SPECIES COMPOSITION OF URBAN GREEN SPACES AS FACTOR AFFECTING SELECTION OF NEST SITES BY CORVIDS

UDC 598.293

  • Sakhvon Vital Valer’yevich − PhD (Biology), Associate Professor, Deputy Dean, the Faculty of Biology. Belarusian State University (4, Nezavisimosti Ave., 220030, Minsk, Republic of Belarus). E-mail: sakhvon@gmail.com

DOI: https://doi.org/10.52065/2519-402X-2021-246-18-149–156

Key words: Hooded crow, Rook, Eurasian magpie, nest site selection, nesting biology, urban ecosystem, synurbisation, Minsk.

For citation: Sakhvon V. V. Species composition of urban green spaces as factor affecting selection of nest sites by corvids. Proceedings of BSTU, issue 1, Forestry. Nature Management. Processing of Renewable Resources, 2021, no. 2 (246), pp. 149–156 (In Russian). DOI: https://doi.org/10.52065/2519-402X-2021-246-18-149–156.

Abstract

In this paper the nest site selection patterns of the Hooded crow (Corvus cornix), the Rook (Corvus frugilegus) and the Eurasian magpie (Pica pica) in the city of Minsk was analyzed. The researches were carried out in 2015–2016 and in 2020. Total the data about 693 nests of the Hooded crow, 343 nests of the Rook, and 676 for the Eurasian magpie in urban residential neighborhoods were collected. In quarters of urban residential neighborhoods, the Hooded crows and the Eurasian magpies preferred nesting among trees planted in the courtyards of low-rise and multistoried buildings (45.9% and 49.9% of the total nests respectively), and the Rooks chose adjoining territories on the other side of a building (40.8%). These bird species used 25 species/genera of shrubs and trees for nesting, 98.6% of which were deciduous plants. As many as 78.8% of the total nests were found on six tree species/genera: the Silver birch (Betula pendula), maples (Acer sp.), ashes (Fraxinus sp.), the Small-leaved lime (Tilia cordata), populus (Populus sp.) and the Horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum). The average nest height ranged from 11.7 ± 4.02 m in the Eurasian magpie to 16.1 ± 3.2 m in the Rook, with 96.2% of nests located in the upper third of a tree. The collected data are used to discuss a possible mechanism of regulating the number of Corvids in the urban ecosystems.

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