Research on long-term colonization of goosander (Mergus merganser Linneaus, 1758) with reference to habitat availability

Abstract

This article presents data on long-term colonization of goosander in Western Serbia and Eastern Republic of Srpska (on five oligotrophic reservoirs formed by the Drina River) based on continuous counting since the first observation of nesting in 1987. The total number of breeding pairs and their distribution in neighboring habitats continuously increased from year to year, suggesting that expansion of the population is still below the limit of the habitat. The decrease in population which occurred in certain years was due to environmental or anthropogenic influence.