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Ornithological Science
Abstract
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.
This work was funded by Denver Zoological Foundation, Earthwatch Institute, Trust for Mutual Understanding, and a Fulbright Fellowship at the University of Botswana's Okavango Research Institute to RPR, and managed by the Mongolian Conservation Coalition. The first author received partial support from a research fund of Mongolian National University of Education.
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