Abstract
Timing of the first arrival in spring, start and end of the autumn migration were summarized and analyzed for the period in 41 years. In spring, Black Storks arrived in different regions as a rule since the second ten-day of March till the second half of April. Mean dates fell on late March and early April. The autumn migration began since late July and early August till September, on average it started during the second and third ten-day of August. Last departures were observed since the third ten-day of August till October or even November, mean dates in majority of regions fell on the second and third ten-days of September. The autumn migration lasted about a month. Variation of timing increased in series: first arrival – start of autumn migration – last departure. Timing of spring arrival advanced to earlier dates, timing of autumn migration remained stable.
Highlights
Conservation of any species is usually impossible without protection of habitats important for their breeding, foraging, resting etc
The analysis of Black Stork spatial distribution in relation to forest habitat types was performed in the territories of eight forestry companies in the Rivne region of Ukraine, which overlap with the Polissya nature zone and with the kernel of Black Storks highest population density, as well as with the main part of the breeding range of this species in Ukraine
Usage of forest habitats by Black Stork in Rivne region The results of the analysis show that there is a strong correlation between the Black Stork habitat selection and the general structure of forests in the region, on each of the analysis levels
Summary
Conservation of any species is usually impossible without protection of habitats important for their breeding, foraging, resting etc. Most of them are based on the studies made in Central and East European countries [1, 4, 7, 11, 12 etc.], mostly Baltic countries, which is reasonable, taking into account the species distribution in Europe and the sizes of national populations [2, 10]. Ukraine possesses a significant part of the European Black Stork population [2, 10] and is interesting as a territory of breeding range margin, where European Forest zone borders with steppes. One study [14] was related to habitats and their changes but was mostly analytical and based on expert opinions without appropriate raw numerical data. Current publication aims to fill some of gaps in this area of Black Stork studies using GIS approach
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