Bird nesting on electric power supports in northwestern Spain

Use of electric power poles as nesting supports by birds was surveyed in the northern Spanish plateau, a deforested and nest-site sparse area. A total of 4336 poles of five different designs was sampled and the nesting rate was 4.99%,. White stork (Ciconia ciconia) is the most frequent nesting species using the structures with 79.2%, of the total bird nest. Crows and ravens (Corvus corax and Corvus corone) have 15.7A of the nests, and raptors have 4.6%. Pole types A and E are favorite supports for nesting and those near irrigation croplands or wooded-grasslands are preferred by all bird species. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.