scholarly journals Parrot Free-Flight as a Conservation Tool

Diversity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 254
Author(s):  
Constance Woodman ◽  
Chris Biro ◽  
Donald J. Brightsmith
Keyword(s):  
Antipredator Behavior ◽  
Survival Rates ◽  
Flight Time ◽  
Flight Training ◽  
Wild Food ◽  
Wild Populations ◽  
Free Flight ◽  
Training Technique ◽  
Outdoor Environments ◽  
Raptor Conservation

The release of captive-raised parrots to create or supplement wild populations has been critiqued due to variable survival rates and unreliable flocking behavior. Private bird owners free-fly their parrots in outdoor environments and utilize techniques that could address the needs of conservation breed and release projects. We present methods and results of a free-flight training technique used for 3 parrot flocks: A large-bodied (8 macaws of 3 species and 2 hybrids), small-bodied (25 individuals of 4 species), and a Sun Parakeet flock (4 individuals of 1 species). Obtained as chicks, the birds were hand-reared in an enriched environment. As juveniles, the birds were systematically exposed to increasingly complex wildland environments, mirroring the learning process of wild birds developing skills. The criteria we evaluated for each flock were predation rates, antipredator behavior, landscape navigation, and foraging. No parrots were lost to predation or disorientation during over 500 months of free-flight time, and all birds demonstrated effective flocking, desirable landscape navigation, and wild food usage. The authors conclude that this free-flight method may be directly applicable for conservation releases, similar to the use of falconry methods for raptor conservation.

An Evaluation of Ground-Based Flight Trainers in Routine Primary Flight Training

1971 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Kingsley Povenmire ◽  
Stanley N. Roscoe
Keyword(s):  
Significant Positive Correlation ◽  
Group Performance ◽  
Flight Time ◽  
Flight Training ◽  
Pilot Training ◽  
Flight Instruction ◽  
Instructional Situation ◽  
Relative Value ◽  
Flight Instructors ◽  
Different Types

The relative benefits of different types of flight training equipment were evaluated in a routine instructional situation with no particular constraints placed upon the instructor as to how he used the equipment and without interfering with the normal course of flight training. The specific objectives of this research program were: (1) to evaluate the flight instructors' ability to predict success in private pilot training on the basis of students' initial performances in each of two ground trainers as opposed to actual aircraft, (2) to determine the relative value of 11 hours of flight instruction in two different ground trainers, and (3) to develop an objective scale for checking flight proficiency. There was a significant positive correlation of 0.50 between predictions based on two hours of training in the ground-based trainers and actual hours required to pass the flight check, but a nonsignificant negative correlation of 0.22 for predictions based on two hours in the aircraft. The ground trainer groups passed their flight checks with an average of slightly more than an how greater total time than those trained exclusively in the aircraft. On the basis of equivalent levels of group performance, 11 hours of training in the AN-T-18 resulted in a saving of 9 hours of flight time, thereby yielding a transfer effectiveness ratio of 0.8. Eleven hours of training in the GAT-1 resulted in a saving of 11 hours of flight time, yielding a transfer effectiveness ratio value of 1.0. The transfer effectiveness ratio is a new measure that directly relates the saving in learning one task to the amount of training on another.

scholarly journals Free Flight Time for Projects in Atmospheric Sciences

Eos ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bailey Bedford
Keyword(s):  
Flight Time ◽  
Free Flight ◽  
Atmospheric Sciences ◽  
Innovative Project

Got an urgent or innovative project that involves collecting airborne data? A research flight company is donating an estimated $100,000 of its resources to help you.

Simulator Cockpit Motion and the Transfer of Initial Flight Training

1975 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 218-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert S. Jacobs ◽  
Stanley N. Roscoe
Keyword(s):  
Performance Measures ◽  
Flight Time ◽  
Performance Criteria ◽  
Flight Training ◽  
Transfer Performance ◽  
Training Simulator ◽  
Transfer Effects ◽  
Fixed Base ◽  
Simulator Motion ◽  
Made In

Transfer of flight training from a Singer-Link GAT-2 training simulator, modified to approximate a counterpart Piper Cherokee Arrow airplane, was measured for independent groups of nine flight-naive subjects, each trained in one of three simulator cockpit motion conditions: normal washout motion in bank with sustained pitch angles, washout banking motion in which the direction of motion relative to that of the simulated airplane was randomly reversed 50% of the time as the cab passed through a wings-level attitude, and a fixed-base condition. Subjects received predetermined fixed amounts of practice in the simulator on each of 11 flight maneuvers drawn from the Private Pilot flight curriculum. Transfer performance measures, including flight time and trials to FAA performance criteria and total errors made in the process, showed reliable transfer for all groups with differential transfer effects and cost-effectiveness implications depending upon the type of simulator motion.

Survival and antipredator behavior of woodchucks (Marmota monax) along an urban–agricultural gradient

2012 ◽  
Vol 90 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
E.W. Lehrer ◽  
R.L. Schooley ◽  
J.K. Whittington
Keyword(s):  
Perceived Risk ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
Antipredator Behavior ◽  
Survival Rates ◽  
Behavioral Responses ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Marmota Monax ◽  
Integrated Assessments

Understanding effects of urbanization on biodiversity requires integrated assessments of demographic and behavioral responses by species, including urban-adapter species. Past research on mammalian responses to urbanization has emphasized predators, but prey species could respond to additional factors including variation in predation risk. We examined spatial heterogeneity in real and perceived risk across an urbanization gradient by comparing survival rates, causes of mortality, and antipredator behavior of adult woodchucks ( Marmota monax (L., 1758)) within an agricultural landscape in Illinois from 2007 to 2009. Survival rates were higher, and effects of urbanization were stronger, during the inactive season. Rural woodchucks primarily died from predation or costs associated with hibernation, whereas urban woodchucks mainly died from vehicle collisions or unknown reasons. Mean levels of antipredator behavior were unrelated to urbanization, but among-individual variation in vigilance levels increased in urban areas, which may reflect increased spatial variation in disturbance levels within urban environments. Distances from burrows while foraging and flight initiation distances also were unrelated to urbanization, suggesting that urban woodchucks were not strongly habituated to humans. Our research provides insights into demographic and behavioral responses to urbanization, and constraints to responses, by an urban-adapter species.

scholarly journals Integrating high-speed videos in capture-mark-recapture studies of insects

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rassim Khelifa ◽  
Hayat Mahdjoub ◽  
Leithen M'Gonigle ◽  
Claire Kremen
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Survival Rates ◽  
Effect Sizes ◽  
Effective Management ◽  
Wild Populations ◽  
Mark Recapture ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Demographic Covariates ◽  
Dragonfly Species

Capture-mark-recapture (CMR) studies have been used extensively in ecology and evolution. While it is feasible to apply CMR in some animals, it is considerably more challenging in small fast-moving species such as insects. In these groups, low recapture rates can bias estimates of demographic parameters, thereby, handicapping effective management of wild populations. Here we use high-speed videos (HSV) of the adults of two large dragonfly species that rarely land and, thus, are particularly challenging for CMR studies. We specifically test whether HSV, compared to conventional eye observations, increases the “resighting” rates and improves the certainty of the estimates of survival rate, and the effects of demographic covariates on survival rates. We show that the use of HSV increases the number of resights substantially. HSV improved our estimates of resighting and survival probability which were either under- or overestimated with the conventional observations. HSV increased the accuracy of the estimates of effect sizes of important covariates (age and body size). Integrating HSV in CMR of highly mobile animals is valuable because it is easy, non-invasive, and has the potential to improve demographic estimates. Hence, it opens the door for a wide range of research possibilities on species that are traditionally difficult to monitor, including within insects, birds, and mammals.

The Analysis of Mortality and Survival Rates in Wild Populations of Mosquitoes

1981 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 373 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. N. Clements ◽  
G. D. Paterson
Keyword(s):  
Survival Rates ◽  
Wild Populations

Ultrastructural Changes in Three Different Mammalian Cells Following Ultraviolet Laser Irradiation

1972 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 350-351
Author(s):  
K. Shankar Narayan ◽  
Kailash C. Gupta ◽  
Tohru Okigaki
Keyword(s):  
Ultraviolet Light ◽  
Mammalian Cells ◽  
Biological Effects ◽  
Survival Rates ◽  
Chinese Hamster ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Differential Sensitivity ◽  
Ultrastructural Changes ◽  
Ultraviolet Laser

The biological effects of short-wave ultraviolet light has generally been described in terms of changes in cell growth or survival rates and production of chromosomal aberrations. Ultrastructural changes following exposure of cells to ultraviolet light, particularly at 265 nm, have not been reported.We have developed a means of irradiating populations of cells grown in vitro to a monochromatic ultraviolet laser beam at a wavelength of 265 nm based on the method of Johnson. The cell types studies were: i) WI-38, a human diploid fibroblast; ii) CMP, a human adenocarcinoma cell line; and iii) Don C-II, a Chinese hamster fibroblast cell strain. The cells were exposed either in situ or in suspension to the ultraviolet laser (UVL) beam. Irradiated cell populations were studied either "immediately" or following growth for 1-8 days after irradiation.Differential sensitivity, as measured by survival rates were observed in the three cell types studied. Pattern of ultrastructural changes were also different in the three cell types.

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