Human depredation risk and flight initiation distance of birds in rural areas, Zimbabwe

Human depredation threatens the conservation of bird species especially in rural areas where birds are hunted for protein. This study explored species found in Thekwane village of Bulilima district in Plumtree, Zimbabwe, from July to September 2020. A survey was conducted to assess bird's flight initiation distance (FID) across various habitats and times of the day. Fifty key informants reported which bird species were hunted by locals. A desktop survey was done to determine the average body mass and conservation status according to IUCN for all species recorded. The effect of body mass, time of the day, perch type/height, starting distance, flock size, hunting pressure and habitat type on FID was investigated using generalised linear models. Chi‐square tests were used to explore association between key informants' citation frequency of birds and their level of hunting. The key informants cited 49 species commonly used for protein provision, while 58 species were recorded during FID measurements. FID increased with body mass, and the birds that were perching on the ground had longer FIDs. There was a linear positive relationship between FID and starting distance and large flocks had longer FIDs. However hunting pressure and habitat type had no significant relationship with FID. Our results suggest that the larger bird species had less tolerance to approaching humans and birds that were less likely to be hunted by people had similar levels of wariness compared to those that are more likely to be hunted. Résumé La surchasse par l’homme menace la conservation de l’avifaune plus spécifiquement dans les zones rurales où l’avifaune est chassée comme apport de protéine. A travers cette étude, nous voulons comprendre l’influence de la pression cynégétique et de paramètres écologiques sur la distance d’envol de l’avifaune (FID). Ainsi la distance d’envol au sein de différents habitats et à différent moment de la journée, pour les espèces trouvées dans le village de Thekwane (district de Bulilima, Zimbabwé) entre Juillet et Septembre 2020, a été collectée Les données de FID ont été analysées en prenant compte plusieurs variables tel que la masse moyenne de l’espèce, la taille du groupe, la distance de détection de l’espèce, le type et location du perchoir, la période de la journée, la pression cynégétique imposée localement et le type d’habitat, via l’utilisation de modèle linéaire généralisé (MLG). Sur les 58 d’espèces dont le FID a été collecté, 49 espèces ont été