THE 2015 FIELD SURVEY OF THE BREEDING BIOLOGY AND MORPHOLOGY OF THE SEMI-COLLARED FLYCTACHER JUST STARTED

Posted on March 26, 2015

March 20, 2015: This year’s field season of the four-year study on the breeding biology and morphology of the Semi-collared Flycatcher started with a presentation entitled “The Semi-collared’s breeding cycle based on 40 years experience of the Collared’s”, given by our colleague from Sweden, ornithologist and researcher Johan Traff at the Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research (IBER) at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. For more than 40 years Johan Traff has conducted observations on the breeding biology and morphology of the genus Flycatchers (Ficedula) and in particular of the species from the group of “black and white” Flycatchers (Pied, Collared and Semi-collared Flycatchers).

Currently Johan Traff is carrying out a four-year study on the breeding biology and morphology of the Semi-collared Flycatcher near Gorica, Varna District. The study is based on a regular survey of 200 specially made artificial nestboxes that are placed on the territory of the State Forestry Staro Oryahovo, Regional Forest Directorate Varna. During the 4-year period of the project these nestboxes, in which between 75 and 105 pairs of Semi-collared Flycatchers breed annually, are being regularly checked between the arrival of the birds and their leaving.

In the last two years, the study involved scientists from Research Group “Blood parasites in birds.” Johan is working closely with scientists from the University of Uppsala (Sweden) and IBER-BAS, while his fieldwork is assisted by experts from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). This kind of studies of birds in Bulgaria are rare, and this species has not been studied at all.

EXPECTED RESULTS:
The project will identify the key factors necessary for planning a long-term scientific research on the reproductive ecology of the Semi-collared Flycatcher (Ficedula semitorquata) in Bulgaria and will publish a report containing a description and analysis of all aspects of the breeding behavior and ecology of the species in Bulgaria.