Breeding Ecology and Nest- Site Selection of Turtle Doves (Streptopelia turtur) in Three New Orchard Habitats

Thilelli Aitouakli,Ettayib Bensaci

doi:10.35691/jbm.1202.0175

Thilelli Aitouakli, Ettayib Bensaci

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.35691/jbm.1202.0175

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Abstract

The main aim of our work was to investigate the breeding parameters in three orchard types in Algeria (apple, cherry and nectarine) for better conservation of existing species. A total of 149 active Turtle dove nests were monitored in these man–made agro-systems. Egg laying occurred from early May and continued until mid-August. Egg laying started later in cherry trees and stopped earlier in nectarines. Nest density was higher in apple orchards. Nests were located higher in nectarine. Clutch size was similar among orchard types. Northeast was the dominant orientation in all orchards. Breeding success was higher than that recorded in former studies. Desertion was the main cause of nest failure. The apple orchards are the preferred breeding area for turtle dove in this region.

Highlights

Turtle Dove (Streptopelia turtur) is a bird presented by two subspecies: S. t. turtur and S. t. arenicola in Europe and North Africa respectively as a summer visitor with breeding strongholds reported around the Mediterranean basin (Burfield & van Bommel 2004).Among the serious questions of biological conservation, the animal population survey in decline, or even those in the process of extinction, appears to be increasingly important (Zemmouri 2008).Though it extends from Europe to Asia and North Africa(Fisher et al, 2018),this species is showing a distribution range with a rapid decline (Hanane 2018)
Breeding in nectarine habitat started from the first decade of May till the first decade of July, while breeding in apple trees started from the second decade of May till the second decade of August, followed by the cherry trees which was registered between the last decade of May and the first decade of August (Fig.6)
The laying period varied between different orchard habitats, where the longest turtle dove laying period was observed in apple (98 days), followed by cherry (78 days) and nectarine (69 days)

Summary

Introduction

Turtle Dove (Streptopelia turtur) is a bird presented by two subspecies: S. t. turtur and S. t. arenicola in Europe and North Africa respectively as a summer visitor with breeding strongholds reported around the Mediterranean basin (Burfield & van Bommel 2004).Among the serious questions of biological conservation, the animal population survey in decline, or even those in the process of extinction, appears to be increasingly important (Zemmouri 2008).Though it extends from Europe to Asia and North Africa(Fisher et al, 2018),this species is showing a distribution range with a rapid decline (Hanane 2018). In Algeria, both population size and breeding ecology aspects remain poorly explored (Boukhemza-Zemmouri et al, 2008, Hanane2009, Yahiaoui et al, 2014, Kafi et al, 2015) despite the importance of such datato better understand the long-term dynamics of this species at different spatial scales. This lack of data availability is probably due to the country's wideness and the diversity of breeding habitats

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