Jasmina Mužinić

• PhD
• Senior Researcher at Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts

Background and Purpose: Diverse Mediterranean wetlands sustain a high diversity of breeding birds. Breeding success of birds nesting on protected wetlands along river Krka is also influenced by predators. The aim of our study was to explore effects of predator pressures on ground nests of strictly protected birds using artificial nest located along...

The domestic cat (Felis catus), a globally recognised invasive predator, was introduced to the Adriatic islands (Croatia), but its feeding ecology and impacts on biodiversity in this region is unknown. We studied the feeding habits of house cats living in villages and feral cats on the outskirts of villages on two small islands (Olib and Silba) by...

The breeding range of the Spanish sparrow, Passer hispaniolensis, in Croatia is rapidly expanding. We studied the size of the nesting population and selection of nest site in an area partially included in the Krka National Park. Our results confirm that between 2004 and 2007 in the wider area of the Krka National Park the Spanish sparrow had occupi...

A unified bird checklist has been created for the area of Sisačka Posavina. The list summarises the occurrence of a total of 246 species between 1881 and 1998. The list mostly refers to species recorded in Lonjsko Polje Nature Park and the wider geographical area of Lonjsko Polje. Data from recorded published and unpublished papers during the perio...

U novoj monografiji otoka Šolte (Radman 2012) na popisu zabilježenih ptica nalaze se ukupno 132 vrste i dvije podvrste (Mužinić i Purger 2012). Rezultati ornitoloških istraživanja određenog područja rijetko mogu prika-zati konačan popis vrsta. To je potvrđeno i u slučaju ornitoloških istraživanja na otoku Šolta. Naime, nakon predaje rukopisa za mon...

The significance of Farnese Hours in the European portrayals of bird of paradise during 16th century Farnese Hours is a prayer book which was illustrated in Rome by the well – known Croatian miniaturist Julije Klović, during the time period between 1537(39) and 1546, as ordered by his benefactor, cardinal Alessandro Farnese, and it is kept today i...

The number of ground-nesting bird species in meadows, one of the most vulner-able habitats in the ornithological reserve of Vrana Lake Nature Park has decreased in recent decades. Nest survival rates were investigated in meadows and reed beds using nest predation experiments in late March and in May 2005. Predators damaged 18% of the 50 artificial...

Goldcrests Regulus regulus are found wintering in high numbers from October to April in the Adriatic coast and islands, feeding mainly on insects in the undergrowth and on the ground. Common Leadwort Plumbago europaea L. continues to flower on stone walls well into October, exposing its sticky calyx and seed capsules for at least 30 days, meaning a...

Two years after the first description of the heron species Intermediate Egret, in Manuel d'ornithologie (1840), the physician and natural historian Francesco Lanza observed several specimens of this species (under the name of Ardea egrettoides) in the valley of Neretva, just off the southern East Adriatic (Croatian) coast. Yet Lanza's observation r...

On the Dalmatian Islands native large bodied ground-nesting bird species are rare, while the introduced Ring-necked Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) is currently very common and often breed in abandoned farmlands. The survival chance of its nests in two different habitats was surveyed by using artificial ground nests on S ˇ olta Island in May 2008. W...

Nest predation experiment to survey survival probabilities of larger bodied ground-nesting birds (ducks) was carried out on Lake Kuti in May 2006. From 25 artificial ground nests on the floating reedbed islands and 25 nests on the grazed islands, 8 and 1, respectively, were depredated. On the contrary to our expectations, the daily survival rate of...

This paper presents data on 26 species and two subspecies, which are new in relation to the already existing list of the birds of the Šolta Island published two decades ago, and which add up to the knowledge of its ornithofauna to an overall number of 132 species. New data were gathered from various sources: 7 species were recorded during the autho...

Following the spread from its origins in China, Asian lineage highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 was first recorded in Europe in Turkish poultry and in poultry and wild birds in Romania in early October 2005. On 19 October 2005 Croatia became the second European country to record an outbreak in wild birds, involving Mute Swans Cygnus olor. Subs...

During a field study within the framework of a joint Croatian-Hungarian project 1 on the small northern Dalmatian island of Olib, the large whip snake Dolichophis caspius (Gmelin, 1789) was observed and photographed at several localities. Though this is not the first island record of this species in Croatia, as it was previously found on the island...

During a field study within the framework of a joint Croatian-Hungarian project on the small northern Dalmatian island of Olib, the large whip snake Dolichophis caspius (Gmelin, 1789) was observed and photographed at several localities. Though this is not the first island record of this species in Croatia, as it was previously found on the islands...

The prayer book The Hours of the Blessed Virgin Mary, known as The Farnese Hours, was illustrated by the Croatian miniaturist, Julije Klović, between 1539 and 1546 in Rome. In this masterpiece of Renaissance miniature art, Klović drew in colour a bird of paradise. In 2001, the pictured bird was determined to be a Raggiana Bird of Paradise, Paradisa...

The pocket-sized prayerbook The Farnese Hours, the work of the Croatian miniaturist Juraj Julije Klovic, was illustrated in Rome between 1539 and 1545. The paper explores the motive and the symbolic meaning of the illustration of the bird of paradise miniature on folio 6v of this masterpiece. In the XVI century the bird of paradise legless skins we...

Background and Purpose: Based on preserved original bird ringers’ reports and published annual reports on bird ringing, the development of the ringing of birds in Croatia from 1910 to 1992 is discussed in this paper. After the breakdown of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1918), Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia made up the common country of Yugoslavia unti...

The lack of epidemiological knowledge when planning the approach to preventing possible future outbreaks of avian influenza may lead to uncontrolled spreading of HPAI H5N1 virus and, consequently, danger to the poultry industry and human health and threats to the survival of endangered wild birds. The implementation of a model developed for the rap...

Background and Purpose: Croatian ornithological nomenclature has been affected by crisis for long time due to absence of integrated ornithological nomenclature. Two nomenclatures are available to users and they can actively or passively decide for hither of them at their own discretion. This problem has existed since 1988. Bedises, it persists as a...

A total of 107 feral pigeons (Columba livia var. domestica), 56 race pigeons (Columba livia var. domestica) and 16 wild rock pigeons (Columba livia Gmelin, 1789,Rock Pigeon) were captured in different regions of Croatia to monitor some of the diseases of pigeons, with special emphasis on the transmission of possible zoonoses to other animals and hu...

Nesting sites of the white stork, Ciconia ciconia (L. 1758), on low- and medium-voltage power poles are a common problem throughout Europe (Zupke, 1975; Fiedler and Wissner, 1980), including in the Republic of Croatia. This situation, which not only endangers the species, but also causes economic damage, can be prevented by installing support platf...

One of the objectives of the new State of Croatia, as a Mediterranean country oriented towards tourism, is safety of its air traffic. The frequency of use of Zagreb airport is currently 688 flights, or about 20000 passengers a week. In 1996, research was carried out at the airport concerning air traffic safety with respect to the presence of birds...

We investigated avian use of the Pantan habitats, a Mediterranean wetland on the Croatian coast of the Adriatic Sea, by comparing censuses from two periods. The Pantan was surveyed for breeding, resident, wintering, and passage birds in the periods from 1968-1972 and 1986-1991. Species richness declined from 67 to 54. Wintering/passage bird species...

The land snail Cochlostoma elegans (Clessin, 1879) has been found on the island of Pag (Croatia) for the first time. This is also the first ever insular finding of this species.

Background and purpose: The project PRESERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY IN THE ADRIATIC SEA is designed to promote a special protection of selected areas - marine parks - along the Croatian coast of the Adriatic Sea, primarily with an aim to preserve and protect the biodiversity and enable undisturbed natural reproduction of the economically important mar...

The nesting biology of the Whiskered Tern, Chlidonias hybridus, was investigated at the KonEanica Fish Farm in northern Croatia in 1989 and 1993. Data on population size, breeding, nest shape, composition, size and location in relation to vegetation are presented. Studies were made of egg and clutch size, incubation and hatching.

For the species Plr. sagittata it is its third locality in the Croatian flora in general and for p/u. scolopendrium its third insular locality are represented. The mentioned localitiei, the island of pag together with the island of Krk are the only region in Europe in which all three European speciei including Phrhybrida as well of the genus Plryll...

Croatia, as a Mediterranean country in the south-eastern part of Europe, is an area with a characteristic flora and fauna. The ornithofauna of Croatia reflects that it is a breeding area for some of the globally endangered bird species, as well as a site for the spring/autumn passage and the wintering of European migratory birds. Many ornithologica...

Parasitological examination of 369 gulls from coastal and inland regions in Yugoslavia revealed 20 different species of endohelimths, among them 13 trematodes, four cestodes, and three nematodes. All parasites and infected gull species were absolutely and percentually recorded and are lised in this paper. Gull from population in other regions (Scan...