RESEARCH ARTICLE Published Online: April 30, 2021 https://doi.org/10.31893/jabb.21028 Foraging efforts and behaviour of the European Turtle doves (Streptopelia turtur) during the breeding season Ismail Mansouria* | Abderahim El Hassania | Abdelbari El Agya | Wafae Squallia | Mohamed b a c a d Mounir | Amine Assouguem | Karima Es Salai | Lahcen El Ghadraoui | Mohamed Dakki aLaboratory of Functional Ecology and Environment, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, po.box 2202 –Imouzzer street, Fez, Morocco. bLaboratory of Biotechnology and Valorisation of phytogénétics Ressources, Faculty of Sciences and Technics, Sultan Moulay Sliman university, Beni mellal, Morocco. cLaboratory of environment, ecology and health, Faculty of Science, Moulay Ismail University, BP 4010, Beni M'hamed, Meknès, Morocco. dLaboratory of Geo-biodiversity and Natural Heritage, Scientific Institute, Mohammed V University, Av. Ibn Battota, 10 BP 703, Rabat, Morocco. *Corresponding author: [email protected] Abstract During the breeding season, many avian species face spatial and seasonal variation in the availability of food resources required to rear chicks. Reduction of food abundance is often identified as the most important factor determining population trends and breeding success in bird species, such as the vulnerable European Turtle dove Streptopelia turtur. During the breeding periods, the increase of food requirements in chicks should increase foraging effort to maintain the amount of food required for optimal chick growth. To investigate the feeding effort of Turtle doves during the breeding season, we monitored foraging and drinking rates, in different wild habitats and farmlands, from March to September 2016- 2017 in Midelt, Morocco. Similarly, breeding chronology, including nesting, laying, and chicks' fledging, were monitored in the same habitats to evaluate the correlation between breeding efforts and foraging rates. We found that Turtle doves feed actively from the arrival to departure dates. Foraging activities were intense during breeding phases, mainly laying and chicks' growth periods. Equally, Doves feed intensively during the end of the breeding season before migration departures. Besides, Doves feed actively during the morning and evening to avoid the hottest periods as a strategy to save metabolic water. Keywords breeding season, feeding rates, Morocco, Turtle dove 1. Introduction avian species, European Turtle doves face considerable temporal and spatial variation in food availability (Dunn and Many factors influence the structure of avian species, Morris 2012). Turtle doves preferred nesting sites close to including habitat quality, competition, and species feeding habitats where food resources are abundant requirements (Sol et al 2011; Thornton et al 2011). One of the (Gutiérrez-Galán and Alonso 2016). Food resources influence most critical factors in regulating all animal populations is many traits of this threatened game related to reproduction, food resource availability (Ferger et al 2004; Sol et al 2011). such as breeding success, nestling growth, to wintering Bird species have access to food resources derived from ecology, and migration capacities (Dunn et al 2018; Eraud et human activities and wild resources during breeding and non- al 2009). Despite this axial role of feeding resources, few breeding seasons (Dias et al 2013; Mansouri et al 2019; studies have interested foraging features in Turtle doves. Diet Tremblay et al 2005). The availability of food resources composition (Rocha and Quillfeldt 2015), foraging habitats permits the breeding success and survival of these species (Gutierrez-Galan et al 2019; Mansouri et al 2019), and the (Salleh Hudin et al 2017). Adults and their nestlings use food impact of resource availability on survival (Eraud et al 2009) resources during breeding periods. However, reduced food are the only analysed issues. However, the study of feeding provisioning of both adults and nestlings may influence ecology of Turtle dove is required, since the consideration of survival rates and breeding success in bird species (White food shortage as one of the main factors behind Dove’s 2008). decline at both breeding and wintering quarters (Gutierrez- The European Turtle dove (Streptopelia turtur) is a Galan et al 2019). Further, the assessment of the feeding long-distance Afro-Palearctic migrant bird that travels aspects will allow to evaluate recent feeding strategies of this thousands of kilometers between breeding zones in North game, particularly with loss and degradation of foraging Africa and Europe and wintering grounds in sub-Saharan habitats. Africa (Lormee et al 2016). The population of Turtle doves has declined by 70 % in its European ranges. As in most other J Anim Behav Biometeorol (2021) 9:2128 Received: March 16, 2021 | Accepted: April 18, 2021 www.jabbnet.com Mansouri et al. (2021) 2 In this study, our objective was to examine the feeding orchards, cereals (common wheat and barley), riverbanks, behaviour and strategies of Turtle doves during the breeding and lucerne cultivation. season. We aimed to analyse, in the field, the evolution of 2.2. Sample design feeding rates in correlation to breeding activities, including nesting, laying, and hatching. However, many studies The monitoring of the feeding activities of Turtle dove reported that with the growth of chicks, avian species was carried out in different kinds of wild and agricultural accelerate foraging rates to satisfy the food requirements of habitats, during one breeding season, from March to nestlings (Tremblay et al 2005). Therefore, we have based our September 2016-2017. The selected sites, including ten study during the breeding season in Midelt province where cereal plots (3.45 ha), ten lucerne plots (1.39 ha), ten apple Doves were reported as a breeder (Mansouri et al 2020), orchards (3.66 ha) and ten stations in the Ansguemir river intending to quantify the feeding rates in correlation with (2.63 ha), were topographically high for better visibility breeding chronology easily. (better and easy feeding birds counting). Equally, the habitats 2. Materials and Methods were camouflaged (apple trees and other riparian vegetation) to avoid any disturbance for feeding birds. 2.1. Study area Feeding rates were recorded as the number of feeding Doves observed at each site every two hours from 06:00 to 18:00. The present study was carried out in the Ait Ayach The observations were done by binoculars (in case of good valley, Midelt province Morocco. The study zone was located visibility conditions). In parallel, drinking rates were recorded at the high plain of Moulouya at the Middle Atlas and the in the nearest water point, in Ansguemir River, to the feeding High Atlas chain (figure 1). The Midelt is located at 1300 to site. Turtle dove's displacement from foraging site to water 1600 m above sea level. A steppe climate is present in Midelt. point was considered as drinking attempt. On the other hand, The annual average temperature in Midelt is 14.7 ° C and the breeding activities, including nesting (construction of nests), average rainfall per year is 263 mm. This mountainous region laying (number of eggs), and hatching (fledged chicks), were is dominated by agricultural activities, including apples, monitored in the surrounding apple orchards. Temperatures cereals, Lucerne, and other cultivated plantations (Mansouri were extracted from the Midelt weather biometeorology et al 2019, 2020). The study sites were selected at Okhaja station during the 2016-2017 season. rural centre. Four habitats are distinguished, counting apple Figure 1 Foraging and breeding habitats of Turtle doves at Oukhaja, in Midelt Province (Morocco) during breeding season 2016-2017. www.jabbnet.com www.jabbnet.com Mansouri et al. (2021) 3 2.3. Data analysis Foraging rates were controlled by breeding activities of Turtle doves (Figure 4). Feeding rates were correlated Statistical analyses were done in STATGRAPHICS mainly to breeding chronology, largely laying eggs and Centurion software, version XVI.I. Before running the hatching chicks. While nesting activities were less correlated statistical tests, we checked for normality and homogeneity with foraging degrees. On the other hand, no relation was of variance for all variables with the Kolmogorov–Smirnov recorded between feeding activities and the breeding phase test. The relation between foraging and drinking rates was during the day. tested with Pearson's correlation coefficient, considering seasonal and diurnal rates as variables. We analysed the relationship among breeding activities, including nesting (nest construction) separately, laying (eggs), hatching (fledged chicks), and foraging rates by Simple Regression (linear model) and the lack of fit test to determine whether the selected model is adequate to describe the observed data (foraging), considering feeding activities as dependent variables and breeding parameters as factors. Similarly, the relationship between drinking activities (dependent variable) and diurnal temperatures (factor) was analysed by Simple Regression and the lack of fit test. ANOVA one-way test was conducted to compare seasonal and diurnal feeding and drinking rates. All variables with a P-Value greater than 0.5 were eliminated. Results were given as mean ± SD, and Graphs were created by GraphPad Prism Mac 6.0h software. 3. Results 3.1. Feeding behaviour We recorded 1220 unique feeder visits over 153 days (Feeding = 964 and drinking = 256).