The environmental aspects of the great cormorant’s (Phalacrocorax carbo L.) nest location on the coast of the Curonian Lagoon of the Baltic Sea
- Pages
- 34-43
Abstract
This article explores the features of the cormorant’s nest locations on alder at two breeding colonies on the coast of the Curonian Lagoon. Based on an analysis of over 10,000 nests, three types of nest locations were identified:forks of tree trunks and large branches, medium-sized crown branches, and tops of broken trunks. It is shown that, in older and more numerous colonies, nests are located much lower, whereas the variability in nest distribution reaches it maximum. In the newly formed small colonies, almost all nests are located in the axial part of the crown — the fork of the trunk and larger branches. New colonies have a low proportion of nests located in medium-sized branches of the crown farther from the trunk and no nests on the top of broken trunks. It is proven that, as a colony grows, conditions and opportunities for the use of different parts of a tree as a substrate for nest building change, which forces birds to expand the range of possible nest locations
Reference
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