Winter density and habitat preferences of three declining granivorous farmland birds: the importance of the keeping of poultry and dairy farms

0454192 - ÚBO 2016 CZ eng A - Abstrakt
Havlíček, J. - Šálek, Martin - Riegert, J. - Nešpor, M. - Fuchs, R. - Kipson, M.
Winter density and habitat preferences of three declining granivorous farmland birds: the importance of the keeping of poultry and dairy farms.
Zoologické dny Brno 2015: sborník abstraktů z konference 12.-13. února 2015. Brno: Ústav biologie obratlovců AV ČR, 2015 - (Bryja, J.; Řehák, Z.; Zukal, J.). s. 79-80. ISBN 978-80-87189-18-4.
[Zoologické dny. 12.02.2015-13.02.2015, Brno]
Institucionální podpora: RVO:68081766
Klíčová slova: granivorous farmland birds
Kód oboru RIV: EG - Zoologie

Populations of granivorous farmland birds have dramatically declined during recent decades in many European countries. Winter conditions and consequently, survival rate of farmland bird species during this critical period, is considered as one of the main cause of this negative trend. However, the importance of different habitat structures and connected food sources on successful overwintering in bird species has gained little attention so far. In this study we aimed to examine the role of habitat composition and food availability on winter distribution and abundance of three declining sedentary and granivorous bird species. During the winters 2009 – 2014, 149 villages in the Czech Republic were monitored for distribution and density of three farmland seed-eaters. House Sparrow was the most dominant species, followed by Tree Sparrow and Collared Dove. Occurrence of House and Tree Sparrow was significantly affected by the number of instances of poultry keeping. In both species, occupied villages showed a higher number of instances of poultry keeping. We did not find any such significant relationship for Collared Dove. Density of House Sparrow was significantly higher in villages with dairy farms, but we failed to find this relationship for Tree Sparrow and Collared Dove. Habitat preferences were similar for all three studied species. They positively responded to the proportion of shrubs/trees, the keeping of poultry, dairy farms and they avoided buildings, arable land and grasslands. We conclude that poultry keepings and dairy farms can be important for studied species during the winter since they offer high food availability and good protection against
predators. This suggestion is supported by the fact that long-term population decline has coincided with a long-term reduction in the keeping of poultry and dairy farms in the Czech Republic during the last 50 years.
Trvalý link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0254889