BREEDING BIOLOGY OF STREPTOPELIA TURTUR IN IRAN

Abstract

The European turtle dove is a migratory bird inhabiting Khuzestan province, especially in Karkheh National Parkin spring for breeding. Regarding the threats that species faces globally, understanding the breeding biology of species is a prerequisite for its effective conservation in the study area. Therefore, we surveyed 200 nests from egg laying to fledging to record the breeding characteristics of European turtle dove inside and outside Karkheh National Parkto investigate the impact of conservation on breeding success of the species. Our results indicated that nesting began on late April and ended on early August inside the park. Outside the park breeding started on early May and the last nestling left the nest on mid August. During these periods the turtle dove bred in three subsequent period. The overall nest success was 75.5% inside the National Park and 62.8% outside the Park. One of the most effective factors in the success of juvenile’s flight inside the park was the height of the nests above the ground which was on average 3.78±0.77 m inside in comparison with the height of the nests outside the park (2.38±0.5).