Abominabel broedsucces van Buizerds Buteo buteo in Boswachterij Nunspeet in 1997

In the forestry of Nunspeet (Central Netherlands, 2600 ha, mostly coniferous woodland on poor sandy soil), 1997 was characterised by a total breeding failure of the population of Common Buzzards. As compared with two previous years, the number of pairs had declined substantially, only a single pair laid one egg and no young were produced (Table 1). Despite being versatile raptors with a broad diet, food shortage was apparently the cause of this poor breeding performance in Common Buzzards. After a bumper year of beech nuts in 1995, followed by outbreaks of voles and mice in 1996 and a correspondingly high breeding success of Common Buzzards in 1996, beech nuts were completely absent in the autumn of 1996, causing mice and vole populations to crash. Other sources of food were also scarce, such as rabbits, whereas provisioning of animal fodder for wild pigs has recently been banned.