Code and data supporting "Habitat use by nomadic ibis and spoonbills post-dispersal from breeding sites" in Landscape Ecology Volume 39, article number 189, (2024).

The data and files in these directories underpin habitat selection analyses of Australia waterbird species. The goal is to understand the habitat use of a species across its life cycle is essential for effective management. \n\nMany waterbirds are highly mobile at range of spatial and temporal scales, which when using traditional methods such as on-ground surveys or leg-banding can make monitoring, quantifying, and predicting habitat use difficult. \n\nIn this analysis, we used a 7-year GPS satellite telemetry dataset of 141 individuals to: a) quantify habitat selection post-dispersal from breeding sites, and b) predict habitat availability, for straw-necked ibis (SNI) and royal spoonbill (RSB).\n\nThis research is led by CSIRO as part of the CEWH Monitoring, Evaluation and Research Program (Flow- MER). It builds on and incorporates satellite tracking of straw-necked ibis, Australian white ibis and royal spoonbills conducted by CSIRO between 2016–19 as part of the Environmental Water Knowledge and Research (EWKR) Waterbird Theme. The EWKR research identified a need for additional satellite tracking of species dependent on water to feed (such as spoonbills and egrets), not just to breed (such as ibis), and for tracking of the movements of birds from additional important sites across the Basin.\nLineage: The data track 141 birds (straw-necked ibis=89, royal spoonbill=52) using satellite telemetry with track- ing durations ranging from 30 – 2,000 days per bird and spanning October 2016 – January 2024. Individuals were captured and fitted with transmitters in eight wetlands of the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB), which spans approximately 14% of Australia’s landmass and is subject to intensive water and wetland management (Fig. 1). We fitted birds with solar-powered GPS transmitter units from three sources: Druid (Druid Technology Co., Ltd., Chengdu, China), Geotrak (Geotrak Inc. North Carolina, USA), or Ornitela (Ornitela, UAB Vilnius. Lithuania). Transmitters weighed 12–40 g and ranged from < 1% to 5% of bird bodyweight. GPS fix accuracy was