Search results for "Curlew"
showing 3 items of 3 documents
Predator presence may benefit: kestrels protect curlew nests against nest predators.
1994
We studied whether the presence of breeding kestrels (Falco tinnunculus) affected nest predation and breeding habitat selection of curlews (Numenius arquata) on an open flat farmland area in western Finland. We searched for nests of curlews from an area of 6 km2 during 1985–1993. For each nest found, we recorded the fate of the nest, and the distance to the nearest kestrel nest and to the nearest perch. We measured the impact of breeding kestrels on nest predation by constructing artificial curlew nests in the vicinity of ten kestrel nests in 1993. Curlew nests were closer to kestrel nests than expected from random distribution, eventhough kestrels fed on average 5.5% of curlew chick produc…
Diurnal habitat suitability for a Mediterranean steppeland bird, identified by Ecological Niche Factor Analysis
2011
Context The negative effects of agricultural intensification and policies, use of pesticides, fertilisers and mechanised harvesting on several populations of pseudo-steppe birds have increasingly required more detailed and effective habitat suitability models. Distribution models of farmland species are prone to incur recordings of false absence data. Ecological Niche Factor Analysis (ENFA) allows identification of environmental predictors of species distribution by using presence data only. Aims We quantified the diurnal habitat preferences and niche width of one steppe species, the stone curlew (Burhinus oedicnemus), with unfavourable conservations status in a Mediterranean area and recl…
Migration patterns and fat reserves of Curlew Sandpipers Calidris ferruginea at a stopover site in southern Italy
2006
The Volturno Plain, southern Italian coast, is a regular stopover site for Curlew Sandpipers during northward migration. During 1992–1998, 2,177 Curlew Sandpipers were ringed and measured on northward migration; numbers trapped each year fluctuated. Peak passage was during the period 6–10 May, with 94% of birds trapped in the period 1–20 May. Median date of passage of males preceded females by about five days. Using a new visual method to evaluate fat deposition in waders, there was a strong correlation between body weight and visually estimated fat deposits. Birds showed a mass increase of 2.8 g/day. The mean stopover duration was 2.2 days. Only 0.9% of the total catch of Curlew Sandpipers…