al . WHITE STORK NEST-SITE SELECTION AND BREEDING SUCCESS 357 
Onmu$ et 
TABLE 1. Comparison of villages 
respect to geographical variables. 
with and without active or inactive nests of White Storks in western T urkey with 
Factor 
With nest* 
Without nest* Test stutistics 
Univariate OR (95% Cl) 
R' 
AIC 
Altitude (m) 
283.3 ± 77.3 
622.5 ± 230.7 t = 9.461. P < 0.001 
0.988 (0.982-0.994) 
0.568 
49.04 
Distance to nearest 
river (m) 
1.646.2 ± 1,004.5 
4,101.7 ± 3,231.5 U = 222.0. P = 0.001 
0.999 (0.999-1.000) 
0.269 
69.31 
Slope (degree) 
0-5 
10 (52.6) 
9(47.4) x 2 = 12.976. P < 0.001 
12.22 (2.77-54.01) 
0.249 
70.56 
5.1-10 
4(21.1) 
15 (78.9) 
2.93 (0.58-14.77) 
10.1-90 
3 (8.3) 
33 (91.7) 
1 
Totals 
17 (23.0) 
57 (77.0) 
•= mean and SD far altitude and distance; n. row** for slope. OR = Odds Ratio; Cl = Confidence intervals: R' = percentage of variance explained by the 
model; A1C = Akaike's Information Criterion. 
The total number of White Stork nests within 
the 17 different settlements was 46 and the total 
number of occupied nests was 26 between 2008 
and 2010 with a standard mean density (StDn,,a) of 
1.72 breeding pairs/km 2 (Table 2). The distribution 
anti nest types of occupied and empty nests varied 
(Table 2). Nests on electricity pylons were signif¬ 
icantly more frequent in villages, while nests on 
buildings were significantly more frequent in the 
town. Fifteen (75%) of the nests on buildings were 
on chimneys and five (25%) were on roofs. 
White Storks at 18 of 19 nests on electricity 
pylons were considered to be al high risk of 
electrocution, collision or nest fire. Thus, 10 
(56%) were relocated and eight (44%) were 
replaced. Fifteen (83.3%) of these conservation 
actions were accepted by White Storks, one 
(5.6%) was not accepted, one (5.6%) was visited 
by a pair which was displaced due to a territorial 
conflict with the neighboring pair, and no pair was 
observed to return from migration at one nest. 
Breeding Success and Number of Breeding 
Pairs— The total number of nests, breeding pairs 
(occupied nests), and fledged White Storks in the 
central town decreased over time (Fig. 3). The 
total number of breeding White Storks was 
relatively stable between 1984 and 1996. How¬ 
ever, the total number of breeding pairs decreased 
from 13 pairs in 1996 to eight pairs in 1997, 
and six pairs in 1998. There was a significant 
decreasing trend throughout the study period (P < 
0 .001) and only one pair remained in the town in 
2010 . 
Breeding success was negatively correlated 
with mean total precipitation (r = -0.557, P = 
0.013, n = 19) and mean maximum precipitation 
(r = -0.483, P = 0.036) throughout the entire 
breeding season, but was not correlated with 
mean, minimum, and maximum temperatures 
during the entire breeding season. The number 
of breeding pairs and number of fledglings were 
not conelated with any of the mean meteorolog- 
points represent maximum values exceeding outliers. 
