Habitat Use of the Hen Harrier (Circus cyaneus) during the Breeding Season in Spain

This is the final version. Available on open access from MDPI via the DOI in this record Data Availability Statement: All data used in this study are publicly available upon request to data managers in the online data repository Movebank (www.movebank.org, accessed on 6 September 2024). The projects...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Birds
Main Authors: Maeso, S, Morollón, S, García-Macía, J, Lee, S, Urios, V
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: MDPI 2024
Subjects:
behaviour movements
harriers
GPS/GSM
Iberian Peninsula
satellite tracking
habitat analysis
Circus cyaneus
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10871/137460
https://doi.org/10.3390/birds5030037
Description
Summary:This is the final version. Available on open access from MDPI via the DOI in this record Data Availability Statement: All data used in this study are publicly available upon request to data managers in the online data repository Movebank (www.movebank.org, accessed on 6 September 2024). The projects are: “Hen Harrier in Spain—Migra Program in Spain” (project ID: 1169461367) and “Hen Harriers in Spain” (project ID: 1135251191). Raptors usually show use for a particular habitat to settle during the breeding period. In this study, we aimed to study the habitat use of the breeding populations of Hen Harrier (Circus cyaneus) in Spain, which represents the southern distribution limit of the species. We used GPS/GSM data from 17 individuals during 21 breeding periods. We analysed space and habitat use using 95% kernel density estimators to obtain home ranges during the breeding period. Then, we performed a third-order habitat selection analysis, extracting the percentage of locations on each land use and comparing it with random points generated within each home range. Furthermore, an Agricultural Use Index was created to classify harriers with agricultural or forest use depending on habitat. The results showed that harriers had a general use for agricultural land and, to a lesser extent, habitats with natural vegetation scrubs. Nest location was key to habitat selection, and these uses varied with latitude, with natural vegetation being chosen as the nesting habitat in the north and agricultural fields in the south, probably due to the availability of habitats in different parts of Iberia. Fundación Iberdrola España Natural England

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