Marking birds with radiotransmitters to ascertain movements and demographic parameters has been a common practice for >50 years. Previous research provides evidence that transmitters may negatively affect some avian species, including gallinaceous birds. Investigators now commonly use rump‐mount transmitters with leg‐loop harnesses to monitor greater sage‐grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), but there is concern about effects of such harnesses with no published protocols for harness construction or attachment. During spring 2017–2019, we captured male greater sage‐grouse on or near strutting grounds in Moffat County, Colorado, USA. In 2017, we deployed 20 very‐high‐frequency transmitters on male greater sage‐grouse with elasticized Teflon™‐ribbon harnesses, but discovered marked birds sustained skin abrasions and lacerations. After this discovery, we modified the harness to use ribbon sheathed with tubing. We used the modified harness on 129 males in 2018 and 2019. We found few to no abrasions or lacerations on 8 out of 8 recaptured males with the modified harness, whereas only 1 out of 7 recaptured males fitted with the original elasticized ribbon harness had few to no abrasions or lacerations. Our findings suggest that sheathing the ribbon used to build the leg loops improves the commonly used elasticized‐ribbon design. We suggest investigators planning to use rump‐mount harnesses on male and female greater sage‐grouse to consider adopting our design, develop and test a new or improved design, and carefully consider harness materials, construction, and fit prior to deployment. © 2020 The Wildlife Society.

中文翻译：

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臀式线束设计改进，提高鼠尾草的使用效率

用无线电发射器标记鸟类以确定活动和人口统计参数已经超过50年了。先前的研究提供了证据，证明传播者可能对某些鸟类，包括鸡只鸟类产生负面影响。现在，研究人员通常使用带有腿环式安全带的臀部安装式发射器来监测鼠尾草的增长（Centrocerercus urophasianus），但对于这种线束的影响却没有任何关于线束构造或连接的公开协议的担忧。在2017-2019年春季，我们在美国科罗拉多州莫法特县的支s地上或附近捕获了雄性鼠尾草。在2017年，我们使用弹性Teflon™色带吊带在雄性较大的鼠尾草上部署了20个超高频发射器，但发现明显的鸟类持续皮肤擦伤和撕裂伤。在发现之后，我们修改了线束以使用带套管的碳带。我们在2018年和2019年对129名男性使用了改良的安全带。在使用改良安全带的8个重新捕获的男性中，发现8到8例很少甚至没有擦伤或割伤，而装有原始的松紧带状安全带的7个重新捕获的男性中只有1个几乎没有没有擦伤或割伤。我们的研究结果表明，套上用于构建腿环的色带可以改善常用的弹性色带设计。我们建议调查人员计划在雄性和雌性较大鼠尾草上使用臀部固定式安全带，以考虑采用我们的设计，开发和测试新的或改进的设计，并在部署之前仔细考虑安全带的材料，构造和适合性。©2020野生动物协会。