2024 Breeding Season
2024 Breeding Season
Nest-box provisioning and monitoring
Between March and April 2024, 111 nest-boxes were provisioned in seven different Special Protected Areas (Castro Verde, Vale do Guadiana, Cuba, São Vicente, Veiros, Vila Fernando and Campo Maior). The nest-boxes were installed on electric and telephone poles.
Between May and July, we monitored the nest-boxes to check for roller occupancy. Eighteen were successfully used by breeding rollers, while several others were occupied by different species, such as lesser kestrels (Falco naumanni), scops owls (Otus scops) and starlings (Sturnus unicolor).
GPS-tracking
Seven rollers were fitted with GPS loggers. Data from one of the individuals previously marked was obtained, providing crucial information about its migration and wintering periods. In this case, the individual crossed 19 countries over a period of almost 5 months! And the longest distance travelled in one day was 920 kilometres!