Breeding biology of the Montagu’s Harrier (<i>Circus pygargus</i>) in east-central Poland and implications for its conservation

Krupiński, Dominik; Lewtak, Jerzy; Rzępała, Mirosław; Szulak, Krzysztof

doi:10.1080/21658005.2012.699744

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Distribution of the species in Poland is not uniform, but rather linked to extensive farmland management in the eastern part of the country. Here, Montagu's Harriers reach a density of a few times higher than in western Poland (Krupiński et al 2012) and exhibit a relatively higher diversity of vertebrates and insects in the diet (Mirski et al 2016) comparing to populations of similar latitude in Western Europe (Terrabue and Arroyo 2011). Unfortunately, the changes in agricultural management have been visible here as well and a decline in habitat quality in this stronghold of the Montagu's Harrier population can be expected.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Ranging behaviour and habitat use in Montagu’s Harrier Circus pygargus in extensive farmland of Eastern Poland

Krupiński¹,

Kotowska

Recio

et al. 2020

J Ornithol

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Agriculture intensification drives changes in bird populations but also in the space use by farmland species. Agriculture in Eastern Europe still follows an extensive farming model, but due to policy shifts aimed at rural restructuring and implementation of government subsidies for farmers, it is being rapidly intensified. Here, we aimed to document the ranging behaviour and habitat use of a declining farmland bird of prey—Montagu’s Harrier—and to compare it to findings from Western Europe. In 2011–2018, 50 individuals were followed with GPS loggers in Eastern Poland to study species spatial ecology. We found home ranges (kernel 90%) to be considerably large: 67.3 (± 42.3) km2 in case of males, but only 4.9 (± 6.1) km2 in females. Home ranges overlapped by 40%, on average, with other males in colonies and by 61%, on average, between consecutive breeding seasons of a particular male. The average daily distance travelled by males and females reached, respectively, 94.5 and 45.3 km, covering a daily home range of 32.3 and 3.1 km2. Individuals foraged up to 35 km from nests (3.5 km on average). Daily distance travelled and daily home ranges varied across the breeding season, in case of females being shortest in July, but sharply increasing in August. Also, individuals with breeding success had higher daily distance travelled but smaller daily home ranges. Average harriers’ distance to nest was generally increasing over the season, but was also changing over time of day: birds were closest to nest during night time, but at the end of the season, males roosted up to 16 km from the nest. While foraging males slightly preferred grasslands, higher elevation and smaller land-use patches, they avoided slopes and proximity of roads. We conclude that the surprisingly large home ranges of breeding harriers may suggest reduced prey availability or high fragmentation of hunting areas, both driving birds to utilise large areas and potentially contributing to population decline.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Ranging behaviour and habitat use in Montagu’s Harrier Circus pygargus in extensive farmland of Eastern Poland

Krupiński¹,

Kotowska

Recio

et al. 2020

J Ornithol

Self Cite

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“…In the case of Montagu's harrier (Circus pygargus), we deal with the ringing of chicks of semicolonially nesting pairs in Ponitrie associated with protection of nests from agricultural works (more in e.g. Millon et al 2002, Krupiński et al 2012, Poprach et al 2016. Hen harrier (Circus cyaneus) and roughlegged buzzard (Buteo lagopus) were not ringed at all, as the specialization from the past continues to be absent (Formánek 1977, Danko 1985, Danko 1988, Danko 2000.…”

Section: A C C I P I T R I F O R M E S O R D E Rmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overview of raptor and owl ringing in Slovakia in 2020

Slobodník

Jenčo²

2021

Raptor Journal

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In 2020, 1296 raptors and owls (23 species) were ringed in Slovakia. The most abundant was the common kestrel (719 individuals), then the western marsh harrier (126) and saker falcon (92). The proportion of nestlings among all the ringed individuals was 76.7%. In the given period, 145 recoveries of raptors and owls (15 species) were recorded in the Bird Ringing Centre database. This number included 77 recoveries of colour-marked individuals recovered in our territory. There were 43 recoveries of birds ringed in Slovakia and resighted abroad. The last 25 recoveries were of individuals ringed abroad and recovered in Slovakia. In summary, most of the recoveries (of all types) were of red-footed falcon (69 recoveries), then common kestrel (17) and eastern imperial eagle (15). Most of the recovery circumstances were ring reading (almost 76% in total), findings of bird cadavers (6%) and recaptures (5%). Electrocutions and predations by other animals (3% each) were frequent causes of their deaths.

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“…We studied the possible causes of the rapid decline in the number of pairs of Montagu's harrier (Circus pygargus) in a population nesting in a coastal protected wetland. Initially, our expectations were that two local factors could be the main drivers of the decline: a) changes in land use in and around the protected wetland that might affect both the persistence of foraging and nesting habitat for Montagu's harriers (Arroyo et al, 2002;Arroyo and García, 2005); and b) the increasing number of breeding pairs of the larger western marsh harrier (Circus aeruginosus) possibly causing competitive exclusion (Kitowski, 2008;Krupinski et al, 2012). Western marsh harriers were absent from 1992 to 1999 but colonized the site in 2000 (one pair) and grew to five pairs in 2016.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increasing wild boar density explains the decline of a Montagu’s harrier population on a protected coastal wetland

Crespo¹,

Jiménez²,

Martínez‐Abraín

2021

Anim. Biodiv. Conserv.

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We studied the rapid decline in the number of breeding pairs (geometric growth rate λ = 0.86; 14 % annual decrease) of a semi–colonial ground–nesting bird of prey, the Montagu’s harrier (Circus pygargus), after twelve years of rapid population growth (λ = 1.15; 15 % rate of annual increase) in a protected coastal wetland in Eastern Spain. The study was conducted from 1992–2017, and the range of values in population size was: 2–37 breeding pairs. We contrasted 20 biologically–sound hypotheses (including local and regional factors) to explain the trend over time in the annual number of pairs. The most parsimonious model included a surrogate of wild boar (Sus scrofa) density in the region during the previous year and the annual number of Montagu’s harrier pairs breeding inland in the study province during the focal year. Syntopic western marsh harriers (C. aeruginosus) were not found to have any effect on the numbers of Montagu’s harriers either in our modelling or when we performed a quantitative and qualitative study both for years t and t–1. Our final ‘best’ models did not include spring rainfall, regional forest fires or local land use changes. The impact of wild boars on breeding success, together with conspecific attraction, could have resulted in the dispersal of coastal wetland birds to larger populations in dense inland shrub lands where levels of wild boar nest predation were more likely lower

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Breeding biology of the Montagu’s Harrier (Circus pygargus) in east-central Poland and implications for its conservation

Cited by 7 publications

References 6 publications

Ranging behaviour and habitat use in Montagu’s Harrier Circus pygargus in extensive farmland of Eastern Poland

Ranging behaviour and habitat use in Montagu’s Harrier Circus pygargus in extensive farmland of Eastern Poland

Overview of raptor and owl ringing in Slovakia in 2020

Increasing wild boar density explains the decline of a Montagu’s harrier population on a protected coastal wetland

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