Common Kingfisher

ON REPEATED SETTLEMENT OF BURROWS BY COMMON KINGFISHER ALCEDO ATTHIS (ALCEDINIDAE, AVES)

Counts of kingfisher burrows were conducted during our boat routes on the Pra and Oka rivers (the Ryazan region) in 1976 - 2000. At every visit to a burrow, its contents were examined to ascertain the start date and clutch size, the egg size and shape, the number and age of chicks; adult birds were caught. On a control plot of the Pra river within the boundaries of Oka Nature Reserve, 1,087 inhabited burrows were found, of which 17 were re-settled during the season.