Abstract

Cutting-edge technologies are extremely useful to develop new workflows in studying ecological data, particularly to understand animal behavior and movement trajectories at the individual level. Although parental care is a well-studied phenomenon, most studies have been focused on direct observational or video recording data, as well as experimental manipulation. Therefore, what happens out of our sight still remains unknown. Using high-frequency GPS/GSM dataloggers and tri-axial accelerometers we monitored 25 Bonelli’s eagles Aquila fasciata during the breeding season to understand parental activities from a broader perspective. We used recursive data, measured as number of visits and residence time, to reveal nest attendance patterns of biparental care with role specialization between sexes. Accelerometry data interpreted as the overall dynamic body acceleration, a proxy of energy expenditure, showed strong differences in parental effort throughout the breeding season and between sexes. Thereby, males increased substantially their energetic requirements, due to the increased workload, while females spent most of the time on the nest. Furthermore, during critical phases of the breeding season, a low percentage of suitable hunting spots in eagles’ territories led them to increase their ranging behavior in order to find food, with important consequences in energy consumption and mortality risk. Our results highlight the crucial role of males in raptor species exhibiting biparental care. Finally, we exemplify how biologging technologies are an adequate and objective method to study parental care in raptors as well as to get deeper insight into breeding ecology of birds in general.

中文翻译：

---

三轴加速度测量显示长寿猛禽在整个繁殖季节的能量消耗和父母努力的差异

摘要

尖端技术对于开发研究生态数据的新工作流程非常有用，特别是对于了解个体层面的动物行为和运动轨迹。尽管父母照顾是一个经过充分研究的现象，但大多数研究都集中在直接观察或视频记录数据以及实验操作上。因此，在我们的视线之外发生了什么仍然是未知数。使用高频 GPS/GSM 数据记录器和三轴加速度计，我们监测了 25 只 Bonelli 的鹰Aquila fasciata在繁殖季节从更广泛的角度了解父母的活动。我们使用递归数据（以访问次数和停留时间来衡量）来揭示具有性别角色专业化的双亲照顾的巢出勤模式。加速度测量数据被解释为整体动态身体加速度（能量消耗的代表），显示整个繁殖季节和性别之间父母努力的巨大差异。因此，由于工作量的增加，雄性大大增加了它们的能量需求，而雌性则大部分时间都在巢穴上。此外，在繁殖季节的关键阶段，老鹰领地内合适的狩猎地点比例较低，导致它们增加了猎食行为以寻找食物，对能源消耗和死亡风险产生重要影响。我们的研究结果强调了雄性在表现出双亲照顾的猛禽物种中的关键作用。最后，我们举例说明了生物测井技术如何成为研究猛禽的父母照料以及更深入地了解鸟类繁殖生态学的一种充分而客观的方法。