Breeding success and mortality rates in Painted Stork (Mycteria leucocephala) at Telineelapuram Bird Protected Area, India

Abstract

Breeding success and mortality rate of birds are dependent on many factors. However, the availability of food resources, breeding and nesting habitats, and protection offered key to hatching and breeding success, also mortality of chicks as well. The present study illustrates breeding success and chick mortality in a large colony of Painted storks (Mycteria leucocephala), over a period of five years from 2008 to 2013 at a pelicanery in Telineelapuram, Andhra Pradesh, India. Overall breeding success during the study period was high but varied substantially over years. The recruitment rate ranged from a low of 29.26% in the period 2010–11 to a maximum of 46.74% over 2012–13 with a mean of 40.92% over five years. The rate of chick mortality was high due to factors such as (cyclones, perching activity, predation and accidents involving chicks falling out of their nests). The average mortality rate of chicks was 18.6%; however, the number of dead young birds observed ranged from 74 to 105 individuals, with a peak observed during the period 2010–11.