Roofvogelvervolging in Nederland in 1998

Poisoning incidents (N=87), shooting (N=8) and nest disturbances (N=105) related to raptors were mainly confined to agricultural and forested areas in the eastem half of The Netherlands, where raptors occur at the highest density and diversity. Poisoning is widespread, mainly with parathion (44x), carbofuran (16x) and aldicarb (15x); it mainly affects Buzzard (66x), Goshawk (9x) and Marsh Harrier (7x). Shooting seems of lesser importance, but this may be due to the difficulty of fmding shot birds that have been hidden. Nest disturbance is widespread: 105 cases registered and a minimum of 615 cases estimated (mainly Buzzard and Goshawk affected), based on species-speciftc frequencies of nest disturbance and proportions of respective populations covered by nest cards. Nest disturbance is increasing in frequency, partly because large-scale fellings in the breeding season by the State Forestry Service and other governmental bodies have become common practice in recent years. Other causes of death (unintentionally), as reported by rehabilitation centres, the public and governmental agencies, mostly consist of traffic accidents, window casualties and traumas: Honey Buzzard (2), Red Kite (1), Marsh Harrier (4), Hen Harder (1), Goshawk (32), Sparrowhawk (43), Buzzard (120), Kestrel (18) and Hobby (2). These deaths are strongly biased towards centres of human activities, i.e. roads and built-up areas.