Do voles make agricultural habitat attractive to Montagu's Harrier Circus pygargus ?

Loss and degradation of habitat threatens many bird populations. Recent rural land-use changes in the Netherlands have led to a shift in habitat use by breeding Montagu's Harriers Circus pygargus. Since the 1990s, unprecedented numbers of this species have bred in farmland compared with numbers...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ibis
Main Authors: Koks, Ben J., Trierweiler, Christiane, Visser, Erik G., Dijkstra, Cor, Komdeur, Jan
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2007
Subjects:
MICROTUS-ARVALIS
COMMON VOLES
EARED OWLS
POPULATIONS
REPRODUCTION
CONSERVATION
PREDATORS
FARMLAND
NUMBERS
PREY
Microtus arvalis
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/11370/a1916692-1bc5-4a98-a1e1-2ee1c1f5402a
https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/a1916692-1bc5-4a98-a1e1-2ee1c1f5402a
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1474-919x.2007.00683.x
Description
Summary:Loss and degradation of habitat threatens many bird populations. Recent rural land-use changes in the Netherlands have led to a shift in habitat use by breeding Montagu's Harriers Circus pygargus. Since the 1990s, unprecedented numbers of this species have bred in farmland compared with numbers in natural habitat. Destruction of nests by agricultural operations, however, compromises breeding success. Between 1992 and 2005, the number of breeding pairs in the northeastern Netherlands was positively, though weakly, correlated with previous-year estimated abundance of voles, mostly Microtus arvalis. In good vole years, the onset of laying was earlier and mean clutch size was larger. Vole abundance was relatively higher in set-aside land and in high and dense vegetation. We suggest that agri-environmental schemes aimed at increasing the availability of voles in agricultural breeding areas may be an effective management tool for the conservation of Montagu's Harriers in the northeastern Netherlands.

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