Brood raft

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Brood rafts in a section of the lake called a lagoon near the confluence of the New Rhine with Lake Constance

A brood raft is a nesting aid that is intended to enable various, usually largely water-bound bird species to breed successfully.

These are floating platforms of different dimensions, mostly wooden pontoon constructions, which are anchored or moored mainly in still waters , less often in flowing waters or calm sea areas. Brood rafts are covered with different substrates and materials, depending on the species of bird they are to serve as a breeding aid, most commonly with river pebbles and driftwood; sometimes they also have sparse vegetation. Brood rafts are used where there is a lack of natural breeding opportunities, a previously breeding species that has disappeared from an area due to the loss of breeding space is to be reintroduced, but above all in newly created industrial wastelands that have been filled with groundwater , such as in abandoned gravel pits , loam or peat cutting .

Artificial bird island off the coast of Namibia

Especially birds from the order of the plover-like (Charadriiformes), such as gulls , terns and plovers, can benefit from the installation of such rafts.

Similar, but mostly significantly larger and often built for economic interests, are platforms resting on stilts. One of the world's largest such constructions is the artificial bird island built off the coast of Namibia between the Walfischbai and Swakopmund . It currently comprises nearly 20,000 square meters and is mainly used Kapscharben breeding. In addition, other species of cormorants and great white pelicans breed on the platform. The resulting bird droppings are used commercially as high-quality fertilizer.

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