rsg_book_2013

Birdsestablished in the U.S. toaid in detection of bandedshrike along migrationroutes and on winteringgrounds. There have beenseveral recent sightings ofbanded birds in the U.S.,two of these captiverearedbirds appearing inOhio and northern Virginiaduring migration.A radiotelemetry studyfound that shrikes tolerateradio-transmitters (andbehave normally) and weobserved 75% survival ofObserving captive loggerhead pairsrelease young premigration(Imlay et al.,© Wildlife Preservation Canada2010). Birds moved too quickly out of Canada to track migration routes, even withthe use of aerial telemetry. To locate the wintering grounds, geolocators weredeployed on 108 shrikes from 2009 - 2011. Although 3 geolocator birds returnedto Ontario and were successfully re-trapped, in all cases the devices had failedprior to onset of migration. Further trials with captive shrike suggest that thefailures are not caused by the shrikes themselves and we will continue this studyin 2013.Major difficulties faced Migration routes and wintering grounds for the Ontario population areunknown, therefore we cannot yet monitor birds or determine threats outsideof the breeding season. Unexplained mortality in the captive population undermines its genetic viabilityand the numbers released. It is difficult to maintain community goodwill towards the release program whenthere is a lack of clarity surrounding enforcement of provincial endangeredspecies legislation and the federal Recovery Strategy which identifies CriticalHabitat on private lands; community polarization impacts property access andmonitoring efforts. Sustained funding to maintain a full-scale and long term program, that crossesgeo-political boundaries. Issues with field surveys include high dispersal of young, nesting on privateproperties, low detectability of shrikes.Major lessons learned Successful breeding and high productivity achieved through in-situ breedingconditions. Young that are parent-reared in-situ, and provided with live prey, demonstratea full range of natural behaviors and show a high rate of survival post-release.83