Raptors and a MSc. Thesis (...or maybe Pine Martens...)

OpenYourEyes

Long story short, Im studying a Masters in Conservation and Wildlife Management, have a thesis to do next Summer and have to start thinking of ideas for it now! I've narrowed it down to Raptors or Pine Martens for now.


Ive been interested in Raptors for as long as I can remember, and the Pine marten is an animal Id love to learn more about by studying - but the problem is that I'm dreadful at coming up with specific ideas for what about these creatures I might study! If anyone could suggest ideas or random thoughts (however vague or difficult to actually study they may be) to get the creative ball rolling in my head Id really appreciate it!

(I assure you Im going through plenty of papers looking for inspiration so Im not looking at this as an easy way out of coming up with something!)

Thanks in advance for any thoughts offerred!:)

(Mods: If you dont feel this is the right forum I apologise! But given the subject matter and that this would be one of my first ports of call for info on this kinda thing, or for discussions on similar topics, I thought I might get the best response here!)

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Firstly, I'd go with a Species or Group I know most about for Masters level qualifications. Raptors may be easier to get access to than Pine Martins, as you'll need to carry out a considerable amount of field study yourself.

My Ph.D was concerned with Buzzards so I'm biased towards Raptors.

Look at areas like Nest Studies, Feeding habits, Prey, or Population Densities.

Productivity & Habitat
Impact of Wind Turbines on newly fledged birds (already done to death though)
Ranging behaviour
Habitat & Range variations.


Access to the study material can be difficult. E.g if studying feeding habits with nestlings, can you access nests? Can you access tagged birds ot track individual birds?

Whatever you choose - good luck with it!

littlebug

OpenYourEyes wrote: »

(I assure you Im going through plenty of papers looking for inspiration so Im not looking at this as an easy way out of coming up with something!)

What have you not seen? I mean, what hasn't been done before? What are the gaps? Or is there research that has been carried out in other countries that would be relevant and useful here (and of course do-able within the time and financial constraints of M.A. thesis).
As Srameen has said pick something you have some knowledge of and will maintain interest in. By the end of this your every waking hour will be consumed by it!

I'm a fan of qualitative research* and I imagine there's plenty of scope within the conservation/ wildlife area to find out about attitudes and beliefs but I have no idea if that type of research is something that's valued or encouraged in your field?

* note my own area of work/ research isn't in conservation/ wildlife so you can take my answers with a pinch of salt:pac:

sesswhat

Different institutions also tend to have different expertise and facilities, so you will need to discuss the feasibility of ideas with staff. They may also know about research opportunities that tie-in with existing projects the college is involved with.

Birdnuts

I have an MSc in Env Science myself but would love to do a Ph.D on Hen Harriers - what inspired me was a facinating paper on their polegamous breeding behaviour I read recently in Irish Birds:cool:

cuddlycavies

I'd suggest raptors. Firstly you will gey more help and access to subject matter through falconry experts, Golden Eagle Trust, etc. Just to get a photo of a Pinie would be a task.
Raptor introductions,increases,decreases,poisonings,etc all provide subject matter.

recedite

There have been a lot of changes in the last few years in regard to raptors; geographical spread of introduced birds, the effects John Gormley's change in the poisoning laws; plenty of new stuff to study.
With pine martens, its basically their spread eastward and how that relates to the recovery of red squirrels versus greys. But, being very elusive, you will only see one if you're not looking for one, which might present a problem.

OpenYourEyes

Thanks for the great response everyone, and keep them coming! This has been both helpful and interesting in equal amounts!

I think I would be leaning towards studying the raptors that bit more than pine martens for a lot of the reasons mentioned! Something like diet would probably be the easiest part of their ecology to look at, but where there are knowledge gaps there Im not really sure! My first proper idea was to compare the diets of Buzzards near where the Red Kites were introduced to Buzzards elsewhere to see if the Kites have forced a slight shift in the composition of their diet, but as I thought more about it I dont think food would be limiting to the extent that there would be a change like that!

kincsem

I haven't a clue about birds. But I'd be interested in how raptors divide up the local fauna, as in the numbers of predators and the numbers of fauna they hunt. What happens to the raptors if the food sources for the hunted diminish? What numbers of prey do the raptors need to stay in an area? What is their competition?

trebor28

would there be any point in looking at other countries with similar birds to ours and seeing what type of papers have been done there and maybe doing something similar here?? or would that be seen as plagiarising?

OpenYourEyes

trebor28 wrote: »

would there be any point in looking at other countries with similar birds to ours and seeing what type of papers have been done there and maybe doing something similar here?? or would that be seen as plagiarising?

No I'm sure that'd be grand! The only problem is a lot of studies have been done over the course of a few years, or over the course of a full year etc, but mine would be much more limited in that it's pretty much confined to next Summer, and obviously I'll only have one years worth of data to go on.


It is something I'm keeping in mind though! Still hoping I'll stumble upon the right paper!