Analysis of Moroccan breeding and wintering population of the vulnerable European Turtle dove Streptopelia turtur: Breeding habitats, wintering sites and governing factors

The avifauna of two high atlas valleys: breeding assemblages in forest stands and open lands

“…Equally, the diversity, and abundance of trees and bushes have favoured avian diversity in Cork oak forests of Maamora located in Northwest Morocco (Cherkaoui et al 2009). Moreover, currently, segregation of foraging resources (fruits and wild seeds in forests, water and cultivated seeds in riparian vegetation and farmlands) and nesting supports (forest trees in Holm oak and Juniper, riparian trees in Black poplar, orchards in farmlands) have revealed important effects on the distribution of birds among forest stands, riparian habitats, and farmlands and these are suggested to lead to segregation of selected habitat between breeding birds (Duron et al 2018;Mansouri et al 2022a;Squalli et al 2022) since recorded birds were different in their nesting requirements (cavity-nesting, farmland birds, and riparian species) and trophic guilds.…”

“…This gap is suggested to clarify the role of forest stands in offering food supplies and nesting requirements for birds counting the most threatened species. As demonstrated previously, Moroccan ecosystems play vital roles for migratory birds that cross between Europe and Africa (Ayache et al 2009;Khelifa et al 2017;Mansouri et al 2022a); therefore, the Abstract In this study, we surveyed the diversity and distribution of breeding birds in dominating habitat of Central High Atlas valleys and principal governing factors. In the point-counts method with 170 sampling points from 2018 to 2019, richness parameters and multivariate analysis were used to assess the distribution of recorded birds.…”

“…In the Northern slope of the Mediterranean basin, forest ecosystems have shown a great diversity of avian species among breeders, winterers, and migrants (Fernández-Juricic 2004;Bartolommei et al 2013). Thanks to their richness in fruits, seeds, and abundant trees, forest ecosystems offer birds foraging resources and breeding requirements (Muiruri et al 2016;Campos-Silva and Piratelli 2021;Mansouri et al 2022a). Therefore, avian species select specific forest stands that offer the needed requirements, leading to an affinity between vegetation cover and birds (Schuster and Arcese 2013;Muiruri et al 2016).…”

“…Therefore, avian species select specific forest stands that offer the needed requirements, leading to an affinity between vegetation cover and birds (Schuster and Arcese 2013;Muiruri et al 2016). These strategies result in segregation between bird communities and species to avoid competition for breeding and foraging resources (Mansouri et al 2022a).…”

High density and successful breeding of Turtle doves Streptopelia turtur in Moroccan olive groves

“…As mentioned before we recorded the numbers of doves seen and/or heard singing, behaviour (nesting, feeding or courtship to document habitat use), distance to cereals and water sources (foraging resources for doves; Mansouri et al, 2019 ), occurrence of predators (we noted (observed or heard) aerial or terrestrial predators on the same observation point of doves), occurrence of competitors (CP) (other Columbidae that have similar ecological requirements; Mansouri et al, 2022a ), distance to nearest road (DR: National, regional, or local roads) and nearest building (DB: depots, homes, and all kind of human buildings), and potential nesting trees (necessary element for breeding). These ecological factors are assumed to explain the habitat use in turtle doves as mentioned currently in Morocco ( Mansouri et al, 2022b ).…”