Conservation implications of past and present nesting habitat selection of the endangered Osprey Pandion haliaetus population of the Canary Islands |
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Authors: | Beneharo Rodríguez Airam Rodríguez Manuel Siverio Felipe Siverio |
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Institution: | 1. Canary Islands’ Ornithology and Natural History Group (GOHNIC), , Buenavista del Norte, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain;2. Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Estación Biológica de Do?ana (CSIC), , Seville, Spain;3. Gesplan S.A.U., Residencial Amarca, , Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain |
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Abstract: | We studied nesting habitat selection of the endangered non‐migratory Osprey Pandion haliaetus population of the Canary Islands and evaluated the effect of human expansion in recent decades. Compared with randomly selected potential nest‐sites, Osprey nests were more frequently found on taller, southwest‐facing cliffs, characterized by lower human pressure and closer to Yellow‐legged Gull Larus michahellis colonies and Barbary Falcon Falco pelegrinoides breeding sites. Furthermore, changes in some breeding habitat features have been detected in recent decades. According to our predictive models, large areas of suitable habitat are available but unoccupied in the Canaries, and human activities are probably limiting the settlement and dispersion of new pairs. |
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Keywords: | density development human disturbance management sea cliffs sedentary |
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