Food Handling Time of Blue Tit Chicks: Constraints and Adaptation to Different Prey Types

Parasitism Reduces the Potential for Evolution in a Wild Bird Population

“…Blue Tit breeding time and reproductive effort most probably evolved in response to the timing of maximal caterpillar biomass supply, key prey to raise chicks (e.g. Zandt et al 1990, Dias & Blondel 1996, Bańbura et al 1999, Grieco 1999, Blondel et al 2006, but see e.g. Lambrechts et al 2004).…”

Habitat and Annual Variation in Arthropod Abundance Affects Blue TitCyanistes caeruleusReproduction

“…Tits, especially the Great Tit Parus major and the Blue Tit specialise in exploiting caterpillars as the most profitable food for their nestlings (Blondel et al 1991, Perrins 1991, Bańbura et al 1999. Caterpillars contain a balanced proportion of essential nutrients and water necessary for tit nestling development and, in addition, their sizes and physical form are suitable for easy swallowing by nestlings (Perrins 1991, Zandt 1997, Bańbura et al 1999.…”

Nestling diet optimization and condition in relation to prey attributes and breeding patch size in a patch-resident insectivorous passerine: an optimal continuum and habitat constraints

“…Britschgi et al (2006) claimed that orthopterans were under-represented in the diet of nestling Whinchats primarily because of the high level of chitin they contain. However, it should be remembered that parent Whinchats [like other bird species preying on large orthopterans (Kaspari 1991;Bańbura et al 1999)] most probably prepared these large insects before feeding them to their nestlings by removing highly chinitized body parts, such as legs (this seems particularly necessary in the largest taxa consumed, e.g. Metrioptera), since these insect parts were not recovered in the analysed faeces of nestling Whinchats.…”

“…\0, was classified as 'poor' (19 broods/74 faecal sacs), for those with residuals between 0 and 1 as 'medium' (9/38), and for those with residuals [1 as 'good' (5/23). The statistical analysis (GLMMs) testing the effect of these and the other dietary variables on the nestling body condition is summarized in Table S3 J Ornithol (2017) 158: 169-184 179 several earlier studies had already discovered a positive relationship between the contribution of lepidopteran larvae (or insect larvae/soft-bodied prey) and nestling condition (Donald et al 2001;Bańbura et al 1999; García-Navas and Sanz 2011), we confirmed an analogous relationship for Orthoptera, i.e. the largest ingested prey items in our study.…”