Jelena Kralj

Jelena Kralj
Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts · Institute of Ornithology

PhD

About

83
Publications
33,391
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569
Citations
Additional affiliations
July 1992 - present
Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Position
  • Research Assistant

Publications

Publications (83)
Article
Full-text available
The epidemiology of Campylobacter species in wild birds is still poorly understood. This study describes the occurrence and genetic diversity of Campylobacter in adult and nestlings of yellow‐legged gulls, highlighting differences between breeding locations. The gulls were captured in Croatia between 2021 and 2023. A cloacal swab was taken from eac...
Article
Full-text available
Populations of long-distance migratory species may exhibit dissimilarities in the leeway of scheduled annual migration programs, the routes they follow and their convergence at ecological barriers. The aim of this study was to fill the current geographical gap, spanning over 1,100 km longitudinally between southern France and eastern Austria, in th...
Article
The foraging ranges of breeding seabirds differ between species and colonies, depending on species locomotion traits, food availability, environmental characteristics, and social factors. The Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) is a generalist seabird that breeds and forages in a wide variety of habitats in both freshwater and marine environments. Using G...
Article
Wing design in birds is the result of different and potentially opposing natural selection pressures, such as those related to migration, predator avoidance and habitat type. Sexual selection for flight performance may also shape wing design via female preferences for superior performance of flight display. The black-headed bunting Emberiza melanoc...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
The common tern (Sterna hirundo) is a migratory seabird from the family Laridae (gulls). It breeds in the Northern Hemisphere, including the European continent, whereas it migrates to the coastal areas of the South Hemisphere during the winter. Its breeding sites cover both freshwater and marine habitats. It is currently listed as Least Concern on...
Article
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Because of increasing urbanization, some opportunistic birds such as gulls, started to exploit various artificial marine and terrestrial food sources. To better understand urban gull ecology and habitat use, a study was done on a yellow-legged gull (Larus michahellis) during the breeding season in Zadar, a coastal city on the Adriatic Sea. Ten adul...
Article
The Mediterranean Shag Gulosus aristotelis desmarestii is a conservation priority seabird endemic to the Mediterranean and Black Seas that is considered a valuable sentinel of marine ecosystem health. however, knowledge of its population size and dynamics in the Adriatic Sea is limited. here, the majority of the population breeds in Croatia, with a...
Conference Paper
The decline of ortolan bunting in the Adriatic hinterland is well documented, the main reason being identified as land abandonment. We compared its habitat in two areas in Istria (NW Croatia, SW Slovenia), one where ortolan bunting is present and numerous (below Mt. Učka) and one where it used to occur but disappeared recently (below Mt. Golič). Al...
Article
An increasing number of inland Common Tern Sterna hirundo populations nowadays breed in artificial habitats. Inland breeding Common Terns still intensively use rivers while foraging, but the characteristics of their preferred foraging habitats are not well known. In this study we combined telemetric field research and river hydrology modelling to i...
Article
Full-text available
The breeding period is a demanding and time-constrained phase for migratory bird species. Breeding outcome and duration can interact with the extent and duration of post-breeding movements, resulting in individual differences in space use ultimately influencing later stages of the annual cycle. We present space-use and home range estimates during t...
Article
Full-text available
Compared to other animal movements, prospecting by adult individuals for a future breeding site is commonly overlooked. Prospecting influences the decision of where to breed and has consequences on fitness and lifetime reproductive success. By analysing movements of 31 satellite-and GPS-tracked gull and tern populations belonging to 14 species in E...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
The common tern (Sterna hirundo) is a colonial bird from the family Laridae which breeds on low-lying marine coastal areas, but its habitats also include freshwater gravel islands and artificial nesting sites. Marine colonies in Croatia are less abundant, counting several dozens of breeding pairs, while inland colonies concentrated around the river...
Article
Many songbirds produce song-flights; however, the function, vocal and motor characteristics, as well as the diel and seasonal variation of song-flight in songbirds remain not well understood. Here, we studied two types of song-flight in male Black-headed Buntings (Emberiza melanocephala), the Moth — a standard, i.e., perch song produced during a ho...
Article
Full-text available
We describe long-term changes in the distribution of 2249 freshly dead winter recoveries of 94,352 Great Cormorant chicks ringed between 1940 and 2018 in Denmark. The entire wintering range was divided into four major compartments to assess changes in (1) migratory distance and (2) the spatial distribution of recoveries. In the south-eastern winter...
Article
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The black-headed bunting is one of the few species that migrate along the Indo-European flyway, and its migration routes and phenology are poorly understood. We provide the first individual-based year-round tracking study describing route choice and timing of black-headed buntings migrating from a breeding site in Croatia to a 6000 km distant non-b...
Article
Full-text available
The correlation between secondary hole-nesters community characteristics and floristic and structural characteristics of their habitat was studied in riverine forest stands near river Drava in Croatia. Standard point count method was used for bird community sampling and circular plot method for habitat sampling. Sampling was carried out on 66 point...
Article
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Background: The majority of European Common Terns (Sterna hirundo) migrate south along the western coast of Europe and Africa, while birds from eastern regions are known to cross the Mediterranean Sea from east to west or migrate along the eastern African coast. The migration route of north European terns wintering along the coast of western Africa...
Article
Full-text available
Morphometric data on Common Terns breeding in Croatia and Slovenia are presented herewith for the first time. 130 breeding adult Common Terns Sterna hirundo were measured between 2016 and 2019 along the Sava and Drava Rivers. Sex was determined for 53 birds: 22 males and 31 females. Significant sexual differences were found for head and bill length...
Article
Full-text available
In 2018 and 2019, the breeding success of two Common Tern colonies on artificial lakes near the River Sava in Zagreb, Croatia, was studied. The colonies were visited weekly from May to July and we collected data on phenology, number of breeding pairs, clutch size as well as egg and chick survival. We also conducted a comparison between early and la...
Article
Full-text available
63 Common Tern Sterna hirundo samples from Croatia and Slovenia were analysed with respect to their genetic diversity and differentiation. Samples originated from two freshwater populations (areas of the rivers Sava and Drava) and one coastal population (Sečovlje Salina). The molecular marker of choice was 709 bp long fragment of the mitochondrial...
Article
Full-text available
Between 2002 and 2019, monitoring of Common Tern Sterna hirundo and Little Tern Sternula albifrons along the Sava River near Zagreb, Croatia was conducted. Natura 2000 site “Sava kod Hrušćice” was designated to protect colony at river islands, with estimated population sizes of 100–150 pairs of Common and 20 pairs of the Little Tern. Flooding of th...
Article
Full-text available
During the breeding periods of 2018 and 2019 we investigated the extent of areas Common Terns Sterna hirundo use while searching for food. We used GPS-UHF tags to follow the movements of 23 terns from Slovenia (7 individuals) and Croatia (16 individuals). We investigated the movements of birds from three breeding sites, i.e. Lakes Ptuj, Siromaja 2...
Book
Full-text available
These proceedings are a compilation of original articles and summaries of the oral presentations and posters given during the IX Workshop of the AEWA Eurasian Spoonbill International Expert Group (ESIEG) that took place from 14 to 18 of November 2018, in Djerba Island, Tunisia.
Article
The Audouin’s Gull Larus audouinii is endemic to the Mediterranean, with the majority of the global population concentrated in Spain. It mainly feeds on small pelagic fish during the night; however, there is more variation in the foraging behaviour of the Ebro Delta population, with birds also feeding during the day and inland. This plasticity was...
Article
With increasing advances in telemetry technology, prospecting behaviour was identified in many seabirds; mostly in immatures, but also in adults-during pre-breeding and post-breeding periods and among failed breeders. However, prospecting has not yet been documented among active breeders. We equipped 17 Common terns Sterna hirundo with GPS-UHF data...
Preprint
Full-text available
With increasing advances in telemetry technology, prospecting behaviour was identified in many seabirds; mostly in immatures, but also in adults – during pre-breeding and post-breeding periods and among failed breeders. However, prospecting has not yet been documented among active breeders. We equipped 17 Common terns Sterna hirundo with GPS-UHF da...
Article
Full-text available
Until 2018 the Red Kite was considered a regionally extinct breeding species in Croatia and a rare winter visitor in Eastern Slavonia. This paper provides an overview of the results of a satellite telemetry study of Red Kites tagged in Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. This is the first comprehensive study on the phenology of the species in...
Article
Capsule: In Yellow-legged Gull Larus michahellis populations from the eastern Adriatic Sea, there are considerable differences in the ratio of migratory birds and apparent survival among the colonies. Survival was dependent on age, colony and area of dispersal. Aims: To identify the ratio of migratory birds within populations of Yellow-legged Gulls...
Article
Fighting and flirting are the main evolutionary forces behind the development of bird song and both contribute to different song characteristics. By comparison of vocalisations throughout bird taxa, we can help to reconstruct the evolutionary history of the song. In this study, we provide the first detailed analysis of song structure and song type...
Article
Full-text available
There are two main types of dispersal: natal and reproductive. Natal dispersal is more common and individuals travel a greater distance than during reproductive dispersal. Direction and distances depend on various factors. Dispersal of the White Storks, Ciconia ciconia, was analysed using resightings of colour-ringed individuals in the Lonjsko polj...
Article
Full-text available
Historical records of occurrence of the European Roller Coracias gar-rulus in Croatia are examined to determine its former breeding distribution in Croatia. The European Roller once bred in lowland region of Croatia and was most numerous in river valleys. As in most other parts of its European breeding range, it suffered a severe decline and finall...
Article
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Museum skins of the Black-eared Wheatear Oenante hispanica from the eastern Adriatic coast were examined in order to identify subspecies. All 91 examined skins belong to O. h. melanoleuca. Wing lengths (88-96 mm in adult males, 87-93.5 mm in 2nd year males and 84-92 mm in females) are among the longest for this species. The proportion of the black-...
Article
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In the fourth report of the Croatian Birds Rarities Committee, new accepted records of rare birds that were submitted to the committee in the period 2012-2016 are reported. Ten species, of which one is treated as escape from captivity, and two subspecies have been observed in Croatia for the first time. The list of birds of Croatia now holds 396 sp...
Article
Fisheries have an enormous economic importance but reconciling their socio-economic features with the conservation and sustainability of marine ecosystems presents major challenges. Bycatch mortality from fisheries is clearly among the most serious global threats for marine ecosystems, affecting a wide range of top predators. Recent estimates repor...
Article
The late-Holocene bird remains retrieved during archaeological excavations on pelagic island of Palagruža, Croatia, were analysed. The results of the analysis revealed presence of representatives of nine families: Procellariidae, Sulidae, Ardeidae, Accipitridae, Phasianidae, Rallidae, Laridae, Strigidae and Corvidae. Among the bird remains, the mos...
Article
Full-text available
Understanding the migration routes of the Central European Spoonbill population is important for their conservation. Here we analysed movements of 3186 individuals of Eurasian Spoonbills marked with colour rings in the Carpathian Basin (Hungary, Croatia and Serbia) between 2003 and 2015, and a satellite tagged individual, which was equipped in Ital...
Article
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Both habitat changes and predation can cause population declines in farmland birds. Habitat changes may allow novel or invasive alien predators to establish populations in new environments, which can have major ecological consequences for native prey species. We studied effects of a novel avian predator, the Montagu's Harrier (Circus pygargus), on...
Article
The Croatian population of the eagle owl Bubo bubo (Linnaeus, 1758) is estimated at 800–1200 breeding pairs with the majority of population breeding in the Mediterranean region, along the eastern Adriatic coast. The main aims of this work were two-fold: (1) to determine the eagle owl territorial densities in the central part of Mediterranean Croati...
Research
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AEWA International Single Species Action Plan. Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) Main contributors from Armenia: Vasil Ananian, Karen Aghababyan.
Article
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Between 1912 and 2014, 236 recoveries of birds from 72 species were recorded, 70 of which were ringed in Bosnia and Herzegovina and 166 abroad. The birds recovered in Bosnia and Herzegovina were ringed in 18 countries by 26 ringing centres. The majority of them were ringed in Croatia, Hungary, Germany, the Czech Republic and Finland. The most numer...
Article
Full-text available
From the north-eastern German breeding areas of the Great Cormorant (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt), ringing data are available for a period of more than 80 years. These data are unique for the Baltic Sea area. Cormorants were ringed as early as during the 1930s, and ringing was re-started after World War II in 1...
Article
Full-text available
From the north-eastern German breeding areas of the Great Cormorant (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt), ringing data are available for a period of more than 80 years. These data are unique for the Baltic Sea area. Cormorants were ringed as early as during the 1930s, and ringing was re-started after World War II in 1...
Article
Full-text available
The Croatian Common Farmland Bird Monitoring Scheme was initiated in 2014, which was a pilot-year. The scheme uses a semi-random method of point-transects. In each chosen 10×10 km grid cell we defined two transects, with 9 counting points placed along each of them. In 2015, the survey was repeated, and the number of survey plots had almost doubled....
Article
We analysed stable carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotope ratios in Marsh Warbler Acrocephalus palustris feathers sampled in Europe and Africa to assess non-breeding habitat selection and location of wintering grounds of different breeding populations. Feather δ13C values showed that Marsh Warblers occupy a biome dominated by C4 vegetation durin...
Article
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Great Spotted Woodpecker is the most abundant and widespread European woodpecker species, and it thus contributes the most to the number of excavated tree holes – an important habitat resource for secondary hole users. However, majority of nest site characteristics data comes from boreal and temperate forests, with lack of information from Southern...
Article
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In the 20th century the Great Bustard (Otis tarda) was a passage migrant and winter visitor in Croatia. Birds observed in Croatia belong to the Central European population for which the harsh winters were identified as the most important cause for adult bird mortality. We investigate the mortality factors of adult birds in Croatia. Data on the occu...
Book
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The PDF version of the Atlas available on: https://sites.google.com/site/zgornitinstinfo/home
Article
The goldcrest (Regulus regulus) and the firecrest (Regulus ignicapilla) are sympatric over a large part of Europe, but with different abundance ratios. We studied the effects of geographical location, vicinity of the species range boundaries, habitat and climate factors on the goldcrest/firecrest abundance ratio. At the continental scale, a weighte...
Article
Full-text available
Temperature and precipitation are known to have an effect on the onset of bird migration, but studies were mostly taken on Passeriformes. Between 2001 and 2006 we studied the wintering numbers and dynamics of migration of a short-distance migrant, blackheaded gull, Chroicocephalus ridibundus, on Zagreb city rubbish dump, Jakuševec. Mean monthly num...
Article
Full-text available
The third report of the Croatian Rarities Committee presents 123 records of rare birds accepted in the period of 2005-2012. Eleven species and one subspecies were added to the list of Croatian birds, giving the total number of 389 bird species recorded in Croatia in categories A to C. A further 11 species were recorded in category D and two in cate...
Article
Full-text available
The Yellow-legged Gull Larus michahellis is generally considered to be sedentary and dispersive, with long-distance dispersal of young birds developing after the 1970s. In this paper, we present the analysis of the movement of the Yellow-legged Gulls from the eastern Adriatic coast based on observations of colour-ringed birds marked between 1999 an...
Article
Full-text available
Average global temperatures in Earth have increased over the past 100 years and climate change impacts wildlife in countless ways. Numerous of the works demonstrated climatic impacts on bird phenology. We used 26 years of data from black redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros) in population from Mokrice village (northwestern Croatia), 1987-2012. Correlatio...
Article
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Movements of Mediterranean Shags (Phalacrocorax aristotelis desmarestii, Payraudeau 1826) between Croatian breeding colonies and non-breeding areas such as the Gulf of Trieste increased consistently from the 1980s to become a migratory movement at the present time. In order to characterise the patterns of this migration and the behaviour of first-y...
Article
Full-text available
Data on the movement of immature Eurasian Spoonbills from the southern Pannonian Basin are presented for the first time and differences in migration patterns between the Atlantic and southern Pannonian breeding populations are identified. Movements of spoonbills from Western Europe are well known, but there is uncertainty about the movements of the...
Article
Full-text available
The effect of floristic and structural characteristics of vegetation on the forest songbird communities in two Nature Parks: Medvednica andŽumberak – Samoborsko gorje was studied. The point-count method was used for analyzing songbird communities and circular plot method for habitat mapping, on 101 points at both sites. Non-parametric test were use...
Article
Wing shape plays a major role in determining the aerodynamics and performance of avian flight. Intraspecific variation in wing shape reflects different migratory strategies or distances between breeding and wintering areas. Differences in the wing morphology and genotypes between coastal and inland breeding populations of the Reed Warbler in Croati...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
The Central European Great Reed Warbler (GRW) (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) population spends the winter in Africa south of the Sahara. Studies showed that, during migration, the great number of Central European GRWs pass the Carpathian basin and Dinaric Mountains. During their journey they often use Adriatic wetlands as stopover sites (Kralj et al....
Poster
Although urbanization generally decreases biodiversity of an area, some urban areas may provide beneficial conditions for the existence of some species. Urban forests may provide better habitat conditions for woodpeckers than surrounding non-urban but managed forests if specific habitat and area requirements are satisfied. Very dense populations of...
Article
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abitat selection of Collared Flycatcher, Ficedula albicollis (Temm.) was studied at three mountains of Continental Croatia covered with oak-hornbeam, beech and coniferous forests. Standard point count technique was used (n=163). Collared Flycatcher territories were found at 59 points, 17 of them identified as the best territories, with two or more...