Construction and operation of cable-chain drag for nest searches

Abstract

A list of materials necessary to build and use a 53-m-long cable-chain drag is presented. Techniques are described for searching, finding, and marking nests in a typical area of grassland.During nine nesting seasons, 7,894 nests representing 32 species were found by searching fields with cable-chain drags. Only 2% of the nests were damaged while searching; most of this damage was caused by the searcher or the vehicle, and not by the drag.The rate of nest abandonment caused by cable-chain searching was estimated to be less than 1%. Reflushing efficiency ranged from 25% for green-winged teal (Anas crecca) to 100% for shorebirds. Other uses of the cable-chain drag are also discussed.