The Purple Swamphen Porphyrio porphyrio is a common rail that previously was little investigated in North Africa. From 2011 to 2013, its breeding ecology was studied at two natural wetlands in north-east Algeria, namely Garaet Hadj Tahar and Garaet Messaoussa. Numbers of Purple Swamphens at both localities peaked in late April and early May. Egg-laying started in early March, whereas hatching started in late March. Peak egg-laying took place in late March and early April, and peak hatching from mid-April to early May. There were significant differences in the size and weight of eggs between years and localities. The mean clutch size was 2.75 0.70 eggs and it was not significantly different between localities and years. Mean hatching success was 51% and it was positively correlated to nest depth only at Garaet Hadj Tahar. Most nests were built in dense tufts of Typha angustifolia and Phragmites australis. The main nesting materials were Phragmites australis and Scirpus maritimus.
This study was focused on the ecology and behavior of the White-headed Duck (Oxyura leucocephala) at Garaet Hadj Tahar (Guerbes-Sanhadja, North East of Algeria). Sampling was carried out during two wintering seasons (2017-2018 and 2018-2019). High number of this duck was recorded in 2018/19 (350 individuals). We observed two Oxyura population, the first sedentary, and the second, hosted the Garaet during the wintering season. Diurnal time budget was dominated by the comfort activities the sleeping with a rate of 39.13%. Following by swimming (37.76%), feeding (17.59%) grooming (4.58%), courtship ritual (0.56%) and flying (0.38%). The feeding of white-headed duck is done exclusively by diving. Beside, this waterbird associated between Feeding by diving and grooming in order to minimized energy. The accessory activities such as: courtship ritual, flying were done by this duck at the end of wintering. This results confirm that Garaet Hadj Tahar is considered as wintering site for this threatened species. Biological Conservation plan (BCP) must be applied at level of this wetland in order to manage bioressources and threatened waterbirds.
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