Nest Site Selection and Breeding Success in an Expanding Species, the Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis

Ardea

Salaheddine Doumandji²  Heinz Hafner¹  Christophe Barbraud³  Abdelkrim Si Bachir⁴ 

[1] 4 Station Biologique de la Tour du Valat, Le Sambuc, F-13200 Arles, France† deceased;3 Département de Zoologie, Institut National Agronomique El Harrach, 13200 Alger, Algeria;2 Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, CNRS, F-79360 Villiers-en-Bois, France;1 Département de Biologie, Université de Batna, 05000 Batna, Algeria

关键词: North Africa;   

DOI  :  

学科分类：动物科学

来源: Nederlandse Ornithologische Unie/Netherlands Ornithological Union

【 摘 要 】

NativetotheIndo-Africanarea,theCattleEgretBubulcusibisisnowacosmopolitanspecies,stillingreatrangeexpansion.Thefactorsaffectingbreedingsuccessofthespeciesremainhoweverpoorlyknown,andhereweinvestigatethebreedingbiologyoftheCattleEgretinanewbreedingpopulationintheSoummamValley(PetiteKabylie,Algeria).Theinstallationchronologyandnestsiteselectionaredescribed,andtheireffectonbreedingsuccessinvestigated.ThenestingseasonlastedgenerallyfromtheendofMarchtotheendofJuly.Clutchsize,numberofhatchedchicksandbreedingsuccesswerelowcomparedtootherbreedingareasintheMediterranean.ThefirstCattleEgretsarrivingatthecolonyinMarchselectedthehighesttreesandthehighestnestsupportsclosetothetrunk.Withnewarrivalsduringthecourseoftheseason,agradualdecreasewasobservedintheheightofthenestswhichwereprogressivelybuiltawayfromthetrunk.Thisselectivebehaviourallowedthefirstinstalledpairstohaveabetterbreedingsuccess.Thisphenomenonisdiscussedherewithintheframeworkofterritorialityandthebreedingadvantagesofbeinghighrankinginthe‘territorialhierarchy’fortheindividual.

【 授权许可】

Unknown