Movement ecology of oilbirds

Oilbirds (Steatornis caripensis) are cave roosting, nocturnal neotropical frugivores that disperse the seeds of many tropical trees. We capitalize on available GPS and accelerometer data stored on Movebank, to understand oilbird movement patterns in Venezuela, and assess individual variation in the cost of foraging and the implications of such differences for population ecology, conservation and ecosystem services. Moreover, we expanded the project to highly transformed habitats in the northern Andes in Colombia, to understand the consequences of habitat loss on frugivore movement and the ecosystem services they provide. This project is a collaboration with the Universidad del Rosario and the Max Planck Partner Group of Behavioral Ecology and Conservation, led by Dr. Adriana Maldonado-Chaparro, and involves Colombian students, researchers and local collaborators.