Body Condition Parameters of Nestling Great Tits<i>Parus major</i>in Relation to Experimental Food Supplementation

Bańbura, Jerzy; Bańbura, Mirosława; Glądalski, Michał; Kaliński, Adam; Markowski, Marcin; Michalski, Marek; Nadolski, Jerzy; Skwarska, Joanna; Zieliński, Piotr

doi:10.3161/000164511x625991

Cited by 27 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…For example, urban Carrion Crow Corvus corone corone pairs supplemented with protein-rich food during chick rearing produced more and greater-sized fledglings (Richner 1992). Parkland great tits supplemented with mealworms from hatching to fledging produced heavier nestlings, but the number of fledged young was not affected; although, whether parents consumed the extra food or they fed it to their nestlings, is largely unknown from this study (Banbura et al 2011). A recent study on House Sparrows also demonstrated increased nestling production in mealworm-supplemented nests, although this increase was similar in suburban and rural habitats (Peach et al 2014).…”

Section: Seress G and Liker Amentioning

confidence: 76%

Habitat urbanization and its effects on birds

Seress

Liker²

2015

Acta Zool Acad Sci H

183

135

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By transforming landscapes, human activity creates new types of habitats with altered environmental characteristics that never existed before. As the process of habitat urbanization bears impact on more and more natural habitats, it is essential for us to understand the changes we bring forth in the ecological forces shaping urban animal communities. Birds are perhaps the most frequently studied model organisms by urban ecologists. It is a well known general pattern that urban avian communities have typically reduced species richness, while the density of a few successful species is often higher in cities than in adjacent more natural habitats. But it is less understood which mechanisms generate and uphold these community-level changes. In this review we discuss the most important components of the urban environment influencing birds' physiology, behaviour or morphology, and compile several recent studies to illustrate their effects. To understand urban food webs we also review the results of bottom-up and top-down approach which suggest that altered food availability and predation may play key roles in forming recent urban bird communities. We encourage future research to focus more on experimental, manipulative studies, that would help us not just to realize general patterns but shed more light on the mechanisms, the underlying processes prompting changes in urban bird communities.

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Section: Seress G and Liker Amentioning

confidence: 76%

Habitat urbanization and its effects on birds

Seress

Liker²

2015

Acta Zool Acad Sci H

183

135

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“…Nevertheless, it is not clear if nest material choice and associated changes in arthropod assemblage help explain variation in breeding success associated with urbanisation. This may simply be due to food availability being the most important factor driving the reduction in fledgling success seen in urban areas (Chace and Walsh 2006;Chamberlain et al 2009) or that the effects of parasites are frequently hidden until nestlings become highly stressed (Simon et al 2004;Arriero et al 2008;Bańbura et al 2011).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of anthropogenic material affects bird nest arthropod community structure: influence of urbanisation, and consequences for ectoparasites and fledging success

et al. 2017

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Nests are a critically important factor in determining the breeding success of many species of birds. Nevertheless, we have surprisingly little understanding of how the local environment helps determine the materials used in nest construction, how this differs among related species using similar nest sites, or if materials used directly or indirectly influence the numbers of offspring successfully reared. We also have little understanding of any potential links between nest construction and the assemblage of invertebrates which inhabit nests, in particular, ectoparasites. We addressed these questions by monitoring the success rates of Blue Tits Cyanistes caeruleus and Great Tits Parus major, using nest boxes in rural, urban greenspace and urban garden settings. We collected used nests, identified the arthropods present, and measured the proportions of highly processed anthropogenic materials used in nest construction. Twenty-five percent of Great Tit nest materials were of anthropogenic origin and this was consistent across habitats, while Blue Tits used little (1-2%) anthropogenic material except in gardens (*16%), suggesting that Great Tits preferentially sought out these materials. In fledged nests, an increasing use of anthropogenic material was associated with a lower general arthropod diversity and ectoparasite predator abundance (Blue Tits only), but higher levels of Siphonaptera (fleas).Higher arthropod diversity was associated with lower flea numbers, suggesting that increased diversity played a role in limiting flea numbers. No direct link was found between breeding success and either anthropogenic material usage or arthropod diversity and abundance. However, breeding success declined with increasing urbanisation in both species and increased with nest weight in Blue Tits. The interplay between urbanisation and bird ecology is complex; our work shows that subtle anthropogenic influences may have indirect and unexpected consequences for urban birds.

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“…In contrast, the only one study on captive zebra finches ( Taeniopygia guttata ) showed no effect of diet on haemoglobin concentration ( Wagner et al , 2008b ). No effect of food supplementation on haemoglobin concentration was also found for a free-living population of great tits ( Parus major ), although it was probably due to non-restrictive abundance of natural food resources ( Bańbura et al , 2011 ). It must be acknowledged, however, that haemoglobin concentration may not provide a good indication of body condition during serious dehydration of an organism, as was shown for fasting Adélie penguins ( Pygoscelis adeliae ; Vleck and Vleck, 2002 ).…”

Section: Nutritional State and Conditionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“… Diet quality (−) Wagner et al (2008b) Great tit P. major PAS Pull. Food supplementation (−) Bańbura et al (2011) Adélie penguin Pygoscelis adeliae SPH Ad. Fast duration + Vleck and Vleck (2002) Abbreviations: Ad., adult; CHA, Charadriiformes; CHOL, cholesterol; GL, glucose; Juv., juvenile; PAS, Passeriformes; PRO, Procellariiformes; Pull., pullus; SPH, Sphenisciformes; TG, triglycerides; TP, total protein; UA, uric acid; UR, urea.…”

Section: Nutritional State and Conditionmentioning

confidence: 99%