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Parentage studies have shown that alternative reproductive strategies are widespread in many avian taxa that were once thought to be monogamous. Recent anthropogenically mediated habitat change may have disrupted ecological factors, such as breeding density, which have given rise to inter‐ and intraspecific variation in the frequency of extra‐pair fertilization (EPF) and intraspecific brood parasitism...
Drivers of wildlife population dynamics are generally numerous and interacting. Some of these drivers may impact demographic processes that are difficult to estimate, such as immigration into the focal population. Populations may furthermore be small and subject to demographic stochasticity. All of these factors contribute to blur the causal relationship between past management action and current...
Supplementary feeding of birds, particularly in urban areas, is often associated with increased population size and fecundity. In the UK, the non‐native Grey Squirrel Sciurus carolinensis is common in rural and urban habitats. It exploits supplementary feeders and may induce interference competition by excluding birds, but empirical evidence of this is unavailable. Using controlled model presentation...
Urban environments are habitat mosaics, often with an abundance of exotic flora, and represent complex problems for foraging arboreal birds. In this study, we used compositional analysis to assess how Blue Tits Cyanistes caeruleus and Great Tits Parus major use heterogeneous urban habitat, with the aim of establishing whether breeding birds were selective in the habitat they used when foraging and...
The study of urban birds has increased exponentially in the last century. A prior review of the scientific literature up to the year 2000 found 100 research articles on urban birds, but in the past decade alone, over 1000 have been published. Here I review the studies from 2006–2015 to characterize their approach, location, general findings and recent obsessions, with an eye toward suggesting important...
At present, urban areas cover almost 3% of the Earth's land surface, and this proportion is constantly increasing along with human population growth. Although urbanization leads to biodiversity decline, at the same time it creates a novel and extensive environment that is exploited by whole assemblages of organisms. These include predators, which use the matrix of different habitat types within the...
In the past 30 years, carotenoid‐based animal signals have been an intense focus of research because they can potentially broadcast an honest reflection of individual reproductive potential. Our understanding of the underpinning physiological functions of carotenoid compounds is still emerging, however. Here, we argue that wildlife researchers and managers interested in assessing the impact of environmental...
Lack of food for nestlings is a crucial factor influencing population size and dynamics in birds. It is one of the most cited reasons for recent House Sparrow Passer domesticus population declines in cities and rural settlements. However, a detailed comparative study of habitat use by parents delivering food to offspring in different environments is still missing. To obtain the most detailed information...
Raptor communities are negatively impacted by urbanization. However, some species can thrive in urban areas. Raptor species traits that favour their presence in urban areas have been scarcely studied. Moreover, phylogenetic relatedness may be a factor promoting raptor occurrence in urban areas. In this study, we use data gathered through citizen science in Argentina to analyse the phylogenetic signal...
Despite urbanization's general erosion of biodiversity, towns and cities provide novel opportunities for some species. During the 20th century, gulls (Laridae) colonized urban areas around the world where they flourished. At the same time, some coastal populations declined. The reasons for this difference are not fully understood, partly because little is known about any ecological differences between...
Animals can evade interference from anthropogenic noise using strategies such as shifting frequencies upwards or increasing the duration of their signals. In this study, we compared the time and frequency‐related characteristics of songs and rain calls of Common Chaffinches Fringilla coelebs inhabiting rural forests and an urban park in Turkey. Most of the song phrases and rain calls did not differ...
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