Tom 21 (2013): Zeszyt 1 (June 2013)

This study was made in a postglacial relic bog in the Ócsa Protected Landscape Area in Hungary. Secondary succession of vegetation began after peat extraction and a grove-like forest evolved. Among the eight woodpecker species that occur in this area, the Great-spotted Woodpecker is the most abundant with the largest amount of data, it is for this reason we chose this species to study. The aims of this work were to detect changes in the abundance of the study species in relation to forest succession; to examine the seasonal patterns of these changes in abundance, and to identify any relationship between the height of the trees near the nets and the number of captured birds. We used the data from 1411 mist-netted Great-spotted Woodpeckers (1984- 2010), which were captured at the Ócsa Bird Ringing Station (120 standard mist nets). The assessment of forest succession rates were based on aerial photos (1979-2010). We measured the height of the vegetation, at 12 points, near each 12 m long net. Population growth of Great-spotted Woodpeckers was significantly correlated with the rate of afforestation. The majority of birds occurred only during the dispersal period. The pattern of the captures correlated well with the vegetation structure, not just with height, but also with vegetation quality as well

In birds, individuals may show different behavioural and physiological responses when handling, and such variation may be related to individual differences in antipredator strategies. We performed a pilot study in both breeding and wintering populations of the Great Tit (Parus major), and we characterised three typical behavioural traits during a standard ringing procedure in captured birds. We assessed between- individual variations in breath rate, pecking rate and the number of distress calls displayed in response to handling, and also calculated the within-individual variation of these traits by repeated behavioural measurements. We found that these behaviours were consistently displayed within individuals (with repeatability varying between 0.44 and 0.82), and there was also some modest correlation between them (e.g. breath rate covaried with the number of distress calls). Furthermore, using multivariate linear models assessing a role of some potential predictors we found that a considerable amount of between-individual variation can be explained by sex and age differences and also by variation in body condition. However, the magnitude and direction of these relationships was inconsistent across seasons. Our results are in line with previous findings that several consistent behavioural traits measured during human handling could reflect individual specific antipredator strategy, but some confounding effects cannot be ruled out. Hence, our preliminary results require careful interpretation, and further studies are needed to assess the exact magnitude by which different behavioural traits are inter-related

We investigated habitat preference of Common Sandpipers as part of a monitoring program in the Őrség National Park, Hungary. Field observations were conducted during the summers between 2008 and 2012 along a 47-km long section of the River Rába. During the observations we recorded the number and location of birds on the river bank. We divided the studied area into 1 km long sections and measured the proportion of the visually distinguishable habitat types (water, low gravel and sand bank, vegetation and degraded area) from a digitalized map. Furthermore, we recorded the number of the low banks and the number of bends of the river within each section, as well as the sections’ distance from the closest hydroelectric power plants and human settlements. In 2012 we also performed a detailed habitat mapping, recording the proportion of the vegetation types along the river bank and the number of fishing spots, embankment strengthenings and gravel banks. We tested the correlations between these habitat variables and number of birds present in the river sections. Our results show that Common Sandpipers were observed more frequently in locations which have (1) larger number and area of low gravel and sand banks, (2) less dense vegetation, and (3) lower proportion of degraded habitats. These findings can be taken into account in the conservation management of River Rába

Intraspecific kleptoparasitism was studied in flock-fishing Great Crested Grebes Podiceps cristatus during May and June 2011 and in Great Cormorants Phalacrocorax carbo during September 2011 and August 2012 at Lake Krankesjön, South Sweden, for a total of c.11 h for grebes and c.6 h for cormorants. Only attempts to steal large fish (relative to a bird’s gape) were recorded, because small fish mostly did not elicit kleptoparasitic attempts and those seen appeared never to be successful. Attempts to steal large fish were rare, 0.14 h-1 grebe-1 (N = 96) and 0.39 h-1 cormorant-1 (N = 163). In both species, the host lost its fish in about 20% of cases. Based on the observed low parasitism and success rates, it is concluded that kleptoparasitism was a minor cost of participating in flock-fishing

During a twenty five days trip in Uganda a brief faunistic survey of birds, mammals and reptiles was performed. Altogether 380 bird species were observed in six National Parks and some other protected areas in the summer of 2012. From these 64 bird species are discussed here selected according the following criteria: rarity, occurrence in a new habitat or geographic area, and emergence of novel breeding phenological data of certain species. Our new records of House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) along the Kazinga Channel (between Lake Edward and Lake George) are outside the current distribution range of the species. The House sparrow expanded its area about 800 km toward west from their first record in Nairobi in 1992. Our new records on White-tailed Ant-thrush (Neocossyphus poensis), Red-tailed Ant-thrush (Neocossyphus rufus), Papyrus Yellow Warbler (Chloropeta gracilirostris), Shelley’s Rufous Sparrow (Passer shelley) and Streaky Seedeater (Serinus striolatus) also require the correction of distribution maps of this species in Uganda. In addition we give some remarks on the breeding phenology of Mountain Wagtail (Motacilla clara), Cassin’s Grey Flycatcher (Muscicapa cassini) and Northern Red Bishop (Euplectes franciscanus). Our recent observational data of African Skimmer (Rynchops flavirostris) may have importance for the Bonn Convention. These observations might be important from conservation and ecotouristic point of views