Habitat preferences by Black-bellied Sandgrouse (Pterocles orientalis) in landscape scale in Shir-Ahmad Wildlife Refuge, Sabzevar

Wildlife habitat selection has been increasingly run into difficulty because of habitats destruction resulted from land changes. Because of easy accessibility, the open habitats have been widely influenced by land changes. The steppe land birds are listed as one of the most endangered species groups in the world. The Black-bellied Sandgrouse (Pterocles orientalis) is one of these species that while suffering from intensive habitat destruction and hunting, there is no enough information about its population ecology within its distribution area. In this survey, Black-bellied Sandgrouse preferred habitats has been studied using logistic regression, with an emphasis on the differences in role of biotopes in habitat selection and importance of habitat change in Shirahmad wildlife refuge.The results highlighted that habitat selection and habitat needs of Sandgrouse is often associated with open farmlands in landscape scale (p< 0.05). This bird avoids from forest and woodland habitats and prefers dry cereal fields and fallows, stubbles and ploughs. Therefore keep and support of traditional agricultural systems and creating fallow regular and balance control of intensive and mechanized cultivation creating in the region that could be have important effect on support the bird generation, is recommended.