Look inside: nesting materials and some patterns of nesting biology of the common linnet Linaria cannabina (Linnaeus, C 1758) in the Lviv region

The article deals with some aspects of the nesting biology of Linnaria cannabina (Linnaeus, C 1758) in Lviv region. The question of placement, the composition of the nests and the factors that affect this is revealed. The material for writing this article was the data of the Bank of bird nests of Western Ukrainian Ornithological Society (ZUOT) (n=181) and own data (n=18) for 40 years (from 1973 to 2012). Nests were collected in different biotopes and, depending on the distance to the human settlement, were divided into three groups (within settlements, on their outskirts and far beyond in natural biotopes). It was found that for the placement of nests, the common linnet often chooses coniferous (mainly young spruce, thuja or juniper). Among deciduous found trees, a significant variety of bushes and twisted vines (ivy). To choose a place for linnet nest, the architectonics of the aboveground part of the plant is important, so even trees were chosen that are similar to bushes. Very often common linnet places nests in various hedges (spirea, acacia yellow, etc.). Probably due to the fact that the nest is well disguised, its placement height is small (0.2–2.2 m, on average 1.10±0.03 m). The main materials that L. cannabina chooses to build nests are typical of birds of this species in Europe. Linnet nests consisted of plant (in 100 % of the studied nests), animal (98.4 %) and sometimes (23.2 %) materials of anthropogenic origin. From plant materials, linnet most often chose for the nest the roots and stems of herbaceous plants, less often the branches and leaves of trees, plant fluff and moss. Among the materials of animal origin, animal hair and bird feathers were often found in the lining of the nest. Some of the nests contained components of anthropogenic origin (СAО) in different quantities (most often cotton wool). The basic nesting materials of the linnet in Lviv region were small roots and stems of single- and dicotyledonous herbaceous plants, and in the inner part – hair of mammals, feathers of birds, cotton wool. The presence of CAO in bird nests depends on the distance to human settlements and the time of nest construction. In the last couple of decades, the frequency of use of CAO in the nests of the linnet has increased rapidly, which may indicate a growing environment pollution, as well as, perhaps, the habituation to use such materials by common linnet.