Restricted human activities shift the foraging strategies of feral pigeons (Columba livia) and three other commensal bird species

Soh, Malcolm C. K.; Pang, Roanna Y. T.; Ng, Breyl X. K.; Lee, Benjamin P. Y.‐H.; Loo, Adrian H. B.; Er, Kenneth B. H.

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108927

“…Unfortunately, we could not properly explore the between-years variation in detectability patterns due to sample size constraints. Urban birds during lockdown may have shown this detectability peak at dawn, typical of non-urban habitats, because of a rapid behavioural response to adjust to the new environmental conditions imposed by the COVID-19 measures [64][65][66][67][68]. Birds rely heavily on acoustic communication.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rapid behavioural response of urban birds to COVID-19 lockdown

Gordo

¹

,

Brotons

²

,

Herrando

³

et al. 2021

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Biodiversity is threatened by the growth of urban areas. However, it is still poorly understood how animals can cope with and adapt to these rapid and dramatic transformations of natural environments. The COVID-19 pandemic provides us with a unique opportunity to unveil the mechanisms involved in this process. Lockdown measures imposed in most countries are causing an unprecedented reduction of human activities, giving us an experimental setting to assess the effects of our lifestyle on biodiversity. We studied the birds' response to the population lockdown by using more than 126 000 bird records collected by a citizen science project in northeastern Spain. We compared the occurrence and detectability of birds during the spring 2020 lockdown with baseline data from previous years in the same urban areas and dates. We found that birds did not increase their probability of occurrence in urban areas during the lockdown, refuting the hypothesis that nature has recovered its space in human-emptied urban areas. However, we found an increase in bird detectability, especially during early morning, suggesting a rapid change in the birds’ daily routines in response to quieter and less crowded cities. Therefore, urban birds show high behavioural plasticity to rapidly adjust to novel environmental conditions, such as those imposed by the COVID-19.

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“…Consequently, the reduced stress generated by the lower number of scaring events, contributed to the increased body condition in greater snow geese in 2020 36 , with possible downstream consequences on reproductive success (e.g., number of edglings) later in the season 36 . Other wildlife studies carried out in the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic period (Table 1) highlight the role of food availability in species occurrence 34,53 : thus, species such as Feral pigeons (Columba livia) and Torresian crows (Corvus orru) (often referred to as "urban exploiters" as they rely on waste, bread, seeds and other anthropogenic food resources 9,53 ) decreased in number within the urban space since the pandemic started, moving to more natural areas to feed on native invertebrate communities, with serious (and, to some extent, destructive) consequences on local ecosystems 53 . All in all, results reported to date highlight a species-speci c response to lockdown restrictions (Table 1).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, these reports were not uniform across all species: in some cases, no difference pre-and during lockdown was noted 31,32,34 , while in other cases, the directionality of the association was opposite (e.g., fewer sightings were reported during than before lockdown) 31,34 . For instance, some urban exploiters during lockdown decreased in number within certain urban areas: such changes may be related to the "absence" of human-generated food resources caused by this novel circumstance 34 . Moreover, along with the discoveries on SARS-CoV-2 origin, other studies reported a negative attitude of people towards bats 35 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

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Breeding in the Pandemic: Short-Term Lockdown Restrictions Do Not Alter Reproductive Decisions and Avian Life-History Traits in a European Capital City

Corsini

¹

,

Jagiełło

²

,

Walesiak

³

et al. 2021

Preprint

0

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Humans are transforming natural habitats into managed urban green areas and impervious surfaces with unprecedented pace. Yet the effects of human presence per se on animal life-history traits are rarely tested. This is particularly true in cities, where human presence is often indissociable from urbanisation itself. The onset of the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak, along with the resulting lockdown restrictions, offered a unique, “natural experiment” context to investigate wildlife responses to a sudden reduction of human activities. We analysed four years of avian breeding data collected in a European capital city to test whether lockdown measures altered nestbox occupancy and life-history traits in two urban adapters: great tits (Parus major) and blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus). Lockdown measures, which modulated human presence, did not influence any of the life-history traits inferred. In contrast, tree cover, a distinct ecological attribute of the urban space, positively influenced clutch size, a key avian life-history and reproductive trait. This highlights the importance of habitat and food webs over human activity on animal reproduction in cities. We discuss our results in the light of other urban wildlife studies carried out during the pandemic, inviting the scientific community to carefully interpret all lockdown - associated shifts in biological traits.

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“…Analyses were generally performed by comparing pre-lockdown and post-lockdown periods for the recorded observations, and emphasized an increased trend for uncommon "species occurrence" in areas where humans suddenly disappeared (e.g. 31,32,34 ). However, these reports were not uniform across all species: in some cases, no difference preand during lockdown was noted 31,32,34 , while in other cases, the directionality of the association was opposite (e.g., fewer sightings were reported during than before lockdown) 31,34 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Breeding in the pandemic: short-term lockdown restrictions do not alter reproductive decisions and avian life-history traits in a European capital city

Corsini¹,

Jagiełło²,

Walesiak³

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Humans are transforming natural habitats into managed urban green areas and impervious surfaces with unprecedented pace. Yet the effects of human presence per se on animal life-history traits are rarely tested. This is particularly true in cities, where human presence is often indissociable from urbanisation itself. The onset of the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak, along with the resulting lockdown restrictions, offered a unique, “natural experiment” context to investigate wildlife responses to a sudden reduction of human activities. We analysed four years of avian breeding data collected in a European capital city to test whether lockdown measures altered nestbox occupancy and life-history traits in two urban adapters: great tits (Parus major) and blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus). Lockdown measures, which modulated human presence, did not influence any of the life-history traits inferred. In contrast, tree cover, a distinct ecological attribute of the urban space, positively influenced clutch size, a key avian life-history and reproductive trait. This highlights the importance of habitat and food webs over human activity on animal reproduction in cities. We discuss our results in the light of other urban wildlife studies carried out during the pandemic, inviting the scientific community to carefully interpret all lockdown - associated shifts in biological traits.

show abstract

Restricted human activities shift the foraging strategies of feral pigeons (Columba livia) and three other commensal bird species

Cited by 24 publications

References 44 publications

Rapid behavioural response of urban birds to COVID-19 lockdown

Rapid behavioural response of urban birds to COVID-19 lockdown

Breeding in the Pandemic: Short-Term Lockdown Restrictions Do Not Alter Reproductive Decisions and Avian Life-History Traits in a European Capital City

Breeding in the pandemic: short-term lockdown restrictions do not alter reproductive decisions and avian life-history traits in a European capital city

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