Conservation implications of past and present nesting habitat selection of the endangered Osprey Pandion haliaetus population of the Canary Islands

摘要

We studied nesting habitat selection of the endangered\udnon-migratory Osprey Pandion haliaetus population of\udthe Canary Islands and evaluated the effect of human\udexpansion in recent decades. Compared with randomly\udselected potential nest-sites, Osprey nests were more\udfrequently found on taller, southwest-facing cliffs, char-\udacterized by lower human pressure and closer to Yel-\udlow-legged Gull Larus michahellis colonies and Barbary\udFalcon Falco pelegrinoides breeding sites. Furthermore,\udchanges in some breeding habitat features have been\uddetected in recent decades. According to our predictive\udmodels, large areas of suitable habitat are available but\udunoccupied in the Canaries, and human activities are probably limiting the settlement and dispersion of new\udpairs.