Movement ecology of the American white ibis (eudocimus albus) across an urbanization gradient

The American White Ibis (Eudocimus albus) is a medium-sized wading bird commonly found in wetland habitats. Urbanization in wetland areas affects ibis as human modifications of the landscape reduce the overall extent of, fragment, or alter the function of existing wetlands. Since wetland degradation, ibis are increasingly found in urban areas and take advantage of anthropogenic resources. I investigated changes in ibis movement ecology by tracking ibis captured in habitats representing an urbanization gradient with GPS-GSM telemetry to define movement-based seasons and calculate seasonal ranges, site fidelity, and habitat use. Urban ibis non-breeding seasons were longer than average with small ranges, high site fidelity, and use of several urban habitat classes compared to wild ibis. Their breeding seasons were shorter than average, but were otherwise similar to that of wild ibis, showing increased range size, decreased site fidelity, and use of agricultural and wetland habitats.