The Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia in the Dombes: origin, movements, place in the West-European context. [La Spatule blanche Platalea leucorodia en Dombes: origine, déplacements, place dans le contexte ouest-Européen]
Bnmergui, M.; Galy, M.; Blanchon, T.; Champagnon, J.; Lok, T.; Volponi, S. (2024). The Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia in the Dombes: origin, movements, place in the West-European context. [La Spatule blanche Platalea leucorodia en Dombes: origine, déplacements, place dans le contexte ouest-Européen]. Alauda 92(3): 203-224
In: Alauda. Société d'études ornithologiques AVES: Dijon. ISSN 0002-4619, meer
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| Author keywords |
Dombes; Migration; Movements; Origin; Platalea leucorodia; West-European context |
| Auteurs | | Top |
- Bnmergui, M.
- Galy, M.
- Blanchon, T.
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- Champagnon, J.
- Lok, T., meer
- Volponi, S.
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| Abstract |
Since 2006, the European Spoonbill has been breeding in the Dombes, a region with more than 1,300 extensive fishponds located a few dozen kilometres from the Lyon conurbation, its population is one of the smallest and most fragile in France, as it is subject to the hazards of a particular system of pond management (using draining and summer drainage), which seems to be compromising the stability of the colonies. Historically, the Dombes was the first and remains one of the most continental regions where the Spoonbill breeds in France: the nearest coastline Is the Mediterranean, with the Camargue, around 300km to the south. Since 1991 Spoonbills have been ringed as part of several European conversation programmes. Several of these ringed birds frequent the Dombes. Based on observations of 53 individuals between 1991 and 2020, we traced the geographical origins of the individuals present in Dombes. The results show that the birds we checked were ringed at nests coming from the Camargue (67.9%), the Netherlands (11.3%), Italy (9.4%), Croatia (3.8%), Germany (3.8%) and Belgium (1.9%). Apart from France, 13 other countries welcomed Spoonbills as stopovers: Spain (28.3%); the Netherlands (20.8%); Germany (9.4%); Italy, Belgium and Mauritania (7.5% each); Morocco (5.7%); Portugal and Tunisia (3.8% each); Switzerland, Austria, Senegal and Algeria (1.9% each). The migratory stages correspond globally to those of the Camargue birds, which take the coastal route to Spain, Morocco and the Mauritanian Banc d'Arguin to winter. The age of first visit of Spoonbills in Dombes is dominated by the 3-4-year-old class (39.6%), followed by the 5-6-year-old class (24.5%). The minimum post-nuptial stay is 33 days, but this remains variable, with 26% of Spoonbills staying for more than two months. Although marginal compared with the large numbers of birds ringed in Northern Europe, the Camargue, Italy and Croatia, the sightings carried out in the Dombes show that there may be exchanges between these populations. Like the Camargue population, the Dombes population appears to be of mixed origin, coming from the North Atlantic Sea group on the one hand and the Central Mediterranean group on the other (CHAMPAGNON et al., 2019). The Italian and Croatian birds belong to the Central Mediterranean group, but their presence in the Dombes, although fortuitous, bears witness to a certain fidelity to the region during both migration and the breeding season. To date, only two birds of Camargue origin have bred in the Dombes colonies, confirming the influence of the Camargue population on the Dombes breeding population. Another original event is the postbreeding dispersion of a fraction of the Camargue birds towards the Dombes ponds, which can reach up to 300 individuals at any one time. We discuss the importance of the Dombes joining other regions and countries in the conservation of this species as climate change could weaken certain coastal populations in particular, as well as affirming the ecological and regional importance of the biodiversity of a region that has just been designated as one of France's 18 emblematic wetlands in the new 2022-26 Wetlands Action Plan. © 2024 Societe d'Etudes Ornithologiques. All rights reserved. |
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