Charter Motti, Rozman Gabe
Shamir Research Institute, University of Haifa, Katzrin 1290000, Israel.
Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel.
Animals (Basel). 2022 Oct 18;12(20):2815. doi: 10.3390/ani12202815.
Nest boxes have been used for years to increase breeding bird numbers for conservation and also in biological pest control projects. Barn owls () have been used as biological pest control agents for rodents for years, and since nest boxes are costly for growers there is a need to determine whether nest box placement can increase the occupation of nest boxes and breeding success. We studied whether barn owl breeding in agricultural areas varied in nest boxes located on trees, poles located in the shade, and poles in the sun. The occupation of nest boxes was highest in nest boxes located on trees, followed by poles in the shade, and finally poles in the sun. In comparison, the number of fledglings was highest for nest boxes on poles in the sun followed by poles in the shade in the first half of the breeding season, whereas more nestlings were fledged in nest boxes on trees in the second part of the breeding season, which is most likely due to the higher internal temperatures in the nest boxes located in the sun. Interestingly, all the nest boxes' internal temperatures were lower than the ambient temperatures but were much lower on trees than those on poles, most likely due to the trees providing better protection from the heat. It is therefore important to not only consider the placement of nest boxes, but how occupation and breeding success may vary seasonally.
多年来，巢箱一直被用于增加鸟类繁殖数量以进行保护，同时也用于生物虫害控制项目。谷仓猫头鹰（）多年来一直被用作啮齿动物的生物虫害控制剂，由于巢箱对种植者来说成本高昂，因此有必要确定巢箱的放置是否能增加其被占用的几率以及繁殖成功率。我们研究了在农业地区，谷仓猫头鹰在位于树上的巢箱、位于阴凉处的杆子上的巢箱以及在阳光下的杆子上的巢箱中的繁殖情况是否存在差异。位于树上的巢箱被占用的几率最高，其次是阴凉处的杆子上的巢箱，最后是阳光下的杆子上的巢箱。相比之下，在繁殖季节的上半年，阳光下杆子上的巢箱中雏鸟的数量最多，其次是阴凉处杆子上的巢箱，而在繁殖季节的后半段，树上巢箱中羽化的雏鸟更多，这很可能是由于阳光下巢箱内部温度较高。有趣的是，所有巢箱的内部温度都低于环境温度，但树上巢箱的温度比杆子上巢箱的温度低得多，这很可能是因为树木能更好地隔热。因此，不仅要考虑巢箱的放置位置，还要考虑其被占用的几率和繁殖成功率如何随季节变化，这一点很重要。
