Scientific Journal of the BirdLife Hungary

A Magyar Madártani és Természetvédelmi Egyesület tudományos folyóirata

Ornis Hungarica. vol.14. (2004) p.27-30.

Predation of artificial nests in a marshland: site and visibility effects
András Báldi

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Kivonat:

I studied the effects of site (location) and nest visibility on the predation rate of artificial ground nests in islands of the Kis-Balaton marshland, Hungary. There was a strong site effect, i.e. nest predation was different among the three studied sites. No difference was found between visible (100% visibility) and hidden (<20% visibility) nests. In addition, the identified predators (Corvidae and Mustelidae) of hidden and visible nests were similar, but different at the three sites. The lack of visibility effect was unexpected, but can be explained by the increased water level of the marshland after drought years. This may have resulted in the concentration of both predators and nests on islands, causing extremely high predation pressure. Key words: artificial ground nest, brood survival, Hungary, water level change