Daily Movements of Non-Breeding Yellow-billed Pintails (Anas georgica) in Central Chile

Abstract

Between January-August 2017, the movements of 18 individual Yellow-billed Pintail (Anas georgica) were studied after capture at the Carampangue wetland in Central Chile and equipped with GPS transmitters. The goal was to describe the movements of the species in terms of the distance travelled at different times of the day. Approximately 80% of all movements detected within 6-h time intervals were shorter than 1 km (median = 0.35 km). A total of 36 (0.3%) flights of more than 50 km (max dispersal = 317 km) were recorded, performed by 10 of the individuals. The distribution of flights of different distances varied significantly during the day, with short movements (0-1 km) occurring more frequently than expected during daylight, flights 1-50 km of distance being significantly more frequent during twilight, and long distance (> 50 km) flights concentrated during the night. There was no evidence of birds preferentially selecting clear-sky nights for long-distance flights.