Vervolging van roofvogels in Nederland in 2001

Poisoning incidents (n=26) and deliberate disturbance of nests (80x) were recorded throughout The Netherlands but particularly in the provinces of Friesland and Noord-Brabant (Fig. 1). The apparently smaller number of incidents compared to preceding years (Table 1) is not necessarily proof of slackening persecution, because large regions were out of bounds to raptorphiles during the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (mid-March through late May). The distribution of cases of persecution is partly biased towards active field workers involved in tracing raptor persecution but also reflects local variations in antagonism against raptors (as in many parts of Friesland) and nest robbing campaigns focussed on Goshawks (Noord-Brabant). Common Buzzards (n=21) and Goshawks (n=5) were recorded as victims of poisoning, mostly by providing poisoned baits (6x pigeons, 1 x chicken, 9x moles) and using parathion (10x), aldicarb (n=13) and carbofuran (n=3). Disturbing nests by keeping parents away from the nest or by killing eggs or nestlings is widespread, especially in regions where meadow birds are nesting in high densities. Nest robbing is typical in the southern provinces, where attention is focused on eggs about to hatch and small nestlings of Goshawks, apparently for falconry and bird keeping purposes. Based on the recorded intensity of persecution (Table 2), the large sample of nest cards (almost 4300 in 2001), the distribution of nest cards over the country and recent population estimates of affected raptor species, it is calculated that a minimum of 358-424 raptor nest were destroyed in 2001.