Population Status of Breeding Saker Falcons (Falco Cherrug)in Turkey

Abstract

The Saker Falcon Falco cherrug breeds in Turkey and also occurs in the country during passage and in winter. Turkey represents the southwestern range limit of the global breeding distribution of the species and is relatively isolated from the neighbouring population centres in Europe and Central Asia. A review of literature and other record sources indicated that the 19th century breeding population in Thrace had disappeared by the 1950s, in line with dramatic declines in the Southern Balkans. We could find no data on the Saker Falcon population elsewhere in Turkey prior to the 1960s. In the 1960s, the Saker Falcon was a rare breeding species found mainly in steppe habitats of Central and Eastern Anatolia. Despite increased ornithological recording activity in the country, the number of Saker Falcon records declined in the 1980s and 1990s, probably because of habitat loss, a reduction in the Anatolian Souslik (Spermophilus xanthoprymnus) population and the activities of falcon trappers. A recent resurgence in records since 2000 probably reflects an increase in ornithological recording by resident and visiting ornithologists. Our survey in 2007 confirmed that the Saker is a rare breeding species in Central and Eastern Anatolia despite there being much apparently suitable habitat and prey available in these regions. It is not clear whether or not the Saker population in Turkey is currently held at a low level by anthropogenic factors or whether the low population size is a characteristic of an isolated population of a species occurring at the edge its global distribution range.

The saker falcon (Falco cherrug) population, diet and nest boxes in Slovakia: LIFE-project report 2011–2014

“…Hungary) is birds, especially feral pigeons (C. livia f. domestica) (Bagyura et al 2006), but also voles. Mammals (especially sousliks) are still the predominant prey in Eastern Europe (Moldova and Ukraine), Turkey (Dixon et al 2009) and Kazakhstan (Nedyalkov et al 2014). This basic difference in the diet of the saker falcon in Central Europe when the replacement of the decreasing population of the European ground squirrel by the pigeon came about is also documented by other works (Frey & Senn 1980, Bagyura et al 1994, Horák 1998, Obuch & Chavko 1997.…”

The future impact of climate and land-use changes on Anatolian ground squirrels under different scenarios

“…For example, breeding season diet of Saker Falcons (Falco cherrug) in Turkey typically comprises a greater proportion of Anatolian ground squirrels (61%, 35/57, of pellets and prey remains collected at three nest sites). Thus, population decline in Anatolian ground squirrels is identified as one of the main causes of decline in the number of Saker Falcon records in Turkey (Dixon et al 2009). Thus, future studies on Anatolian ground squirrels should also focus on assessing their potential as an indicator species.…”

Birding trip reports as a data source for monitoring rare species

“…Conservation assessments increasingly include consideration of opportunistic sightings reported voluntarily by the public to specifically designed platforms or websites (Roberts et al ., ; Sullivan et al ., ; Barlow et al ., ). Nevertheless, additional potential sources of biological records, such as social networks and birding trip reports have received comparatively little attention (Dixon et al ., ; Boakes et al ., ; Roberge, ).…”