Three Agami Herons equipped with Argos transmitters!

Between 21st and 23rd of April 2012, a team of six people left by helicopter to the floating platforms in the marshes of the Marais de Kaw-Roura Nature Reserve. The objective was to catch three Agami Herons and equip them with Argos transmitters to follow their movements in the upcoming year. A mission conducted in 2008 by GEPOG, IRD and the Marais de Kaw-Roura Nature Reserve had tested the feasibility of capturing the herons with nets and identifying the biometric measurements that would enable the sex of the individual birds to be determined.

Five herons were caught, and after all the biometric measures had been taken, three of them were chosen to be equipped with transmitters fixed by a harness as "backpack". Two males were equipped with battery PTTs and a female with a solar panel PTT. The information collected will provide details about their behavior and their movements both within and beyond the colony.

This mission was conducted by GEPOG and has been made possible through the support of the Marais de Kaw-Roura Nature Reserve, the IRD, the IMBE (Mediterranean Institute of marine and terrestrial Biodiversity and Ecology) and the Bureau Waardenburg from the Netherlands (a research and advice consultancy in ecology and environment).

An internet platform integrated to the Life website will soon be up and running to follow the movements of the three birds concerned!

Agami Heron before release, A. Stier 2012

Anna Stier
Project leader
LIFE+ CAP DOM