Nest site characteristics and nest densities of ardieds (night heron : Nycticorax nycticorax, grey heron : Ardea cinerea, and little egret : Egretta garzetta) in the Nallihan Bird Sanctuary (Sariyar Reservoir, Ankara, Turkey)


Ayas Z.

TURKISH JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY, vol.32, no.2, pp.167-174, 2008 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 32 Issue: 2
  • Publication Date: 2008
  • Journal Name: TURKISH JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, TR DİZİN (ULAKBİM)
  • Page Numbers: pp.167-174
  • Hacettepe University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

In this study, the nesting site characteristics and nest densities of ardeids (grey heron: Ardea cinerea; night heron: Nycticorax nycticorax, and little egret: Egretta garzetta) were investigated in Nallihan Bird Sanctuary. It was found that the site of breeding colony had 166 trees consisting of willows (92) and poplars (74); 105 of which (63 willow and 42 poplar) were found occupied by ardeid nests. In the sampled trees (n = 40), 395 nests (night heron: 254, grey heron: 103, and little egret: 38) were located; 244 of which were located in willows (night heron: 170, grey heron: 44; little egret: 30) and 151 (night heron: 84, grey heron: 59; little egret: 8) in poplars. Also the number of nests and nest density for the 105 occupied trees were calculated as 1037 and 0,027 nest/m(2), respectively. However, the difference between willows (4.07 +/- 3.54 nest/tree) and poplars (2.52 +/- 2.04 nest/tree) in terms of nest densities of ardeids were statistically insignificant.