Nest-Box use by the Barn Owl Tyto alba in a Biological Pest Control Program in the Beit She'an Valley, Israel

Ardea

Francis Argyle²  Shaul Aviel⁴  Ido Izhaki⁵  Motti Charter⁶  Yoav Motro¹  Yossi Leshem⁶  Kobi Meyrom³ 

[1] 2 Department of Evolution, Systematics and Ecology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91904, Israel;1 Israel Ornithology Center, Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, 2 Hanegev St., Tel-Aviv 66186, Israel;1 Israel Ornithology Center, Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, 2 Hanegev St., Tel-Aviv 66186, Israel6 Present address: Kibbutz Nir David, Bet Shean Valley, Israel;4 Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu, Jordan Valley Mobile Post 10810;5 Department of Biology, University of Haifa at Oranim, Kiryat Tivon 36006, Israel;3 Zoology Department, Tel-Aviv University, Ramat-Aviv, 69978, Israel

关键词: Israel;   

DOI  :  

学科分类：动物科学

来源: Nederlandse Ornithologische Unie/Netherlands Ornithological Union

【 摘 要 】

Startingin1983,nestboxesforBarnOwlsTytoalbawereerectedaspartofabiologicalpestcontrolprogramtodealwithrodents,inKibbutzSdeEliyahu,andlaterinotheragriculturalfieldsandplantationsintheBeitShe'anvalley,Israel.Morethanadecadeago,thenestboxschemewasextendedtoincludeotheragriculturalareasinthevalley,andgrewfrom14boxeson3km2in1983toabout300boxeson90km2throughouttheentireBeitShe'anvalleyin2007.Herewepresenttheresultsofastudyduringthe2002through2006breedingseasons,inwhich156to243nestboxesweremonitoredeachseason.Meanoccupationofnestboxesduringthestudywas53.5%(SE2.1,n=248),andatotalof596breedingattemptswererecorded,ofwhich85.2%successfullyfledgedatleastoneyoung.Yearlyoccupationofnestboxesvariedsignificantlybetweentheyears,rangingfrom48.1%to73.5%.Theoccupancyrateoffirst-yearnestboxeswaslowerthanthatofthoseavailablefortwoormoreyears.Theoccupancyrateandthenumberofnestlingsperbox(peryear)werepositivelycorrelatedtothedistancetotheclosestnestboxandnegativelycorrelatedtothenumberofnestboxeswithina500mradius.Similartootherstudiesintheworld,theerectionofnestboxesforBarnOwlsinagriculturalfieldsprovedextremelysuccessfulintheBeitShe'anvalley,with86.7%(n=248)ofnestboxesbeingoccupiedatleastonceduringthefive-yearstudyperiod.Thishighoccupancyratedemonstratesnotonlythatnaturalnestingsiteswerelacking,butalsothatnestboxescanbeusedtoincreaseBarnOwlpopulationsinagriculturalareas,bothforconservationandforbiologicalpestcontrol.

【 授权许可】

Unknown