HABITAT AVAILABILITY AND ROOST-SITE SELECTION BY THE STONE CURLEW BURHINUS-OEDICNEMUS IN AN ARID CULTIVATED LANDSCAPE (LOS-MONEGROS, NE SPAIN)

In Los Monegros, one of the main Iberian steppe areas and one of the m ost transformed by farming, an important population of Stone Curlew (B urhinus oedicnemus) gathers in an unique post-breeding roost. We evalu ated habitat availability and roost-site selection in 1992. Natural ve getation was found over only 3.5% of the total surface area, restricte d to road edges or to the vegetation belts of several saline lakes. St one curlews selected one sector within one of these bells, where the w idth, height and vegetation heterogeneity were larger These results ar e interpreted as an anti-predator strategy. Crops are not suitable due to its temporal unstability. Taking into account the high habitat los s suffered, we finally propose some conservation measures, such as the maintenance of natural vegetation reserves and wide margins, to favou r this and other bird species.