Migratory waterbirds at artificial ponds in NW Tenerife (Canary Islands)
2011
Rodríguez, Beneharo | Rodríguez, Airam
Human settlements have mainly destroyed natural habitat but also led to the creation of new ones, some of them suitable for wildlife. In this line, the construction of artificial ponds for irrigation of agricultural land or on golf courses may also provide new habitats for waterbirds. Large freshwater wetlands are absent or very scarce on the Canary Islands, so both migratory and resident waterbirds usually use artificial water bodies as feeding or nesting sites. We compared monthly censuses over a period of ten years (2000–2009) in water bodies for agricultural irrigation and decorative pools on a nearby golf course on the Canary Islands and found differences in the number and species composition of waterbirds. We recorded a total of 51 migratory waterbird species. Average monthly abundance was fairly low in both sites, being higher in agricultural ponds (22.0 vs. 3.8 birds/monthly censuses), while overall species richness was slightly higher in the golf course (40 vs. 35 species). We suggest that these differences are related to the habitat features of both water body types. Waterbird abundance and diversity was higher during winter and passage months. Conserving, improving and managing correctly these sites could be of socio-economic interest for local people since some species observed are of conservation concern, and ornithological tourism is increasing
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