Beneharo Rodríguez

Canary Islands' Ornithology and Natural History Group (GOHNIC)

The main factors affecting specific road casualty rates are related to life-history traits, road features, and landscape variables. After road inauguration, roadkill rate and spatial and temporal patterns can change substantially due to changes in traffic intensity, avoidance behaviour or local population decline. Despite the Canary Islands constit...

The increase of the tourism and urbanization of vast areas of dunes and beaches has been accompanied by an increase in the level of disturbances to many shorebirds, especially on those species which depend on such habitats to breed. The European Kentish plover (Charadrius alexandrinus) population is declining, also in the Canarian archipelago, one...

The use of anthropogenic debris as nest-building materials may affect nest function. We study ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) on an island with scarce vegetation and high availability of beached marine debris. We describe the anthropogenic debris in osprey nests, evaluate the factors affecting its prevalence and abundance, and test its potential effect...

Rescue programs aiming to mitigate light-induced mortality of seabird fledglings have reported that fewer birds are grounded (and rescued) during full moon nights. Two non-mutually exclusive hypotheses have been proposed as explanations: (1) reduction of strandings because birds are less attracted to and disorientated by light pollution during full...

Human-induced direct mortality affects huge numbers of birds each year, threatening hundreds of species worldwide. Tracking technologies can be an important tool to investigate temporal and spatial patterns of bird mortality as well as their drivers. We compiled 1704 mortality records from tracking studies across the African-Eurasian flyway for 45...

Foulques macroules Fulica atra tuant des Gallinules poule-d'eau Gallinula chloropus adultes à Tenerife, Îles Canaries. Deux cas d'une Foulque macroule Fulica atra adulte tuant une Gallinule poule-d'eau Gallinula chloropus dans un réservoir à Tenerife, Îles Canaries, sont documentés. Les deux incidents ont probablement été perpétrés par le même mâle...

Petrels are particularly sensitive to predation by introduced species. Many populations have reduced their breeding ranges, currently mainly occupying predator-free sites. Breeding range reduction leads to interspecific competition for nesting sites, which can be detrimental to petrels. Here, we evaluate how the presence of introduced mammals (cats...

Light pollution causes attraction and/or disorientation of seabirds, leading to mortality events due to multiple threats. This is a poorly understood phenomenon, largely because of the challenge to track seabirds at night from their nests to the grounding light-polluted locations. New tracking technologies can inform about this phenomenon. Here, we...

Procellariiformes are one of the most threatened groups of birds of the world so knowledge of nesting habitat and factors affecting breeding rates are vital issues for their conservation. Although Cory's Shearwater Calonectris borealis is a well-studied seabird species on the whole, information on the relationship between its breeding parameters an...

Due to their life-history traits, the petrels are particularly sensitive to predation by introduced species. Therefore, many populations have constricted their original breeding distribution range, currently only occupying predator-free sites. In this scenario, interspecific competition for nesting sites can be detrimental for the petrel’ conservat...

Forest‐dwelling raptors living on islands are more vulnerable than continental relatives due to their particular life history traits and habitat degradation. The Canary Islands' forests have suffered severe transformations because of intense human exploitation since its colonization by the Europeans. In recent decades, forest managers have initiate...

Foraging distribution of flying seabirds is constrained by environmental factors influencing individual decision-making. This must be particularly true during the breeding period, when individuals face additional limitations imposed by their central-place foraging behaviour. We used GPS data loggers and Argos PTTs to track the foraging flights of B...

Le Pigeon des lauriers Columba junoniae exploitant le pollen et le nectar de l’Agave américain Agave americana. Les observations ont été réalisées durant l’été 2019 sur l’île de Tenerife, dans une zone de transition entre la végétation thermophile et la forêt de lauriers. En étant perchées sur les fleurs ou la tige de l’ombelle, les oiseaux picorai...

Until the middle of the 20th century, the Common Raven Corvus corax was an abundant bird in the Canary Islands. However, during recent decades, populations have decreased dramatically in the most densely populated islands, apparently because of changes in land use and other anthropic activities. In the current study, we estimated raven population s...

The taxonomy of Procellariiformes, particularly petrels and shearwaters, is still unresolved. The Manx shearwater Puffinus puffinus is one of the best studied seabirds worldwide. Most of the information known on this seabird is focused on the northern core populations where the species is abundant. However, the species shows a high number of periph...

We document the first two records of Sora Porzana carolina for the Canary Islands, in Tenerife, in December 2015 and October 2019. There are at least 43 records of this rare, occasional species for the Western Palearctic, including nine in Macaronesia (Azores, Madeira and Canary Islands) and one in North Africa (Morocco).In Macaronesia, all observa...

The Macaronesian Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus granti) is an endemic subspecies restricted to the forest habitats of Madeira and the Canary Islands. We studied its inter-habitat diet variation on the largest of the Canaries, Tenerife, during the 2014-2015 breeding seasons. We also compared the current food spectrum (2014-2015) with that reported in...

During 2015 and 2016, we conducted the first systematic study of the size of the breeding population, distribution, habitat and diet of the Barbary Falcon Falco peregrinus pelegrinoides on La Palma, Canary Islands. We found a minimum of 28 territories (3.9 territories/100 km2) at an average distance of 3.6 km (range 1.7–7.7 km) from their nearest n...

Esta asistencia técnica se ha desarrollado a petición del Parque Nacional del Teide, en el marco del encargo realizado a Gesplan, expediente 2017-161 de 17 de octubre de 2017, con acuerdo del Consejo de Gobierno Insular, Cabildo de Tenerife, denominado Seguimiento de Silene nocteolens y de diversos aspectos de la biología de Juniperus cedrus: censo...

Asistencia técnica cofinanciada por la Dirección General de Protección de la Naturaleza del Gobierno de Canarias y el Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER, UE).

Este documento preliminar, elaborado para la Dirección General de Lucha contra el Cambio Climático y Medio Ambiente del Gobierno de Canarias, será puesto a exposición pública una vez finalice su periodo de evaluación.

Falcons were detected by admissions to La Tahonilla Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, Cabildo de Tenerife (1998-2017), lost falcons reports issued by falconers to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center (2007-2017), and field observations by authors (1993-2017). Territory: yes = holding territory. Paired : Yes = Mated, No = Unmated

Peregrine Falcons (Falco peregrinus) on the Canary Islands are considered to be of the Barbary Falcon subspecies (F. p. pelegrinoides). Here we report on lost falconry birds present among the wild population of resident falcons, and provide rough approximations of their abundance for Tenerife, the largest island of the Canaries. We observed lost fa...

Shearwaters and petrels (hereafter petrels) are highly adapted seabirds that occur across all the world’s oceans. Petrels are a threatened seabird group comprising 124 species. They have bet-hedging life histories typified by extended chick rearing periods, low fecundity, high adult survival, strong philopatry, monogamy and long-term mate fidelity...

Asistencia técnica cofinanciada por la Dirección General de Protección de la Naturaleza del Gobierno de Canarias y el Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER, UE).

Asistencia técnica cofinanciada por la Dirección General de Protección de la Naturaleza del Gobierno de Canarias y el Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (UE).

Asistencia técnica cofinanciada por la Dirección General de Protección de la Naturaleza del Gobierno de Canarias y el Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER, UE).

The specific spatial distribution and habitat association -strongly influenced by environmental factors or competitive interactions- are major issues in ecology and conservation. We located and georeferenced nesting sites of five cliff-nesting raptors (Egyptian vulture Neophron percnopterus, common buzzard Buteo buteo, osprey Pandion haliaetus, com...

Insular wildlife is more prone to extinction than their mainland relatives. Thus, a basic understanding of non-natural mortality sources is the first step in the development of conservation management plans. The Canary Islands are an important tourist destination due to their unique climate and rich scenery and biodiversity. During the last few dec...

Model assumptions and validations. (DOCX)

Species, locations (UTM 28R coordinates) and dates of roadkills found on Lanzarote, Canary Islands (November 2010-October 2011). (CSV)

Number of carcasses (roadkills) found on Lanzarote, Canary Islands (November 2010-October 2011). Mortality was estimated by considering carcass removal time (PT) and probability of observer detectability (D) of each species according to bibliography [52]. (DOCX)

We studied the post-fledging movement of two sibling (male and female) juvenile Barbary Falcons (Falco peregrinus pelegrinoides) hatched in Lanzarote (Canary Islands) in 2011 using satellite tracking. Birds were tracked from fledging in May to the end of November, when the signals of both transmitters were lost. During the first 45 d following fled...

Marine megafauna, including seabirds, are critically affected by fisheries bycatch. However, bycatch risk may differ on temporal and spatial scales due to the uneven distribution and effort of fleets operating different fishing gear, and to focal species distribution and foraging behavior. Scopoli's shearwater Calonectris diomedea is a long-lived s...

Asistencia técnica cofinanciada por la Dirección General de Protección de la Naturaleza del Gobierno de Canarias y el Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER, UE).

Artificial lights at night cause high mortality of seabirds, one of the most endangered groups of birds globally. Fledglings of burrow-nesting seabirds, and to a lesser extent adults, are grounded by lights when they fly at night. We review the current state of knowledge of light attraction, identify information gaps and propose measures to address...

Fisheries provide an abundant and predictable food source for many pelagic seabirds through discards, but also pose a major threat to them through bycatch, threatening their populations worldwide. The reform of the European Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), which intends to ban discards through the landing obligation of all catches, may force seabirds...

Asistencia técnica cofinanciada por la Dirección General de Protección de la Naturaleza del Gobierno de Canarias y el Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER, UE).

Foraging Destinations of Balearic Shearwaters

Asistencia técnica financiada por el Cabildo Insular de La Palma.

Petrels are among the most threatened group of birds. On top of facing predation by introduced mammals and incidental bycatch, these seabirds have to deal with an emerging threat, light pollution, which is increasing globally. Fledglings are disoriented and attracted to artificial lights in their maiden night flights from their nests to the sea. On...

Fisheries and seabirds are intimately associated as both exploit the same productive areas. Some seabirds take advantage of fishery discards, mostly generated by trawlers, as a supplementary foraging resource, changing their foraging strategies linked to this predictable food. Thus it is expected that any change in fishing practices will have impor...

Light pollution and its consequences on ecosystems are increasing worldwide. Knowledge on the threshold levels of light pollution at which significant ecological impacts emerge and the size of dark refuges to maintain natural nocturnal processes is crucial to mitigate its negative consequences. Seabird fledglings are attracted by artificial lights...

Capsule: Flowers of an invasive plant species are more visited by native birds than flowers of ornithophilous endemic plants. Aims: To describe the bird guild and its behaviour visiting the century plant Agave americana in an insular environment and to determine which factors are affecting visitation rates. Methods: We noted number and species of b...

The Teno range of mountains, located in the northwest Tenerife, Canary Islands, is still a refuge for the flora and fauna of the island. Until now, at least four native species of reptiles, 232 of birds (both breeding and migrant), and six mammals have been recorded for that site. For some of these animals, such as Canarian Spotted Lizard (Gallotia...

Tejera, G. & Rodríguez, B. Quantifying the importance for waterbirds of an urban rocky coastal site in Lanzarote, Canary Islands. Wader Study Group Bull. 121(1): 1–8. We present the results of monthly censuses of waterbirds in a rocky coastal sector of the city of Arrecife, Lanzarote (Canary Islands). Spatial and temporal changes both in species ab...

Between 2004 and 2007, we studied density, habitat features and breeding parameters of the osprey (Pandion haliaetus) population in Boa Vista Island (Cape Verde). A total of 79 nest structures were identified, 37 of which were occupied for at least 1 year during the study period. The osprey population ranged between 14 and 18 pairs, and the mean de...

As central-place foragers, pelagic seabirds are constrained by spatiotemporal heterogeneity to find productive marine areas and compete for prey. We analysed 97 foraging trips to study the movement and oceanographic characteristics of foraging habitats of two different—yet closely related—species of shearwaters (Scopoli’s shearwater Calonectris dio...

We studied nesting habitat selection of the endangered non-migratory Osprey Pandion haliaetus population of the Canary Islands and evaluated the effect of human expansion in recent decades. Compared with randomly selected potential nest-sites, Osprey nests were more frequently found on taller, southwest-facing cliffs, char-acterized by lower human...

a sure death by collision with vehicles, predation by cats, dogs, or starvation, and they have been returned to the wild 1. However, this percentage is overestimated as people tend to rescue live fledglings. D uring the last six decades, humans have globally transformed the natural nightscapes by the use of artificial night lighting. The resulting...

HABITAT NICHE OF TWO CLOSELY-RELATED SHEARWATER SPECIES BREEDING IN SYMPATRY

CapsuleThe breeding foraging and post-breeding dispersal movements of five satellite-tagged Bulwer's Petrels from the Canary Islands were recorded. Foraging trips lasted 5.6 days in average (n=3), while the mean distance covered was 1261 km, and foraging areas were located over the continental slope and the adjacent pelagic waters, around 1200-2000...

Aim Apical pelagic species forage in predictable habitats, and their movements should signal biologically and ecologically significant areas of the marine ecosystem. Several countries are now engaged in identifying these areas based on animal tracking, but this is often limited to a few individuals from one breeding population, which may result in...

Every year and across the world, thousands of fledglings of different petrel species crash into human structures because they are disorientated by artificial lights during their first flights. As this phenomenon is rather predictable, rescue cam-paigns are organized to help birds to reach the ocean, but unfortunately, a low proportion gets hurt or...