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History, dispersal and habitat selection in Central European Caspian gulls Larus cachinnans: a study of birds originating from a single breeding colony

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Abstract

The Caspian gull (Larus cachinnans) has recently spread from Ukraine (northern coast of the Black Sea, River Dnipro) to Poland, Germany and other European countries. The first breeding birds in the Czech Republic were recorded in 1990 at the Nové Mlýny Reservoir (NMR), since when the number of breeding pairs has increased to 248 (2020). As there is little available information on the dispersal and spread of Caspian gulls from Central European breeding populations, pulli Caspian gulls hatched at the NMR were tagged to reveal dispersal patterns and habitat selection. By combining the recovery of ringed birds and data from telemetry loggers, we found that gulls from the NMR dispersed in all directions, with the main destinations being within the Czech Republic, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Hungary; however, dispersal intensity and distance travelled differed depending on the direction taken, with the farthest dispersal distance being 1714 km to Spain. Telemetry recordings indicated waterbodies (including water courses, seas and oceans) as the most selected environment, followed by landfill sites, mineral extraction sites, industrial or commercial units (including roofs of buildings) and arable or other agricultural land. Extensive aquacultural fish ponds, open landfill sites or large areas of managed arable land all represent important food sources and are likely to be key factors enabling the spread of Caspian gulls within the Czech Republic and elsewhere around Central Europe.

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Acknowledgements

We thank František Zicha, Anna Koukolíková, Radek Lučan and all the other ringers of Caspian gull chicks at the Nové Mlýny Reservoir (Czech Republic). We thank Jaroslav Cepák from the Bird Ringing Centre at the National Museum in Prague for providing data on ringed and recovered Caspian gulls. We also thank Jaroslav Sedláček, Vlasta Škorpíková, Thomas Zuna-Kratky and David Horal for their helpful cooperation throughout the study, and Gašpar Čamlík and Petr Macháček, who helped to obtain recent data on the number of Caspian gull breeding pairs at the Nové Mlýny Reservoir. This study was supported by a grant under project 2021ITA31 from the University of Veterinary Sciences, Brno. We thank Kevin Roche for his English correction and helpful comments on an earlier version of the manuscript.

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  1. Ornithological Station, Comenius Museum in Přerov, Bezručova 10, 75002, Přerov, Czech Republic

    Josef Chytil

  2. Department of Biology and Wildlife Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Hygiene and Ecology, University of Veterinary Sciences Brno, Palackého tř. 1, 61242, Brno, Czech Republic

    Šimon Krejčí, Lenka Rozsypalová & Ivan Literák

  3. CEITEC VFU Brno, University of Veterinary Sciences Brno, Palackého tř. 1, 61242, Brno, Czech Republic

    Ivan Literák

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Correspondence to Ivan Literák.

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The study of Caspian gulls using telemetry devices was permitted by the local Czech Nature Protection Authorities (Permissions S-JMK78643/2018 OŽP/Ško and S-JMK 40970/2019 OŽP/Ško).

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Chytil, J., Krejčí, Š., Rozsypalová, L. et al. History, dispersal and habitat selection in Central European Caspian gulls Larus cachinnans: a study of birds originating from a single breeding colony. Biologia 77, 395–409 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11756-021-00938-z

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