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Résumé :
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The gulls and terns (Laridae) together with the herons (Ardeidae) and flamingos (Phoenicopteridae) undoubtedly take pride of place amongst the aquatic bird species breeding in the Camargue (southern France). Most species of Laridae colonize small islands in the lagoons of the southern part of the Rhône delta. About two-thirds of this area have for many years now been integrated into two extensive salines (Salin de Giraud, Salin d’Aigues-Mortes). As a group this community exploits diverse feeding habitats in this region; the sea, salt-pans, brackish lagoons, fresh-water marshes, agricultural land and even refuse tips (Lévêque 1957, Isenmann 1979, Blondel & Isenmann 1981). Eight species presently breed, four belonging to the genus Larus and four to the genus Sterna (this paper ignores the Whiskered Tern Chlidonias hybrida an irregular breeder in fresh-water marshes). The first more or less complete survey was made in 1937 by Lomont (1938) and the first complete census in 1956 (Lévêque, 1957). Since then complete censuses have been carried out by the Station Biologique de la Tour du Valat every three years in collaboration with the C.N.R.S. (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), the “Réserve Nationale de Camargue” and the “Parc Ornithologique du Pont de Gau” (Blondel 1964, Johnson & Isenmann 1971, Blondel & Isenmann 1981, Hafner et al. 1980, 1985). This paper is based on the results of the ten censuses carried out between 1956 and 1985.
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