Pigeon and Poultry Breeders, Friends or Enemies of the Northern Goshawk <i>Accipiter gentilis</i>? A Long-Term Study of a Population in Central Poland
In this study, we focused on a goshawk population in central Poland (study area 105 km<sup>2</sup>, forests 24 km<sup>2</sup>, seven small forest complexes) which was monitored long-term (with high densities recorded in the 1980s of 16.3 pairs/100 km<sup>2</sup> d...
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MDPI AG
2019-04-01
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| Series: | Animals |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/9/4/141 |
| _version_ | 1819120273972002816 |
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| author | Jakub Gryz Dagny Krauze-Gryz |
| author_facet | Jakub Gryz Dagny Krauze-Gryz |
| author_sort | Jakub Gryz |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In this study, we focused on a goshawk population in central Poland (study area 105 km<sup>2</sup>, forests 24 km<sup>2</sup>, seven small forest complexes) which was monitored long-term (with high densities recorded in the 1980s of 16.3 pairs/100 km<sup>2</sup> despite persecution by farmers) to analyse how environmental factors (prey availability and changes in the forest structure) influenced population abundance, breeding parameters, and diet composition. The study was undertaken from 2011–2018, and the results were compared with published data from two previous study periods (1982–1992 and 2001–2003). The number of breeding pairs dropped from 17.1 to 8.0; the breeding success was around 75% in all study periods. The selection of nesting trees followed the changes in stand species and age structure. More nesting attempts per one nest were recorded in the current time period (1.7 vs. 1.1), which probably reflected lower anthropopressure (i.e., no cases of persecution were recorded in this study). Diet composition seemed to follow changes in the prey availability: The share of domestic pigeons and poultry (the main prey in the 1980s) as well as small game dropped, while the share of Eurasian jay and wood pigeon increased. Our studies suggested that anthropogenic food (poultry and domestic pigeons) played a key role for the goshawk population in the transformed habitats of the field and forest mosaic. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T06:18:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0567dfada9674d8cb3ddda89c0951c81 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-2615 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T06:18:03Z |
| publishDate | 2019-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animals |
| spelling | doaj.art-0567dfada9674d8cb3ddda89c0951c812022-12-21T18:36:01ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152019-04-019414110.3390/ani9040141ani9040141Pigeon and Poultry Breeders, Friends or Enemies of the Northern Goshawk <i>Accipiter gentilis</i>? A Long-Term Study of a Population in Central PolandJakub Gryz0Dagny Krauze-Gryz1Department of Forest Ecology, Forest Research Institute; Braci Leśnej 3, 05-090 Sękocin Stary, PolandDepartment of Forest Zoology and Wildlife Management, Faculty of Forestry; Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Nowoursynowska 159, 02-776 Warszawa, PolandIn this study, we focused on a goshawk population in central Poland (study area 105 km<sup>2</sup>, forests 24 km<sup>2</sup>, seven small forest complexes) which was monitored long-term (with high densities recorded in the 1980s of 16.3 pairs/100 km<sup>2</sup> despite persecution by farmers) to analyse how environmental factors (prey availability and changes in the forest structure) influenced population abundance, breeding parameters, and diet composition. The study was undertaken from 2011–2018, and the results were compared with published data from two previous study periods (1982–1992 and 2001–2003). The number of breeding pairs dropped from 17.1 to 8.0; the breeding success was around 75% in all study periods. The selection of nesting trees followed the changes in stand species and age structure. More nesting attempts per one nest were recorded in the current time period (1.7 vs. 1.1), which probably reflected lower anthropopressure (i.e., no cases of persecution were recorded in this study). Diet composition seemed to follow changes in the prey availability: The share of domestic pigeons and poultry (the main prey in the 1980s) as well as small game dropped, while the share of Eurasian jay and wood pigeon increased. Our studies suggested that anthropogenic food (poultry and domestic pigeons) played a key role for the goshawk population in the transformed habitats of the field and forest mosaic.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/9/4/141field and forest mosaicdomestic pigeons and poultrypellet analysispopulation densitybreeding parameters |
| spellingShingle | Jakub Gryz Dagny Krauze-Gryz Pigeon and Poultry Breeders, Friends or Enemies of the Northern Goshawk <i>Accipiter gentilis</i>? A Long-Term Study of a Population in Central Poland Animals field and forest mosaic domestic pigeons and poultry pellet analysis population density breeding parameters |
| title | Pigeon and Poultry Breeders, Friends or Enemies of the Northern Goshawk <i>Accipiter gentilis</i>? A Long-Term Study of a Population in Central Poland |
| title_full | Pigeon and Poultry Breeders, Friends or Enemies of the Northern Goshawk <i>Accipiter gentilis</i>? A Long-Term Study of a Population in Central Poland |
| title_fullStr | Pigeon and Poultry Breeders, Friends or Enemies of the Northern Goshawk <i>Accipiter gentilis</i>? A Long-Term Study of a Population in Central Poland |
| title_full_unstemmed | Pigeon and Poultry Breeders, Friends or Enemies of the Northern Goshawk <i>Accipiter gentilis</i>? A Long-Term Study of a Population in Central Poland |
| title_short | Pigeon and Poultry Breeders, Friends or Enemies of the Northern Goshawk <i>Accipiter gentilis</i>? A Long-Term Study of a Population in Central Poland |
| title_sort | pigeon and poultry breeders friends or enemies of the northern goshawk i accipiter gentilis i a long term study of a population in central poland |
| topic | field and forest mosaic domestic pigeons and poultry pellet analysis population density breeding parameters |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/9/4/141 |
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