Browsing by Author "Melville DS"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3

Avian Influenza Virus Surveillance Across New Zealand and Its Subantarctic Islands Detects H1N9 in Migratory Shorebirds, but Not 2.3.4.4b HPAI H5N1
(John Wiley and Sons Ltd, 2025-04) Waller SJ; Wierenga JR; Heremia L; Darnley JA; de Vries I; Dubrulle J; Robinson Z; Miller AK; Niebuhr CN; Melville DS; Schuckard R; Battley PF; Wille M; Alai B; Cole R; Cooper J; Ellenberg U; Elliott G; Faulkner J; Fischer JH; Fyfe J; Hay L; Houston D; Keys BC; Long J; Long R; Mattern T; McGovern H; McNutt L; Moore P; Neil O; Osborne J; Pagé A-S; Parker KA; Perry M; Philp B; Reid J; Rexer-Huber K; Russell JC; Sagar R; Ruru TT; Thompson T; Thomson L; Tinnemans J; Uddstrom L; Waipoua TA; Walker K; Whitehead E; Wickes C; Young MJ; McInnes K; Winter D; Geoghegan JL
Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus subtype H5N1 has never been detected in New Zealand. The potential impact of this virus on New Zealand's wild birds would be catastrophic. To expand our knowledge of avian influenza viruses across New Zealand, we sampled wild aquatic birds from New Zealand, its outer islands and its subantarctic territories. Metatranscriptomic analysis of 700 individuals spanning 33 species revealed no detection of H5N1 during the annual 2023–2024 migration. A single detection of H1N9 in red knots (Calidris canutus) was noted. This study provides a baseline for expanding avian influenza virus monitoring in New Zealand.
Interacting Roles of Breeding Geography and Early-Life Settlement in Godwit Migration Timing
(Frontiers Media SA, 17/03/2020) Battley PF; Conklin JR; Parody-Merino ÁM; Langlands PA; Southey I; Burns T; Melville DS; Schuckard R; Riegen AC; Potter MA
While avian migration timing is clearly influenced by both breeding and non-breeding geography, it is challenging to identify the relative and interdependent roles of endogenous programs, early-life experience, and carry-over effects in the development of adult annual schedules. Bar-tailed godwits Limosa lapponica baueri migrate northward from New Zealand toward Asian stopover sites during the boreal spring, with differences in timing between individuals known to relate to their eventual breeding-ground geography in Alaska. Here, we studied the timing of northward migration of individual godwits at three sites spanning 1,100 km of New Zealand’s 1,400-km length. A lack of morphological or genetic structure among sites indicates that the Alaskan breeding population mixes freely across all sites, and larger birds (southern breeders) tended to migrate earlier than smaller birds (northern breeders) at all sites. However, we unexpectedly found that migration timing varied between the sites, with birds from southern New Zealand departing on average 9.4–11 days earlier than birds from more northerly sites, a difference consistent across 4 years of monitoring. There is no obvious adaptive reason for migration timing differences of this magnitude, and it is likely that geographic variation in timing within New Zealand represents a direct response to latitudinal variation in photoperiod. Using resightings of marked birds, we show that immature godwits explore widely around New Zealand before embarking on their first northward migration at age 2–4 years. Thus, the process by which individual migration dates are established appears to involve: (1) settlement by sub-adult godwits at non-breeding sites, to which they are highly faithful as adults; (2) a consequent response to environmental cues (i.e., photoperiod) that sets the local population’s migration window; and (3) endogenous mechanisms, driven by breeding geography, that establish and maintain the well-documented consistent differences between individuals. This implies that behavioral decisions by young godwits have long-lasting impacts on adult annual-cycle schedules, but the factors guiding non-breeding settlement are currently unknown.
Power source, data retrieval method, and attachment type affect success of dorsally mounted tracking tag deployments in 37 species of shorebirds
(John Wiley and Sons Ltd on behalf of Nordic Society Oikos, 2025-12-04) Weiser EL; Lanctot RB; Ruthrauff DR; Saalfeld ST; Tibbitts TL; Abad-Gómez JM; Aldabe J; de Almeida JB; Alves JA; Anderson GQA; Battley PF; Belting H; Bêty J; Bianchini K; Bishop MA; Bom RA; Bowgen K; Brown GS; Brown SC; Bugoni L; Burton NHK; Bybee DR; Carneiro C; Castresana G; Chan Y-C; Choi C-Y; Christie KS; Clark NA; Conklin JR; Cruz-López M; Dinsmore SJ; Dodd SG; Douglas DC; Eberhart-Hertel LJ; English WB; Ewing HT; Faria FA; Franks SE; Fuller RA; Gill RE; Giroux M-A; Gratto-Trevor CL; Green DJ; Green RE; Green RMW; Gunnarsson TG; Gutiérrez JS; Harrison A-L; Hartman CA; Hassell CJ; Hoepfner SA; Hooijmeijer JCEW; Johnson JA; Johnson OW; Kempenaers B; Klaassen M; Kok EMA; Krietsch J; Küpper C; Kwarteng AY; Kwon E; Lamarre J-F; Latty CJ; Lecomte N; Loonstra AHJ; Ma Z; Mander L; Marlow C; Marra PP; Masero JA; McDuffie LA; McGuire RL; Melter J; Melville DS; Méndez V; Michels TJ; Morrissey CA; Mu T; Newstead DJ; Page GW; Pierce AK; Piersma T; Repenning M; Robinson BH; Rocha AD; Rogers DI; Scarpignato AL; Schulte S; Scragg ES; Senner NR; Smith PA; Taylor AR; Taylor RC; Þórisson B; Valcu M; Verhoeven MA; Ware L; Warnock N; Weber MF; Wright LJ; Wunder MB; Shamoun-Baranes J; Bensch S
Animal-borne trackers are commonly used to study bird movements, including in long-distance migrants such as shorebirds. Selecting a tracker and attachment method can be daunting, and methodological advancements often have been made by trial and error and conveyed by word of mouth. We synthesized tracking outcomes across 2745 dorsally mounted trackers on 37 shorebird species around the world. We evaluated how attachment method, power source, data retrieval method, relative tracker mass, and biological traits affected success, where success was defined as whether or not each tag deployment reached its expected tracking duration (i.e. all aspects succeeded for the intended duration of the study: attachment, tracking, data acquisition, and bird survival). We conducted separate analyses for tag deployments with remote data retrieval (‘remote-upload tag deployments') and those that archived data and had to be recovered (‘archival tag deployments'). Among remote-upload tag deployments, those that were a lighter mass relative to the bird, were beyond their first year of production, transmitted data via satellite, or were attached with a leg-loop harness were most often successful at reaching their expected tracking duration. Archival tag deployments were most successful when applied at breeding areas, or when applied to males in any season. Remote-upload tag deployments with solar power, satellite data retrieval, or leg-loop harnesses continued tracking for longer than those with battery power, other types of data retrieval, or glue attachments. However, the majority of tag deployments failed to reach their expected tracking duration (71% of remote-upload, 83% of archival), which could have been due to tracker failure, attachment failure, or bird mortality. Our findings highlight that many tag deployments may fail to meet the goals of a study if tracking duration is crucial. Using our results, we provide guidelines for selecting a tracker and attachment to improve success at meeting study goals.