About Tawny Owl count techniques. - Ye.A. Yatsyuk. - Berkut. 14 (2). 2005. - P. 255-262.
The data on population density and calling activity of Tawny Owl within watershed oak forest plot in Gomolsha forest (Zmiyiv district, Kharkiv region, East Ukraine) are presented in the paper. Moist maple-lime oak forest is a prevailed forest type, while mature and middle-aged stands dominated within a plot. Vocal provocation and territory mapping methods were used to estimate owl abundance. Counts were made in autumn, spring and summer seasons in 2003–2004. Bird activity was estimated by the time interval between the start of provocation and bird response. This index appeared to be significantly higher in spring, during incubation. During copulation period calling activity was extremely low. Searches of broods were carried out in summer period to estimate breeding success. The results of counts showed the presence of 28–32 territorial Tawny Owl pairs on the plot (1800 ha), and 10 of them bred successfully in 2004. Therefore, breeding density of Tawny Owl was about 16,6 pairs/10 km². [Russian].
Key words: Tawny Owl, Strix aluco, Kharkiv region, count, population density, vocalization.
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