2026/04/03 by Jenny Weston, Rhys E. Green, Ben Jones +5 · 2 voices
Environmental Science · #Avian ecology and behavior #Wildlife Ecology and Conservation #Animal Ecology and Behavior Studies
paper · pdf · doi:10.1080/00063657.2026.2666694
Capsule An assessment of the utility of deploying trail cameras to describe the timing of breeding and habitat selection by Corncrakes.Aims To estimate the hatching dates of broods of Corncrake chicks, and the timing of occurrence of juvenile birds, and to compare the intensity of use of two distinct habitats.Methods Trail cameras deployed in and adjacent to agricultural grassland managed for silage production and livestock grazing captured images of Corncrakes. Young of the year were aged using plumage characteristics. Hatching dates and the timing of breeding were compared with expectations from a previous simulation modelling study based on radio-tracking, and observations of broods during mowing. Intensity of use (calculated as the number of days on which images were obtained per day of camera deployment) was compared between previously-mowed, initially short, habitat and taller early cover habitat.Results Timing of breeding indicated by the camera study was broadly similar to that expected from previous studies using other methods. The intensity of use of early cover habitat by young of the year remained higher throughout summer than that of initially short habitat, even though the latter increased in height substantially during the breeding season.Conclusion Trail cameras have considerable potential for studies of the timing of breeding and habitat selection by Corncrakes, whose chicks and females are difficult to mark with tracking tags, and whose secretive habits make searching for nests and broods and other direct visual monitoring methods impractical. This approach could be applied to other species with secretive habits. The design of camera surveys, including ours, would benefit from improved stratified sampling and optimisation of camera densities in different habitats. Preliminary results suggest that Corncrake conservation would benefit from increasing the proportion of land that is managed to produce tall, early cover vegetation, rather than grassland mowed for silage.