THE EFFECT OF VARIABLE WEATHER AND WATER CONDITIONS ON COMMON COOT FULICA ATRA GROUP

Abstract

Water activity and the weather are not stable. This affects the individual and collective behaviors of the species in the area. The ability of aquatic birds, particularly the common coot, to give correct responses to variable climatic and hydrological conditions is highly developed [1-4]. Therefore, in this study, we investigated how the common coot, which is a common aquatic bird, responds to varying weather conditions and water movement (wavy, non wavy, and slightly wavy) of the lake surface. We examined how group properties, including the total number of individuals, the number of groups, dispersal distance, distance to the shore, and the distance between the groups, vary in the presence of those factors. The study was conducted at Sapanca Lake (Turkey) between October 2015 and April 2016. A total of 25 field studies were conducted. Each field study was conducted at the same time of day throughout the study (14:00-1800; each field study lasted for 4 hours; the total duration of observation was 100 hours). The distance between the common coot groups and the dispersal distance of the individuals was also determined using the scaled photographs and the UTM coordinate system. The lake was regarded as non-wavy when the wave height was 0.00 cm, slightly wavy when the wave height was 0.00-0.25 cm, and wavy when the wave height was greater than 0.25 cm. The wave heights were determined using scaled photographs taken parallel to the surface of the lake. Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro Wilks normality tests were done. Data were conducted using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA).