030 Pint Of Science TakeOver Week -Alona Charuvi - How studying a familiar species can help endangered species and Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants

The Bird Emergency

In this episode we meet Alona Charuvi, a researcher who has been studing the reactions to disturbance by the Masked Lapwing, a bird that is very familiar over a large part of eastern and southern Australia.

The Masked Lapwing is often in conflict with residents and land managers, as it can be very aggressive when nesting, and defending a nest location or chicks.

Alona used an ingenious device, a false egg, that recorded the heart rate of the sitting bird, and the brooding temperature, and measured these results against different methods of approaching the nest site, and recording the physical reactions by the birds, as well as the behaviour exhibited.

Alona's work took place on Phillip Island, which is well-known for the Penguin Parade, but has a number of sites where lapwing pairs and humans regularly interact.

Listen to how Alona undertook this work, and what she has discovered so far.

Check out the range of activities during #Pint21Au at https://pintofscience.com.au

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