Ardea
Official journal of the Netherlands Ornithologists' Union

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Dmitrenok M., Demongin L. & Zhurauliov D. (2005) Three cases of replacement clutches in the Great Bittern Botaurus stellaris. ARDEA 93 (2): 271-274
Great Bittern Botaurus stellaris is quoted as ‘single-brooded’, and replacement clutches were not proven until now. This paper describes three such cases in Belarus and France. Of 10 radio-tagged females that suffered nest failure, at least three moved on average 1562 m from the nest, and re-laid within 14 days after failure. It was not possible to detect whether the other females also re-laid because they could not be sufficiently monitored. We suggest that replacement clutches are fairly common in the Great Bittern, especially when nest failure occurs before the end of May.


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