Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.21857/y6zolb8o3m
Habitat preferences of Common Kestrel Falco tinnunculus in Zagreb
Viktoria Kolarić
Abstract
Common Kestrel Falco tinnunculus is a bird of prey that colonized
European cities most successfully. It is a resident bird in Zagreb, nesting in the centre of the city. The main purpose of this study was to locate and analyse the positions of active nests of Common Kestrels during the breeding season of 2017 in Zagreb. “The Atlas of breeding birds of Zagreb” was used as the basis of knowledge about the distribution of Kestrels in Zagreb. After the field research, the characteristics of nesting sites were analysed; subsequently – by using GIS program – the distances between nesting sites and nearest urban green areas that are used for foraging were measured. This study gave insight into the habitat preferences for the nesting of Kestrels in Zagreb. It has been shown that the most suitable buildings for the nesting of Kestrels in Zagreb are residential buildings with an average height of 50.1 meters. Beside smaller urban green areas, large green areas outside the city centre were also of great importance, with the embankment of the Sava river proved to be
the most significant one.
Keywords
Falco tinnunculus; birds of prey; nest; nesting; urban areas
Hrčak ID:
217487
URI
Publication date:
25.2.2019.
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