BREEDING BIOLOGY AND SURVIVAL OF THE ALPINE-CHOUGH PYRRHOCORAX-GRACULUS

We describe for the first time the breeding biology and survival of the Alpine Chough Pyrrhocorax graculus in different European massifs (Alps and West-Balkan). When all data were pooled, mean clutch and brood sizes were 3.6 eggs (se = 0.1) and 2.6 chicks (se = 0.1), respectively. Fledging success per pair varied between 1 and 4 fledged young per pair (mean 1.9). Survival of the Alpine Chough was estimated with a cupture-resighting model using a colour-ringed population (n = 315 adults) which used human food sources. Adult survival rate varied from 83 to 92%, depending on the flock. This difference could be a consequence of differences in flock composition. No significant difference was detected between male and female survival. Survival of first-year birds (77%) was lower than that of adults. In order to analyse the effect of human food supplied by tourist activities, breeding success land flock structure were compared between 2 alpine populations which either did or did not exploit human food supplied by tourist activities. No difference was found in breeding success or flock composition between the 2 populations.