Solar-powered satellite trackers have been fixed to endangered ospreys for the first time in Australia, with the hope they will uncover many unanswered questions about the fish-hunting hawk's declining population.
Birdlife Raptor' Ian Falkenberg was tasked with the job of placing a harness to fix the satellite on two chicks at Port Lincoln and Thistle Island. He said the trackers could give specific information on the fall in the bird's population.
"We've seen roughly a 26 per cent decline in the last five years on the osprey population in South Australia, and that trajectory of decline seems to be continuing," Mr Falkenberg said
"This is really the best way to find out what the birds are doing during their day-to-day life and where they're going."
Citizen interest
Strong interest in osprey populations has been growing in the Port Lincoln community after tourism operator Janet Forster, who instigated the satellite project, set up a free live stream CCTV channel sharing footage of an osprey nest on a barge in the Port Lincoln marina.
Three chicks have hatched this year, but not much is known where the birds hunt or fly to when they leave the nest.
Step forward for scientists
Mr Falkenberg said the trackers were designed to stay on the birds for three to four years, and would eventually drop-off, but if a bird died before then, researchers could investigate.
"We can then find that bird and hopefully investigate a little bit further as to what's causing the death of these ospreys," he said.
Mr Falkenberg said the satellites would provide real-time updates on where the ospreys hunted, the depth the birds dived to hunt and forage for fish, and the altitude at which they usually flew.
Two nests were identified for the project, with one chick in Port Lincoln and one on Thistle Island tagged with the lightweight satellites.
"The nest in Port Lincoln is close to a fairly populated area and probably the largest fishing fleet in the southern hemisphere," he said.
"Thistle Island [nest] will give us a good opportunity to learn more about the hunting and foraging habits around a remote and isolated island."
Practising on pet chicken
The preparations leading up to the project required Wildlife Ethics Committee approval and even involved practising on pet chickens.
"We didn't really want to put a harness onto an osprey without having done some trials," Mr Falkenberg said.
"My daughter has a pet chook called Henrietta, so we actually fabricated a harness to fit Henrietta — that's effectively how we ended up refining the harness to suit the ospreys."
Photographer Fran Solly, who captured the osprey harness application, said it was a process the team wanted to get right.
"It's a real sense of responsibility — you know these birds are endangered so getting the process right was really important," Ms Solly said.
"We feel a sense of achievement now that we know we'll have data that'll be incredibly important for the scientific community and for people who want to protect these birds."
