Management options for the improvement of flamingo breeding at Al ...
Management options for the improvement of flamingo breeding at Al ...
Management options for the improvement of flamingo breeding at Al ...
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
females and <strong>the</strong> proportion <strong>of</strong> adults in <strong>Al</strong> W<strong>at</strong>hba sufficient to establish a<strong>breeding</strong> popul<strong>at</strong>ion?Proposed actions:1. Analysis <strong>of</strong> d<strong>at</strong>a recorded by TERC staff2. Flamingo counts3. Age structure assessment <strong>of</strong> groups by plumage description according toJohnson et al. (1993)4. Sex-r<strong>at</strong>io assessment <strong>of</strong> groups by size differences (females and males areeasily distinguished by <strong>the</strong>ir size: males are taller than females, Johnson 1983).5. Monitoring <strong>of</strong> loc<strong>at</strong>ion and d<strong>at</strong>e <strong>of</strong> displays, pair <strong>for</strong>m<strong>at</strong>ions and copul<strong>at</strong>ions2.2. Breeding range <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> species, philop<strong>at</strong>ry and emigr<strong>at</strong>ion/immigr<strong>at</strong>ionprocessesFlamingos show a strong fidelity to <strong>the</strong>ir <strong>breeding</strong> and wintering grounds (philop<strong>at</strong>ry;Nager et al. 1996, Johnson 2000). However, studies on <strong>the</strong> west-Mediterraneanmetapopul<strong>at</strong>ion showed th<strong>at</strong> exchanges occurred between different colonies (Johnson2000). UAE is <strong>at</strong> <strong>the</strong> limit <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>breeding</strong> range <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> species in Central Asia wi<strong>the</strong>stablished popul<strong>at</strong>ion in Iran, Turkey or ex-USSR countries. Previous surveys <strong>of</strong> <strong>Al</strong>W<strong>at</strong>hba showed th<strong>at</strong> <strong>the</strong> number <strong>of</strong> <strong>flamingo</strong>s fluctu<strong>at</strong>ed according to <strong>the</strong> season (Javedand Khan 2003). As evoked above (2.1.), <strong>the</strong> <strong>flamingo</strong> popul<strong>at</strong>ion <strong>of</strong> <strong>Al</strong> W<strong>at</strong>hba may bea mixture <strong>of</strong> adult and juvenile migrants and/or GCC resident nomads. Some imm<strong>at</strong>uresmay be also chicks born in <strong>Al</strong> W<strong>at</strong>hba in 1999. Iran scientists ringed <strong>flamingo</strong>s in <strong>the</strong>past but mostly with metal rings (except in 1999 where 400 chicks were ringed in13
Change language