Publication details
Hnízdění rorýse obecného (Apus apus) ve vybraných městech jižní Moravy
| Title in English | Breeding of the Common Swift (Apus apus) in selected towns in southern Moravia |
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| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2023 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Crex |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | web vydavatele |
| Keywords | common swift; southern Moravia; breeding ecology; conservation |
| Description | The Common Swift (Apus apus) mainly breeds on higher buildings, where it uses various types of crevices and cavities. In recent years, it has been strongly threatened mainly by reconstructions and insulation of buildings. For its effective protection, knowledge of the current state of breeding sites in particular towns is essential. That is why a survey of Swifts nesting sites in thirteen South Moravian cities and in the city of Uherské Hradiště from the Zlín region was carried out in 2011–2021. At each location, the following details were summarized: an address, a building type and its condition, an orientation of entrance holes, an exact location of nests, the breeding evidence and number of nesting pairs. A total of 2,093 buildings occupied by Common Swifts were found and the probable or confirmed breeding of 3,184–5,029 pairs was recorded. The density reached 0.3–3.1 pairs per 10 ha of built-up urban area, with the highest densities found in the largest city of Brno. Swifts most often nested in smaller colonies, specifically in the number of 2–5 pairs per building. More than 10 pairs were only found on 21 buildings. An average number of pairs per locality was 1.96 and this value varied between 1.25 and 2.82 among particular cities. Residential houses with gable roofs (58 %) were inhabited more often than panel houses (31.6 %). Swifts preferred nesting in non-reconstructed or uninsulated buildings (64.7 %), buildings after reconstruction were used less often (33.9 %). On a total of 30 buildings, ongoing reconstruction was recorded at the time of the detection of the Common Swift breeding. The nest location in the attic (64.8 %) prevailed over the outer shell of buildings (29.5 %). Breeding in nest-boxes was only recorded in 45 cases and several pairs also bred in holes created to the building insulation by woodpeckers (mostly in Brno, at least 20 buildings). Orientation of the entrance holes was roughly the same with a slight preference towards the east and south. However, these differences cannot be taken as significant. Based on our results, the size of the Common Swift population in South Moravian cities can be roughly estimated at c. 10,000 breeding pairs. |