Nesting habitat and breeding success of Fulica atra in tree wetlands in Fez’s region, central Morocco
Wafae Squalli, Ismail Mansouri, Mohamed Dakki, Fatima Fadil
Abstract
The current study was intended to investigate the breeding habitats and ecology of the Eurasian coot Fulica atra in Fez region Morocco. To achieve our goals, nests were monitored in three wetlands Oued Al Jawahir river, Mahraz and El Gaada dams. In addition, nesting vegetation and nest’s dimensions were analysed to characterise the Eurasian coot nests. As results, 46 nests (74%) were found in Oued al Jawahir, compared with 15 nests (24%) in Mahraz dam. In El Gaada dam only 2 nests were built by the Eurasian coots. On the other hand, all nests were built on the riparian vegetation of the river and dams. Besides, nests were located in the periphery of the river stream. Many plants were used entirely or special parts, such as stems and roots in nesting activity. Typha angustifolia is used in 45.3% of nests and J. acutus in 38.6% of nests. Other plants are found with a minor presentation in nests, including P. stratiotes (9.6 %) of nests, Phragmites australis (5.6%), and Tamaris sp. (0.9%). These plants form the structure of nests and support. Besides nesting in river’s periphery, the nests were constructed at an average height of 14.5 ± 0.05 away from the stream of water. Concerning nest success, nest predation ranged from 57% (2018) to 60% (2019). Nests were lost due to water stream and human disturbance. Finally, Eurasian coots build its nests in the periphery of water ecosystems and in an important high to avoid flooding periods and human disturbances.
Keywords
References
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Submitted date:
06/07/2020
Accepted date:
07/15/2020
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