The Mediterranean basin exhibits a multitude of forest habitats affected by former and current exploitation and management. Recent afforestation programs have resulted in an increase in the proportion of coniferous trees, while oak stands, formerly utilized for coppicing and grazing, are abandoned or converted into coniferous plantations. The loss of oak stands might negatively affect birds dependent upon broadleaved forests. Studies confirming or rejecting that statement are scarce, particularly in the eastern part of the region. Using a study area in southwestern Turkey we applied a guild-based approach to investigate how pine and oak stands across a chronosequence differ in their capacity to support forest bird assemblages. Variables describing the vegetation were sampled to characterize the stands and relate bird assemblages to stand structure. Bird abundance and species richness was positively associated with age for both stand types. Richness and diversity was highest in oak stands, while there were no differences in bird abundance between the two forest types. Pine stands supported a different bird species composition compared to oak stands of the same age. Stand age and structure, rather than forest type, held the highest explanatory powers for bird assembly structure. Primary cavity-nesters and ground-nesters were more abundant in oak stands, possibly reflecting differences in stand structure and resource distribution. To support these birds with suitable habitats, oaks stands need conservation. Management practices in pine stands should strive for increasing the amount of old trees and retain vegetation in the understory to benefit breeding birds.

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Savi’s Warbler Locustella luscinioides has established as a nesting species in a few shallow reed lakes of southern Sweden during the last twenty years. Knowledge of the habitat requirements of a newly established species is important to maintain a viable population and design action plans. We examined the vegetation parameters in occupied territories of Savi’s Warblers at Lake Tåkern, the country’s stronghold for the species. We found association with the outer edge zones and fragmented areas of vegetation dominated by common reed Phragmites australis. Occupied territories differed from randomly chosen unoccupied (control) sites by having a thicker layer of basal litter, and on average more willow bushes (Salix spp.). Reed density and height did not differ between occupied territories and control sites. It is likely that the Tåkern population will continue to increase until it is limited by lack of willows or dense basal litter, the traits important for the establishment of territories. It is also likely that the species will continue to increase in Sweden as long as suitable reed habitats are left unaffected.

Fine-scale habitat utilization by birds in an ancient oak (Quercus spp.) wood-pasture in southwestern Turkey.

Natural and semi-natural oak (Quercus spp.) forests in Turkey are rich ecosystems of high conservation value that are increasingly threatened by logging and transformation into coniferous plantations. They harbor a diverse fauna and flora, but the current knowledge of their associated biodiversity is limited for many groups of organisms. In this paper, we present our preliminary results from inventories of the birds inhabiting various oak forests located in Isparta province in southwestern Turkish Anatolia. The bird species diversity was assessed both quantitatively and a qualitatively using random observation walks and fixed-radii point counts in 17 oak forests ranging in mean age from 30 years up to 300 years. A total of 52 bird species belonging to 43 genera and 24 families were identified. The three most abundant species were Eastern Bonelli's Warbler (Phylloscopus orientalis), Common Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) and Common Blackbird (Turdus merula). Birds of national or international conservation concern are highlighted. Furthermore, we present an updated taxonomical species checklist.

The autumn migration of Jack Snipe Lymnocryptes minimus was studied using mist-netting at night along a muddy shoreline at Lake Tåkern in southern central Sweden. During ten consecutive autumn seasons ranging from mid-September to mid-November a total of 107 birds were captured, particularly within the first two hours after dusk. The peak of migration occurred in the first ten days of October with the juvenile birds on average passing a few days earlier than the adult birds. We present information on movements and ringing recoveries and review the challenges of ageing the species. We propose that crepuscular mist-netting near wetlands offering important staging grounds may be a suitable method to monitor the migratory movements, and possibly the population dynamics, of this little-studied species.