The Greater Flamingo.

Diversity and distribution of feather lice on Greater Flamingoes (Phoenicopterus ruber roseus) in the Camargue, southern France

Feather lice were collected from 2S0 chicks of the Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber roseus Pallas) captured alive in the Camargue, southern France, in July 1997. Five louse species were identified: Colpocephalum heterosoma Piaget, Colpocephalum salimalii Clay and Trinoton femoratum Piaget of the family Menoponidae; Anaticola phoenicopteri (Coinde) and Anatoecus pygaspis (Nitzsch [in Giebel]) of the family Philopteridae. Our collecting results also show that there is body-site segregation among the several louse species inhabiting the same host individual.

Local Recruitment in the Greater Flamingo: A New Approach Using Capture- Mark-Recapture Data

International audience; Although the establishment of new individuals in the breeding component of a population is an essential feature of population regulation, only a few attempts have been made to test biological hypotheses about recruitment. Most previous studies rely on ad hoc calculations or are flawed with unwarranted assumptions about survival. We use a recently developed approach, based on capture-mark-recapture, in which analysis of local recruitment is similar to a time-reversed analysis of survival. The basic data set consists of capture histories viewed in reverse order, with initial capture at year of birth, and subsequent observations corresponding to years when the animal ha…

Environmental impacts on wetland birds: long-term monitoring programmes in the Camargue, France.

10 pages; International audience; Wetlands in the Mediterranean area have become a rare habitat due to human impact. To model the ecology and breeding biology of birds depending on that habitat, we describe long-term studies on two wetland birds (Little Egret Egretta garzetta and Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus (ruber) roseus) in the Camargue, France. The hydrological conditions in natural Mediterranean wetlands depend largely on the pattern of rainfall (winter) and evapotranspiration (summer), but have been substantially altered by human activities. In natural conditions, these wetlands are very diverse and therefore sustain a high diversity of breeding birds. At the same time their unpred…

Sex- and age-related variation in survival and cost of first reproduction in Greater Flamingos

International audience; We analyzed survival of breeding Greater Flamingos, Phoenicopterus ruber roseus, using the capture histories of 2000 breeding birds ringed as chicks and resighted at their natal colony in the Camargue, southern France. As found in previous analyses, recapture probability varied according to year, sex, and age of the bird, and annual survival was strongly affected by winter severity. However, by using a much larger data set than in earlier analyses, we detected previously nonsignificant effects. Indeed, for the first time, sex and age of the bird were found to influence annual survival probability. We tested the hypothesis that the observed sex-related difference in s…