Abstract
The nesting behaviour of the great tit (Parus major) from nest preparation to fledging was followed continuously by video-recording in two identical nest-boxes over two seasons during 2020 and 2021 in the same large rural garden. Unexpectedly, the production of a series of regurgitation pellets (RPs) by the nestlings was recorded during the 2020 season. No pellet regurgitation was recorded during the 2021 season. Recordings were also made of adult great tits producing small RPs as they roosted. I suggest that this unprecedented RP production by nestlings resulted from the consumption of suboptimal food items due to the poor breeding season of 2020.
Publisher
Glasgow Natural History Society
Subject
Library and Information Sciences,General Medicine,Music,Cultural Studies,Nutrition and Dietetics,Food Science,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health,Multidisciplinary,Education,Orthopedics and Sports Medicine,Emergency Medicine,Surgery,Animal Science and Zoology,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics,Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous),Animal Science and Zoology,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Reference27 articles.
1. Barba E., Gil-Delgado, J.E. & Monrós, J.S. (1995). The costs of being late: consequences of delaying great tit Parus major first clutches. Journal of Animal Ecology 64, 642-651.
2. Betts, M.M. (1955). The behaviour of a pair of great tits at the nest. British Birds 48,77-82.
3. Cowie, R.J. & Hinsley, S.A. (1988). Feeding ecology of great tits (Parus major) and blue tits (Parus caeruleus), breeding in suburban gardens. Journal of Animal Ecology 57, 611-626.
4. Da Paz Pereira, Z. & Melo, C. (2012). Nestling’s pellets of the Great Kiskadee (Pitangus sulphuratus) in Brazilian urban environment. Ornitologia Neotropical 23, 269-276.
5. Davies, N.B. (1977a). Prey selection and social behaviour in wagtails (Aves: Motacillidae). Journal of Animal Ecology 46, 37-57.