Influences of seasons and dietary composition on diurnal raptor habitat use in Chembe Bird Sanctuary, Zambia: Implications for conservation

Abstract

Diurnal raptor habitat use has conservation implications due to environmental and anthropogenic interactions. Three tree-nesting diurnal raptors, black kites (Milvus milvus), steppe buzzards (Buteo vulpinus) and African fish eagles (Haliaeetus vocifer), were studied from December 2016 to October 2017. The objective was to determine factors influencing diurnal raptor habitat selection and use in and around Chembe Bird Sanctuary of Kalulushi district, Zambia. We surveyed for birds in ten randomly selected 200 × 200 m sample plots in each of the five stratified sampling units (miombo woodland, grasslands, human settlements, Lake Chembe and marsh). Seasons and dietary composition variably influenced the distribution, habitat selection and use by raptors. The three raptors devised a suit of behaviours to curtail challenges associated with seasonal food and water availability, and anthropogenic disturbances. There is a need to promote multi-stakeholder engagement and involvement in raptor conservation. Résumé L'utilisation de l'habitat des rapaces diurnes a des répercussions sur la conservation en raison des interactions environnementales et anthropiques. Trois espèces de rapaces diurnes, les milans noirs (Milvus milvus), les buses de steppe (Buteo vulpinus) et les aigles pêcheurs d'Afrique (Haliaeetus vocifer) utilisant les arbres comme sites de nidification ont fait l'objet d'une étude qui s'est déroulée de décembre 2016 à octo-S U PP O RTI N G I N FO R M ATI O N Additional supporting information may be found online in the Supporting Information section. How to cite this article: Nyirenda VR, Yambayamba AM, Chisha-Kasumu E. Influences of seasons and dietary composition on diurnal raptor habitat use in Chembe Bird Sanctuary, Zambia: Implications for conservation.

Paraxerus cepapi (Rodentia: Sciuridae)

“…Paraxerus cepapi makes up 19.3–24.1% of prey of black kites ( Milvus milvus ) and 3.2–4.4% of prey of African fish eagles ( Haliaeetus vocifer ) in Zambia (Nyirenda et al 2020). Other known avian predators are tawny eagles ( Aquila rapax ), African harrier hawks ( Polyboroides typus ), and martial eagles ( Polemaetus bellicosus ) in Zambia (Dobroruka 1970), white-headed vultures ( Trigonoceps occipitalis ) in South Africa, and Ayre's hawk-eagles ( Hieraaetus ayresii ) in Zimbabwe (Hartley and Mundy 2003; Murn 2014).…”