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. 2024 Mar 18;14(3):e11175.
doi: 10.1002/ece3.11175. eCollection 2024 Mar.

Preference of trees for nest building by critically endangered white-rumped vultures (Gyps bengalensis) in Nepal

Ramji Gautam  1   2 , Nabin Baral  3 , Hari Prasad Sharma  1
Affiliations

Preference of trees for nest building by critically endangered white-rumped vultures (Gyps bengalensis) in Nepal

Ramji Gautam et al. Ecol Evol. .

Abstract

White-rumped vultures (Gyps bengalensis) are critically endangered species, and protecting their habitats, particularly the nesting trees, may have a positive impact on their reproductive success. For a better understanding of vultures' habitat needs, the characteristics of nesting trees should be accounted. In this paper, we compare the characteristics of the trees that have vultures' nests and that do not by randomly select a control tree within a 10 m radius of the nesting tree. We extensively searched and monitored the white-rumped vultures' nests, nesting trees, and nesting tree species in Nepal between 2002 and 2022, and measured the characteristics of sampled trees such as their height, girth, canopy spread, branching orders, and whorls. We recorded 1161 nests of white-rumped vulture in total on 194 trees belonging to 19 species over the past two decades. White-rumped vultures preferred the kapok trees (Bombax ceiba) for nest construction than other tree species (χ 2 = 115.38, df = 1, p < .001) as 66.49% of nests were built on them. In the logistic regression model, the number of whorls on a tree, canopy spread, and the height of the first branch determined whether a nest was present or absent on a tree. These results help to prioritize the tree attributes in a habitat conservation plan for vultures.

Keywords: bird; breeding success; habitat conservation; nesting tree; nests.

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Conflict of interest statement

Authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Location of white‐rumped vultures' colonies within four districts (dots indicate study area) in Nepal.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Number of nesting trees, tree species, and nests of white‐rumped vulture in Nepal during the breeding season between 2002/03 and 2021/22.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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References

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