Follow-up report on the Cock-of-the-rock project

The telemetric tracking of the first male bird was interrupted at the beginning of July after a full month when one of the receivers failed. A second male will have to be captured and followed throughout September and October once the receiver has been retrieved, repaired and returned to the field.

The search for a Cock-of-the-rock nest in a site favourable for the development of a population in the Little Tortoise Mountains of French Guiana: Gwenaël Quenette

At the end of July, a first search of the Little Tortoise Mountains took place. For four consecutive days, Alizée Ricardou and two volunteers from GEPOG criss-crossed part of the range searching for nesting sites. The very rugged relief of the area rendered the search difficult and at times dangerous. No nest was found, although several potentially favourable sites were located. The range is composed of cliffs and rocky outcrops which could actually suit the species well. A second attempt is planned for the coming months and will focus on a different part of the range, where it is strongly suspected that the species is present.

At the same time as preparing such future work on the ground, the outcome of studies on the species’ breeding behaviour, which took place from December 2010 to June 2011, as well as the data gathered from telemetric tracking, are being analysed.

Alizée Ricardou
Project Leader, Guianan Cock-of-the-rock project for GEPOG