| Title |
Winter ecology of Eurasian Woodcock |
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| Author |
Olivier Duriez - Yves Ferrand |
| Language |
French |
| Magazine |
Ornithos, vol. 12, no. 6, 2005
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| Page |
297 - 309 |
Contents
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Original title in French: Écologie hivernale de la Bécasse des bois [Scolopax rusticola] en Bretagne
Summary in English:
The Eurasian Woodcock is a migratory species with an uncertain conservation status, whose ecology and behaviour are largely unknown in winter. Woodcocks are known to be sensitive to frost, and are threatened by habitat loss and high hunting pressures in winter, which is a period of enhanced vulnerability due to the concentration of populations. This study aims to understand the behavioural strategies in winter, to propose accurate management and conservation measures. Habitat selection, survival, spatial use and time-budget have been studied during three winters in Brittany, using about a hundred Woodcocks fitted with radio-transmitters. Diurnal habitats were selected according to their richness in earthworms (their main food item) and to shrub cover (for protection). At night, grazed meadows were preferred to crops for their richness in earthworms. Natural mortality by predation occurred mostly in the fields at night and survival rates suggested an additive mortality due to hunting. The trade-off between starvation and predation risk lead individuals to adopt different behavioural strategies of space use and time-budget management. Some individuals only used one roost while others visited several, alternately or successively. The choice of strategy seems to depend on the efficiency of individuals to forage and escape predators. The use of meadows at night varies among individuals. Depending on their energetic needs (a function of air temperature) and their own foraging efficiency, individuals that increased their foraging effort during the day, could decide to stay in the forest at night in order to minimise predation risks. Solutions of habitat management are proposed for a sustainable level of Woodcock populations.
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