The nesting of the Common Raven Corvus corax on the electricity pylons in the Baranya area

Abstract

The Common Raven is a habitat generalist breeding throughout forested and open regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The species has undergone a large increase over the last 40 years in Europe. In the same period, it has begun to nest on pylons of the transmission lines; nowadays, it is a common phenomenon in Europe, including the eastern lowland areas of Croatia. In this study, surveys of the Common Raven nests were conducted on eight power lines in the area of Baranya in Eastern Croatia in 2006 and 2016 respectively. In 2006, 23 active Common Raven nests were found along seven power lines, while in 2016, 37 nests were recorded on eight lines, with a population increase of 60.9%. The average breeding density in 2016 was 3.3 pairs per 10 km of line, while the average frequency of occupied pylons was 10.2%. The mean distance between neighbouring nests amounted to 3128 m, and the distribution of nests along the power lines was probably affected by food availability. The majority of pylons supporting a Common Raven nest was placed in open agricultural areas (81.1%). Power lines proved to be important landscape elements in the avian conservation point of view.