TurkJZool 31(2007)271-280 ©TÜB‹TAK NotesontheNestingandBreedingof Delichonurbica (Linnaeus,1758)(Aves:Passeriformes)nearKöprüköy (K›z›l›rmak,Turkey) FulyaSAYGILI1,NuriY‹⁄‹T2,* 1 Ni¤deUniversity,FacultyofScienceandEducation,BiologyDepartment,Ni¤de-TURKEY 2 AnkaraUniversity,FacultyofScience,BiologyDepartment06100Tando¤an,Ankara-TURKEY Received:17.04.2006 Abstract: Themigrationandsomebio-ecologicalcharacteristicsofahousemartin( Delichonurbica )population,whichhas establishedcoloniesunderbridgesovertheK›z›l›rmakRivernearKöprüköyvillage(K›r›kkale),wereinvestigatedin2003and2004. ThesehousemartinswereobservedfromthebeginningofApriltothefirstweekofSeptember,whentheymigratedsouth. Accordingtothespecimensexamined,meanmeasurementsoftotallength,wingspan,andweightwererecordedas133.5mm, 279.5mm,and15.5g,respectively.Meanmeasurementsandweightsofthenestswere12.5mmlong× 9mmwide× 6mmhigh, and425g.ThefirstclutchwasobservedinMay,thefirstoffspringappearedduringthefirstweekofJune,andlittersizeva ried from1to4.Themeanweightofeggswas1.6g;thetotalbodylengthandweightofahatchlingwere6mmand0.83g.Itwas alsofoundthatthehousemartinhadamaximumof2clutchesduringthebreedingseason. KeyWords: Migration,breeding,Delichonurbica,Turkey Köprüköy(K›z›l›rmak,Türkiye)Civar›ndakiDelichonurbica (Linnaeus,1758) (Aves:Passeriformes)’n›nYuvalanmaveÜremeBiyolojisiÜzerineNotlar Özet: K›z›l›rmak’›nKöprüköymevkiindebulunanköprülerinalt›nayuvalananevk›rlang›çlar›n›n(Delichonurbica)göçzaman›vebaz› biyo-ekolojiközellikleri2003ve2004y›llar›ndaincelendi.Bunagörekufllar›nçal›flman›nyap›ld›¤›alanaNisan›nilkhaftas›ndageldi¤i, Eylülünilkhaftas›ndaisegüneyegöçetti¤isaptand›.‹ncelenenörneklerdeortalamatümboyuzunlu¤u,kanataç›kl›¤›vea¤›rl› k s›ras›yla133,5mm,279,5mmve15,5grolarakbelirlendi.‹ncelenenyuvalar›nortalamaboyutlar›vea¤›rl›¤›;boy:12,5mm,en : 9mm,yükseklik:6mmvea¤›rl›k:425grolarakbelirlendi.Üremebiyolojisininbelirlenmesineyönelikçal›flmalardakuluçkayaMay›s ay›ndayatt›klar›ilkyavrular›nyuvalardaHaziran›nilkhaftas›içerisindegörülmeyebaflland›¤›veyuvalardakiyavrusay›s›n›n 1-4 aras›ndade¤iflti¤i,incelenenyuvalardabulunanyumurtalar›nortalamaa¤›rl›¤›n›n1,6grolup,yumurtadanyeniç›km›flbirbirey in6 mmboyundave0,83gra¤›rl›¤›ndaoldu¤ubelirlendi.Çal›fl›lanistasyondabutürüremesezonundaenfazla2kezkuluçkaya yatmaktad›r. AnahtarSözcükler: Göç,biyoloji,ekoloji,Delichonurbica,Türkiye Introduction Steiner,1970;Barıfletal.,1984;DijksenandKasparek, Thehousemartin, Delichonurbica (Linnaeus,1758), 1985;Kiziro¤lu,1989;Kasparek,1992;Heinzeletal., isgenerallydistributedinEurope,Cyprus,Israel,and 1995;SnowandPerrins,1998;RhodesandPiper, Turkey,inthePalearcticRegion.Itisdistributedwidely 2001).SnowandPerrins(1998)suggestedthatthere acrosscentralandnorthernAsia,southernIran,the were100,000-1,000,000breedingpairsinTurkey Himalayas,andsouthernChina.Itbreedssporadicallyin duringthebreedingseason. northwestAfricaandNamibia.Accordingtostudies,the Housemartinsaremigratorybirdsthataresummer numberofindividualsinapopulationofhousemartinsis visitorsinthePalearcticRegion,thoughtheyhavebeen notstableandcontinuouslychanges(Kumerloeve,1964; reportedduringthewinterintheMediterraneanbasin, *E-mail:[email protected] 271 NotesontheNestingandBreedingof Delichonurbica (Linnaeus,1758)(Aves:Passeriformes)nearKöprüköy(K›z›l›rmak,Turkey) WesternEurope,andthenorthofBritainandIreland. inearlymorningandendedatsunset,weremadeusinga WestPalearcticandwestAsianbirdswinterinthe fieldscope,binoculars,andvideocamera.Wecaptureda Afrotropics(SnowandPerrins,1998).Duetoahighly totalof20specimens,consistingof10adults,3juveniles, aeriallifestyle,withhigh-altitudeforaging,theylive 4fledglings,2hatchlings,and1embryo.Some withintheAfrotropics,inthehumidzonenorthofthe measurementsofspecimensweretakenusingcalipers equator.Theymigratelateinautumnbecausethelast sensitiveto0.1mm.Theweightsofnestsandbirdswere broodsarestillinthenestinlateAugustorSeptember. alsorecorded.Thehousemartinsweredividedinto4age SoutherlymovementthroughEuropeoccursin groups(Figure3a-e),andmorphologicalandbiometrical September-October,butrarelyinNovember.Thereturn characteristicswereexamined.Inadditiontothis,relative tobreedingcoloniesinnorthwestAfricaandsouthern fledglingmass(massatfledgling/adultbodymass)was IberiaoccursinJanuary,progressivelylaterfurther calculatedaccordingtoRemesandMartin(2002). north,andovermostofEuropeinthesecondhalfofApril Measurementstakenfrombirds andthefirsthalfofMay(SnowandPerrins,1998). Totalbodylength(TBL):Distancebetweenthetipsof Thebio-ecologicalcharacteristicsofthehousemartin thebeakandtail; havebeenstudiedbyBryant(1975,1979),Bryantand Westerterp(1983),andMøller(1984);however,there Wingspan(WS):Distancebetweenthetipsofboth areonlyafewobservationalrecordsofthehousemartin wings; populationinTurkey(Beamanetal.,1975;Kayaetal., Winglength(WL):Distancebetweentheshoulder 1999;Gündo¤du,2002;AslanandKiziro¤lu,2003;Kılıç girdleandthelongestprimaryfeather; andEken,2004).Thecurrentstudyaimedtoexamine Taillength(TL):Distancebetweentheposterior themigration,nestbuilding,andbreedingbiologyofthe marginofthecloakandthetipoftail; housemartin,aswellassupportconservationactivities forthisspecies,whichislistedinAppendix-2oftheBern Headwidth(HW):Distancebetweenthewidestpoints ConventionandevaluatedasVU(Vulnerable)intheRed ofthehead; BookofTurkishBirdsinIUCN(2001). Beaklength(BL):Distancebetweentheanterior marginofforeheadfeathersandthetipofthebeak; MaterialsandMethods Humeruslength(HL):Distancebetweentheshoulder girdleandtheposteriortipoftheulna; Thestudyincludedhousemartinsthathadestablished acolonyunder2bridgesnearKöprüköyvillage(lat Tarsometatarsuslength(TaL):Distancebetweenthe 39°34'37.44"N,long33°25'44.83"E)between2003 digitsandthetibiatarsus; and2004(KöprüköyvillageislocatedneartheKızılırmak Midtoelength(MT):Distancebetweenthejointofthe River,110kmsoutheastofAnkara).Thebridgesare tarsometatarsusandthetipofthemidtoe; paralleltoeachotherandapproximately250mapart. Weight(W). Housemartinsestablishedabreedingcolonyandbuilt nestsunderthesebridges(Figures1a,b,and2a,b).The habitataroundthebridgesischaracteristicAnatolian Results steppe,withasemi-aridcold-typeMediterraneanclimate. Externalcharacteristicsandnesting Climaticdata,suchastemperatureandhumidity,ofthe Accordingtoourexaminations,withrespectto nearesttown(Keskin)wereobtainedfromtheTurkish morphologicalandbiometricalcharacteristics,the StateMeteorologicalService. specimensdidnotshowsexualdimorphism.Anadult Thestudyareawasvisitedperiodicallyatweekly specimentypicallyhasashortneck,slenderandpointed intervalsinordertodeterminethemigrationdatesduring wings,aforkedtail,glossyblue-blackdorsalparts,and thestudyperiod.Thenestswerealsoperiodically purewhiteventralparts.Therumpiswhite,tailfeathers observedandcloselyinvestigatedtocollectreproduction areblack,andwhitefeatherscoveritslegsandtoes biologydata.Someindividualswerecapturedbymist- (Figure3e).Inadults,meanTBLis133.5mm,WSis netsandbutterflynets.Theobservations,whichstarted 279.53mm,WLis126.6mm,andWis15.50g(Table). 272 F.SAYGILI,N.Y‹⁄‹T a b Figure1.Twobridgeswereusedbyhousemartinsfornestinginthestudyarea.a)Oldbridge,b)new bridge. 273 NotesontheNestingandBreedingof Delichonurbica (Linnaeus,1758)(Aves:Passeriformes)nearKöprüköy(K›z›l›rmak,Turkey) a b Figure2.Nestdistributionunderthebridges.a)Oldbridge,b)newbridge. 274 F.SAYGILI,N.Y‹⁄‹T ab c d e Figure3.Agegroupsofthehousemartins;a)anegganditsembryo,b)hatchlings,c)fledglings,d)asub-adult,e)anadult. 275 NotesontheNestingandBreedingof Delichonurbica (Linnaeus,1758)(Aves:Passeriformes)nearKöprüköy(K›z›l›rmak,Turkey) Table.Externalmeasurements(mm)andweights(W,g)ofadulthousemartinsspecimens. Measurements Specimens TBLWSWLTLHWBL HLTaLMTW 1 134 274 125 57 14 6.9 16 10.3 9 14.28 2 136 277.4 125 60 15 6.9 15.5 10.4 10 15.28 3 135 281 125.8 60 14.5 5 16.7 10.3 12 15.47 4 145 282 128 62 14.2 6.5 16.2 11.2 11.2 16.45 5 136 277.5 125 59 14.5 6.4 17.6 10.2 10.3 16.63 6 125 278.4 125 58 14.1 6.9 16.2 9 9 16.20 7 124 269 122 51 14.5 6.7 17.2 10 12 13.77 8 139 287 130 62 14.6 6.5 17.5 11.2 11 15.11 9 129 284 130 56 14.8 6.6 16.3 11.6 12.4 15.82 10 132 285 130 55 14.5 6.0 16.5 11.5 11.7 16.02 Means 133.5 279.53 126.58 58 14.47 6.44 16.57 10.57 10.86 15.50 Standard ±6.35 ±5.43 ±2.76 ±3.40 ±0.31 ±0.58 ±0.68 ±0.80 ±1.24 ±0.93 Deviations Wedeterminedthatthejuvenilesweredifferentfrom nestswere12.5cmlong × 9cmwide × 5.6cmhigh, adultsintheirbiometriccharacteristics,havingapale weighing425g.Thethicknessofthenestwallsranged colorandwhiteflecksontheirwings(Figure3d).The from0.45to1.90cm.Itwasalsodeterminedthatsome morphologicalcharacteristicsofotheragegroups,such ofthenestsunderthebridgeswereusedbyhouse asfledglingsandhatchlings,areshowninFigure3a-c. sparrows( Passerdomesticus )andEuropeanstarlings Theneststhatwerebuiltunderthe2bridgesshowed (Sturnusvulgaris). specificspatialdistributionsinaccordancewiththeshape Migrationperiodanddailyactivity ofthebridges.Thenestswerebuiltasaclusterof12-16 HousemartinswerefirstobservedaroundKöprüköy undertheoldbridge,butwereinalinearformation duringthefirstweekofApril(April2,2003andApril5, undertheedgesofthenewbridge.Underbothbridges 2004).Duringthisperiodthetemperatureandrelative somenestswerefoundtonotshareawallwithother humiditywere19°Cand49%,respectively.Thefirst nests.Wecounted160nestsundertheoldbridgeand migrationsouthwasrecordedfromthenewbridgeatthe 200nestsunderthenewbridge.Itwasalsoobserved endofJuly,andthelastindividualsleftKöprüköythefirst thatthehousemartinsbuilttheirnestsbycarryingsmall weekofSeptember,whenthetemperaturewas22°C mudpelletsandothernestmaterialsintheirbeaks.They andtherelativehumiditywas63.7%