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Cobertura geogràfica
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Resum
The low breeding performance
and body condition of nestling passerine birds in urban environments has been attributed to the poor quality and
low abundance of food in these settings. However, detailed data on prey provided by parents to their chicks in the
urban habitat is scarce. Here we used video cameras set in nest boxes to compare the diet of urban and forest
great tits Parus major when provisioning their chicks in a Mediterranean area. We additionally analysed brood size
and fledgling success. Breeding success of urban great tits was lower than that of forest birds. Urban parents displayed a lower average hourly feeding rate per nestling than forest parents. Among the three prey item categories,
the percentage of spiders did not vary according to habitat. However, the percentage of caterpillars delivered to
the nest by great tit parents was higher in the forest than in the urban habitat while the percentage of 'other' prey
showed a reverse pattern. 'Other' prey were mainly adult butterflies and wasps in the urban habitat. Our paper
adds to the view that the low feeding rates and scarcity of caterpillars in urban environments may be the underlying
cause constraining the growth of great tit nestlings in these areas.
Key words: Urbanization, Diet, Great tits, Parental provisioning, Prey composition, Prey size
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Detall de les condicions d'ús
Copyright belongs to the authors, who license the journal Animal Biodiversity and Conservation to publish the paper under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License