Nidification and Breeding Success of Spotted Dove (Streptopelia chinensis) in District Dir Lower, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
Nidification and Breeding Success of Spotted Dove (Streptopelia chinensis) in District Dir Lower, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
Tariq Ahmad1*, Anum Razzaq2, Hira Shahzadi2, Faiz Ur Rehman4, Li Bo1,
Saif Ullah2, Omama Saqib1, Muhammad Tayyab Khan5, Muhammad Suliman1 and Ayesha Zulfiqar3
ABSTRACT
Nidification and breeding success of Spotted Dove (Streptopelia chinensis) was conducted in Village Takoro, District Dir Lower, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province (KP), Pakistan in March-July 2021, as there is no documented information available in Pakistan. The present study was designed to investigate the nidification and breeding success of spotted dove in the study area. A total 87 nest cavities were observed of which 31 contained active nests whereas 56 were failed nests. The highest percentage of successful position of nidification was found in the middle (44.82%) of the tree followed by fork (35.63%) and terminal (19.54%). The findings on nest height indicate that spotted dove preferred (32.18%) nest height of 3.6-4 m, which was followed by (24.13%) and (21.83%) with heights of 3.1-3.5 m and 4.1-4.5 m, respectively. Successful nest cavities were noticed on Quercus incana with 29.03% followed by Olea ferruginea (22.58%), Broussonetia papyrifera (19.35%), Quercus dilatata (9.67%), Rosa bronii (9.67%) and Ailanthus altissima (6.45%) trees. A total of 62 eggs were found in active nests with 70.96% hatching success and a low percentage of nestlings fledged i.e. (29.03%). The percentage of fledgling success was lower than the hatching success. One was at the North pole, the other was at the South pole, one was at the west pole thus the other was at east. It’s interesting to note that the spotted dove’s new young ones lie at 180° angle as the clutch size is two. Some of the major threats are fledgling failure, egg loss and nestling loss of spotted dove during breeding success which were due to human predation on nests (i.e., removing young from cavities) and predators (i.e., snakes, civets, cats, and crows). Furthermore, the egg loss percentage was also noticed due to hunters (19.35%) whereas the predators showed 12.90% damage. The nestling loss due to hunters was 34.48% whereas the predation loss rate and nestlings fell out from nests were 20.68% and 18.39%, respectively.
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