira| catia.gouveia@spea.pt