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Up the creek with a paddle; avian flight distances from canoes versus walkers

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Abstract

Disturbance of birds by human activities is increasing and is of conservation concern. Little is known of the flight initiation distances (FID) of birds to recreational canoeing, although this activity is common and can occur in wetland areas inaccessible to vehicle or pedestrian traffic. We compared the FID evoked by a walker with that evoked by a canoe for 13 birds in wetlands in north–western Queensland. Canoes evoked shorter FIDs compared with walkers (means ± 95 % confidence intervals; 32.9 ± 7.6 m and 47.5 ± 7.4 m, respectively). These data could be used to establish buffers or codes of conduct for canoeists in wetlands in arid northern Australia, especially when water levels are low.

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Acknowledgments

Victoria University (VU) Fellowship and a Faculty of Health Engineering and Science Collaborative Research Grant Scheme to P.J. Guay funded this work. Data were collected under VU Animal Ethics Permit AEETH 15/10 and Deakin University Ethics Approval B32-2012.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Science, Engineering and Built Environment, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Centre for Integrative Ecology, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, VIC, 3125, Australia

    Hayley K. Glover & Michael A. Weston

  2. Applied Ecology Research Group and Institute for Sustainability and Innovation, College of Engineering and Science, Victoria University, Footscray Park Campus, PO Box 14428, Melbourne MC, VIC, 8001, Australia

    Patrick-Jean Guay

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  1. Hayley K. Glover
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  2. Patrick-Jean Guay
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  3. Michael A. Weston
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Correspondence to Michael A. Weston.

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Glover, H.K., Guay, PJ. & Weston, M.A. Up the creek with a paddle; avian flight distances from canoes versus walkers. Wetlands Ecol Manage 23, 775–778 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11273-015-9411-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11273-015-9411-9

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