BREEDING ECOLOGY OF THE NORTH-AFRICAN BLUE-TIT (PARUS-CAERULEUS ULTRAMARINUS) IN 2 SEMI-EVERGREEN OAK FORESTS IN ALGERIA

The breeding ecology of North African Blue Tits (Parus caeruleus ultra marinus) nesting at 500 m and 1 000 m a.s.l. in Zeen Oaks (Quercus fag inea) was studied over a three-year period (1991-1993) in northeastern Algeria. The data (laying period, clutch size, breeding success) coll ected at 500 m fit the limits already known, but those collected at 1 000 m show some differences, In the latter, the mean clutch size (7.4 eggs) is the highest ever found in North Africa, about 12% of the fema les lay 10 to 12 eggs per clutch. These clutch sizes are similar to th ose found in birds breeding in European oak woods. The Zeen Oak is a s emi-evergreen tree that keeps its leaves more or less alive over winte r before renewing them all in the spring like a deciduous oak whose yo ung leaves allow the development of a great amount of caterpillars, th e basic food items for tits. These populations illustrate the high var iability in morphology and in life-history traits of Blue Tits living in Mediterranean habitats.