HMANA co-hosted the September Lunch & Learn with the Harris Center for Conservation Education in New Hampshire for a presentation by Diego Gallego García.
When studying avian ecology, the first questions that come to our minds are: Where does the bird breed? How much space does it need? Does it change annually? Understanding home range size, and identifying the habitat characteristics influencing it, is key to addressing potential conservation issues. Unfortunately, in the case of the secretive Broad-winged Hawk (Buteo platypterus), its elusive habits have hindered the study of its breeding home ranges for decades… until now. Thanks to a long-term study and effort by Hawk Mountain Sanctuary and collaborators in northeastern North America, we now have movement data of GPS-tagged individuals during their reproductive cycle. This program brought to light the novel discoveries regarding breeding home ranges of this forest raptor, the first of their kind. We examined potential variables affecting the size of these territories and discussed the potential role of its marked nest site fidelity, a factor that could be crucial for its conservation.
Diego Gallego García is a Ph.D. Candidate at CONICET (Argentinian National Scientific and Technical Research Council), and member of CECARA (Center for the Study and Conservation of Birds of Prey in Argentina).
He a Spanish biologist (BSc Biology, MSc Zoology) who has devoted his research career to wildlife biology, lately focusing on the ecology and conservation of raptors in the Americas. His Ph.D. thesis deals with the movement ecology and dispersal behavior of the endangered Chaco Eagle (Buteogallus coronatus) during its first years of life. As part of a recent traineeship at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, Diego participated in the Broad- winged Hawk Project, and published novel data on the breeding home ranges of this elusive forest bird.
