Abstract
Agriculture intensification drives changes in bird populations but also in the space use by farmland species. Agriculture in Eastern Europe still follows an extensive farming model, but due to policy shifts aimed at rural restructuring and implementation of government subsidies for farmers, it is being rapidly intensified. Here, we aimed to document the ranging behaviour and habitat use of a declining farmland bird of prey—Montagu’s Harrier—and to compare it to findings from Western Europe. In 2011–2018, 50 individuals were followed with GPS loggers in Eastern Poland to study species spatial ecology. We found home ranges (kernel 90%) to be considerably large: 67.3 (± 42.3) km2 in case of males, but only 4.9 (± 6.1) km2 in females. Home ranges overlapped by 40%, on average, with other males in colonies and by 61%, on average, between consecutive breeding seasons of a particular male. The average daily distance travelled by males and females reached, respectively, 94.5 and 45.3 km, covering a daily home range of 32.3 and 3.1 km2. Individuals foraged up to 35 km from nests (3.5 km on average). Daily distance travelled and daily home ranges varied across the breeding season, in case of females being shortest in July, but sharply increasing in August. Also, individuals with breeding success had higher daily distance travelled but smaller daily home ranges. Average harriers’ distance to nest was generally increasing over the season, but was also changing over time of day: birds were closest to nest during night time, but at the end of the season, males roosted up to 16 km from the nest. While foraging males slightly preferred grasslands, higher elevation and smaller land-use patches, they avoided slopes and proximity of roads. We conclude that the surprisingly large home ranges of breeding harriers may suggest reduced prey availability or high fragmentation of hunting areas, both driving birds to utilise large areas and potentially contributing to population decline.
Highlights
Two main processes affecting biodiversity in the European agricultural landscape have been initiated during recent decades: agriculture intensification (Stoate et al 2001; Tscharntke et al 2005) and local agriculture abandonment (Wretenberg et al 2006)
Soils of moderate and low fertility predominated. Agriculture in this region is still of extensive character and land use is highly mosaic as the average farm size was only 10 ha (ARMiR 2018) and median land-use patch size was only 1.6 ha, while human population density was below 50 ind./km2
Home range estimation methods were not affected by the tracking duration, nor the number of GPS fixes, for both males and females, except for BBMM method which was slightly impacted by the number of acquired locations, especially in males (Online Resource 3)
Summary
Two main processes affecting biodiversity in the European agricultural landscape have been initiated during recent decades: agriculture intensification (Stoate et al 2001; Tscharntke et al 2005) and local agriculture abandonment (Wretenberg et al 2006). Among the birds affected by these large-scale processes, birds of prey and owls, as top predators in agricultural ecosystems, seem to be doubly disadvantaged: first by land-use changes decreasing the availability of suitable foraging and breeding habitats (Sanchez-Zapata et al 2003), and second, through reducing densities of prey, i.e. other birds and/or small mammals and insects. In several European countries, diurnal and nocturnal raptors typical of agricultural areas have declined due to farmland transformation during recent decades: Barn Owl Tyto alba (Martinez and Zubergoitia 2004), Little Owl Athene noctua (Šálek and Schröpfer 2008), Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni (Donazar et al 1993), Common Kestrel Falco tinnunculus and Common Buzzard Buteo buteo (Butet et al 2010)
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