Journal article
Do neck-collars affect the behaviour and condition of Black Swans (Cygnus atratus)?
PJ Guay, RA Mulder
Emu | Published : 2009
DOI: 10.1071/MU09020
Abstract
Neck-collars are commonly used to identify geese and swans, but possible adverse effects of collars have been investigated in few species. We evaluated the effects of plastic neck-collars on the behaviour and condition of Black Swans (Cygnus atratus). We fitted 67 individuals with rigid, plastic neck-collars between July and November 2007, and three months later compared the behaviour of a sample of 16 collared Swans with that of 16 uncollared birds. There were no differences between collared and uncollared Swans in the percentage time spent resting, swimming or preening. Collared Swans tended to spend less time upending and more time dabbling than uncollared Swans, but the overall proportio..
View full abstractGrants
Awarded by ARC Discovery Grant
Awarded by Animal Experimentation and Ethics Committee Registers
Awarded by Department of Sustainability and Environment, Victoria
Awarded by Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme
Awarded by Australian Research Council
Funding Acknowledgements
This study was supported by an ARC Discovery Grant (DP0558607) awarded to R. A. Mulder and Mark Elgar. Work was conducted under Animal Experimentation and Ethics Committee Registers ( 05065 and 0810883) and permits from the Department of Sustainability and Environment, Victoria ( permit numbers 10003333 and 10004585). Banding was conducted under and bands provided by the Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme ( authority # 1405). We thank Parks Victoria for their logistical support and numerous volunteers for help with fieldwork.