Arkadiusz Sikora, Grzegorz Neubauer, Karolina Lubińska, Tomasz Chodkiewicz
Ornis Polonica 2020, 61: 71–87
https://doi.org/10.12657/ornis.2020.2.1
Abstract: The population size and distribution of the European Nightjar Caprimulgus europaeusn were studied in 2018 in forests of the SPA Wielki Sandr Brdy (hereafter WSB, 371 km2, N Poland), dominated by the Scots Pine Pinus sylvestris. Two point counts were performed during night-time at 180 observation points located within 30 study plots of 2×2 km between late May and mid July. Nightjar males were recorded within all plots. Number of males was higher during the second survey. It was positively related to the area of young pine crops (aged 1–7 years) and negatively to the area of pine stands aged >80 years. The mean density was 1.20 males (95% confidence intervals: 0.95–1.44) per 100 ha of the forest area of WSB. During the second survey the mean density was 35% higher in managed forests of WSB than in the protected forests of WSB in the Bory Tucholskie National Park. Population size in the whole SPA was estimated at 267 males (95% confidence intervals: 223–329), roughly 3% of the national population, which makes WSB the eighth most important area for the species in Poland.
Keywords: European Nightjar Caprimulgus europaeus, managed forests, protected forests, Special Protection Area Natura 2000, Tuchola Forest
