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Research article - Peer-reviewed, 2022

Nesting habitat suitability and breeding of Asian woollyneck (Ciconia episcopus) in Nepal

Ghimire, Prashant; Panthi, Saroj; Bhusal, Krishna Prasad; Low, Matthew; Pandey, Nabin; Ghimire, Rojina; Bist, Bhuwan Singh; Khanal, Sujan; Poudyal, Laxman Prasad

Abstract

Asian woollyneck (Ciconia episcopus) is a large wading bird species whose conservation status has been recently down-listed, despite a lack of concrete information on its nesting ecology and breeding success. In this study, we report its breeding success and nest habitat suitability in Nepal from 39 nesting sites (2016-2020). Simal (Bombax ceiba) (n = 21), followed by sal tree(Shorea robusta) (n = 6), and rani-salla (Pinus roxburghii) (n = 4) were the most common tree with mean height of the nesting tree, nest height, and tree diameter being 30 +/- 5.8 m (+/- SD), 25.20 +/- 5.75 m, and 1.03 +/- 0.35 m, respectively. Nesting and fledging success were recorded from 31 nesting attempts at 19 of these sites, with an estimated nesting success probability of 0.81 +/- 0.07 and a mean fledging success of 1.94 +/- 0.25 chicks per nest. MaxEnt modelling identified a total potential suitable nesting habitat area of 9.64% (14,228 km(2)) of the area in Nepal, with this located within 72 districts, mostly in the west. The modelling parameters suggest that slope, land use, and precipitation during the driest months were important determinants of nesting habitat suitability. We recommend that priority be given to conserving taller trees (especially simal) close to settlements and croplands of Nepal. Also, that future surveys should consider examining the districts highlighted by our model as being the most likely candidates for containing woollyneck nesting habitat, especially those (such as Dang District) where woollyneck nests have not been previously reported.

Keywords

Asian woollyneck; Breeding success; MaxEnt modelling; Nesting; Nepal

Published in

Ornithology research
2022, Volume: 30, number: 4, pages: 253-261
Publisher: SPRINGERNATURE

    UKÄ Subject classification

    Zoology

    Publication identifier

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43388-022-00104-2

    Permanent link to this page (URI)

    https://res.slu.se/id/publ/118745