Habitat Structure of Temporary Settlement Areas of Young Saker Falcon Falco cherrug Females during Movements in Europe

Abstract. During 2008–2011, nine juvenile Saker Falcon Falco cherrug females were tagged with satellite transmitters in Slovakia. Satellite telemetry provided new insights into the juvenilesu0027 movements. In this study we present the use of temporary settlement areas (TSAs) during the movement of the tracked juveniles. We characterized natal areas (NAs, the first TSA in the life cycle of juvenile, restricted to the nest) and TSAs as areas where the distance between the all-night perches did not exceed ten kilometres and where a particular bird spent at least five consecutive days. In these areas 3 types of polygons were identified in relationship to the area of use — a home range (95% kernel polygons), a core area (50% kernel polygons) and an overall used area (100% minimum convex polygons). The overall used areas were highly variable and probably influenced by exploratory flights, when sakers fly out of their home ranges and come back at night. Habitat preference was then analysed in the TSAs for a better ...