Project overview

The Falkland steamer duck (Tachyeres brachypterus, Gmelin, 1789) is a flightless steamer duck endemic to the Falkland Islands. The limited research conducted on the species has been largely related to its phylogeny (Livezey and Humphrey, 1992), with a special focus on the loss of its capacity to fly (Livezey and Humphrey, 1986) and a descriptive study of their behaviour (Livezey and Humphrey, 1985, 1982).  Breeding pairs are territorial all year-round (Weller, 1976), displaying aggressive behaviours when defending their territories (Livezey and Humphrey, 1985), while immature individuals flock together and live on more abrupt rocky shores than breeding pairs (Weller, 1972). Relatively little else is known of the species’ ecology (Johnsgard, 2010; Weller, 1976).

Project Objectives

The aim of this PhD project is to gain a better understanding of the ecology of the Falkland flightless steamer duck (FSD). The project will comprise of four main components:

1. Factors influencing FSD home range and quality using foraging behaviour and activity budgets
2. Intrinsic and extrinsic factors influencing trophic niche in the FSD
3. Assess breeding success through a behavioural monitoring
4. Modelling the mean density of the Falkland Steamer Duck (FSD) to determine critical breeding areas and population size

The PhD is a collaboration between Deakin University, the University of Ghent and the South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute (SAERI). In addition, data from ongoing surveys have been kindly shared by Sally Poncet from LandCare, Falkland Islands and stable isotope analysis are to be carried out at the Laboratory of trophic and isotopic ecology (LETIS) at University of Liège by Pr. Gilles Lepoint.

From January to March, 8 birds were successfully GPS tracked around Stanley Harbour. Since September, 14 birds were equipped, 5 around Stanley Harbour and 9 on Bleaker Island. Were also recorded breeding pair locations, breeding phenology and opportunistically collected scats.

Data for the distribution mapping were collected and analysis is ongoing.
A preliminary estimation of territory use, home-range and the associated activity budget has been done for all tracks collected since the beginning of the project.

As part of the SSF, outreach to the community was done through SAERI social-media, FITV and Peaty Pal Talk. 

Protocols for breeding monitoring and diet collection were prepared prior to the 2023-2024 field season. Catching procedure was refined prior and during the field season.

From September 2023 to mid-March 2024, the second field season for the PhD was carried out both around Stanley Harbour and Bleaker Island. 35 ducks were tagged, and 27 GPS tracks successfully retrieved. As part of the diet analysis, a total of 191 back feathers and 33 blood samples were collected from 33 different individuals. 178 scats were collected throughout the entire breeding season.

Avian influenza had limited effects on the field season. In this context, 25 swabs were collected for Dr Amandine Gamble, as part of her current research on bird infection.

A first draft on GPS data collected around Stanley during both field seasons 22/23 and 23/24 is currently being finalised. Data were analysed to investigate activity budget and characterise territory use in two contrasting habitats. Modelling the distribution of the FSD is still undergoing.

As part of the SSF, outreach to the community was done through SAERI social-media, FITV and Peaty Pal Talk. Reports were produced for both the SSF and ESB grants.