Ecology and population development of the Eurasian crane (Grus grus) in Czech Republic

TICHÁČKOVÁ M. 2013: Ecology and population development of the Eurasian crane (Grus grus) in Czech Republic MSc thesis. Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague. Eurasian crane (Grus grus) had been exterminated in Czech Republic in past, he started to return back in 70's of the 20th century. There were 1697 observations published between 1965 and 2012, since then is the number still increasing. The annual observations have been done regularly since 1975. The area of occurrence in Czech Republic gradually grows, cranes was recorded in 289 squares. In areas where the cranes were observed on ground, dominates presence of fields and water with smaller presence of forests and pastures. They were mostly observed during the spring months - March and April, and during the autumn months - October and November. Even larger flocks of cranes can be seen in this time. Since 1989 (the first nest) is the number of breeding pairs of cranes in Czech Republic increasing. They spread more to the areas to the southeast direction. The nesting was registered in 37 localities in 26 mapping squares in total, with higher proportion of pastures and meadows. Most of nests are located in reed and tall sedge beds around ponds, other types of environment are used first after 2005. Keywords: Eurasian crane (Grus grus),..