The breeding success of Lesser Kestrels Falco naumanni in Mongolia

Onolragchaa GANBOLD; John AZUA; Woon Kee PAEK; Munkhbaatar MUNKHBAYAR; Ariunbold JARGALSAIKHAN; Purevsuren TSOLMONJAV; Otgontsetseg KHUDERCHULUUN; Gi-Chang BING; Richard P. READING

doi:10.2326/osj.19.73

SHORT COMMUNICATION

The breeding success of Lesser Kestrels Falco naumanni in Mongolia

Onolragchaa GANBOLD, John AZUA, Woon Kee PAEK, Munkhbaatar MUNKHBAYAR, Ariunbold JARGALSAIKHAN, Purevsuren TSOLMONJAV, Otgontsetseg KHUDERCHULUUN, Gi-Chang BING, Richard P. READING

Author information

Keywords: Mortality, Hatching rate, Fledgling rate

JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

2020 Volume 19 Issue 1 Pages 73-79

DOI https://doi.org/10.2326/osj.19.73

Details

Abstract

We examined the breeding success of Lesser Kestrels Falco naumanni in Ikh Nart Nature Reserve, a semi-desert zone in southeast Mongolian. We found that the mean number of nests per colony was 7.4. Lesser Kestrels laid eggs between 24 May and 2 June each year. Mean clutch size was 4.0±0.7 SE, with a mean incubation period of 28±2 SE days. We recorded an overall hatching success rate of 84.2% and overall fledgling success rate of 89.7%, hence a mean fledgling per breeding attempt was 2.79. Our findings revealed relatively high hatching and fledgling rates for our study population, and bode well for the conservation of this small falcon in its poorly-known breeding range.

Corresponding author

Register with J-STAGE for free!