Say “cheese”: Using automated cameras to assess the status of a threatened seabird

Nice

Thanks very much for your questions, Cindy. If the goats are having a direct impact, it is likely through disturbance to nests as they move through De Filippi's Petrel breeding colonies. Goats could inadvertently step on nests and/or cause adults to abandon a nest, at least temporarily. We do not think that goats would eat chicks or eggs, although we will certainly monitor for evidence of that possible impact.

It's pretty neat that you can run a study looking at comparable breeding colonies with and without goats. What are your hypotheses as to why goats would have an impact on breeding? Are they using the same habitat as the birds? I can't imagine that the goats would be eating the birds, eggs, or chicks. Curious!