Exploring conservation strategies for oriental white stork fledglings (Ciconia boyciana) across the breeding wetland landscape: Hints from tracking movement patterns

To explore conservation strategies for endangered birds, especially for fledglings during breeding periods, the characteristics of habitat and nest site selection, daily activity pattern, and home range size must be understood. In the spring of 2016, we tracked four oriental white stork (Ciconia boyciana) fledglings’ movement patterns in Xingkai Lake National Reserve of Heilongjiang Province in China using miniaturized multi-sensor satellite transmitters from three different artificial nests established in the same wetland fragment. Location information and hourly distance from satellite transmitters were recorded to quantify activity patterns, movement hot spots, and home range size. In this paper, we provide systematic conservation recommendations of oriental white storks with perspective on artificial nests, activity rhythms, and spatial movement patterns in the breeding landscape. Results showed that oriental white stork fledglings were more active during the daytime, significant activity peaks occurred from 03:00–05:00 A.M and from 17:00–19:00 P.M. This suggests that anthropogenic pressure should be reduced or suspended during these activity peaks and captive fledglings should feed following natural rhythms. Fledglings tended to concentrate their movement around two or three hot-spot locations with flat spaces or small ponds and their movement routes between the different hot spots presented different shapes: triangular shape, L shape, and straight line. It is necessary to create enough flat spaces or man-made ponds to support fledglings foraging. The home range area based on 100% Minimum Convex Polygons varied considerably among the four individuals, ranging from 14.79 to 39.40 km2 during the tracking period. This helps determine the core protection boundary of the fledglings in the breeding habitat fragment. Establishing more artificial nests and improving nests monitoring systems are essential to ensure breeding success.