Projects and research

Social atracction of waved albatross

Personal project funded by American Bird Conservancy which aims to implement social attraction techniques to reinforce the colony of waved albatross in la Plata Island in Ecuador.

Previous research

'Alalā Reintroduction in Hawai'i

I coordinated the initial stage of the reintroduction of the extinct in the wild 'Alalā or Hawaiian Crow (Corvus hawaiiensis) to the island of Maui in Hawai'i

Black robin breeding monitoring

Currently monitoring the breeding success of the endangered black robin (Petroica traversi) on Mangere Island, (Chatham Islands). The black robin population on this island has experimented a population decline during the last few years. Monitoring the breeding success of the species will help to identify the possible causes of the decline and improve the decision-making process for future conservation actions for the species.

Black robin translocation

I was part of the translocation team that monitored, trapped and translocated 10 female black robins from Rangatira Island to Mangere Island (Chatham Islands) with the aim of boosting this last population. My current work implies the searching and monitoring of translocated birds, supplementary feeding and monitoring of the breeding success of the whole population.

Floreana Mockingbird Demography

The Floreana mockingbird is categorized as an endangered species by the IUCN. But how many of them remain in the wild? Previous demographic studies have shown different numbers and population size from really pessimistic estimations to overestimations. For the first time, I estimated the vital rates and population size of the two populations of mockingbirds using models of capture-mark-recapture showing that the populations are more stable than previously thought.

Floreana Mockingbird Cultural Divergence

Due to the lack of gene flow between the two populations of Floreana mockingbird, genetic divergence between the populations was discovered in 2010. But is this divergence affecting other aspects of the species' ecology? As mockingbirds are prodigious singers, I investigated the cultural divergence between the two populations, and what are the possible causes associated with it. Cultural aspects are an important factor that needs to be considered when planning reintroductions, especially of birds with complex vocalizations such as mockingbirds.

Floreana Mockingbird Sociality

The Floreana mockingbird is a cooperative breeding bird. That means that the species lives in family groups (like wolves). Group structure is an important ecological factor in cooperative breeding birds but is also a factor that hasn't been considered in most of the reintroductions of cooperative breeders. This has resulted in a high rate of unsuccessful reintroductions of these kinds of birds. Using social network analysis I explore the hierarchy, network structure of the family groups and network rupture by simulations of reintroduction harvesting. My research aims to avoid group disruption in the reintroduction and ensure high reproductive success and establishment in the new area.

Floreana Mockingbird Pathogens

To avoid the transfer of unwanted diseases during the reintroduction. I studied the prevalence of haemosporidian parasites in both populations.