Artificial nests for Barn Swallows <i>Hirundo rustica</i>: a conservation option for a declining passerine?

Teglhøj, Peter Györkös

doi:10.1080/00063657.2018.1516192

Cited by 8 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…The nest predation rate we observed across sites was similar to rates observed in Barn Swallows elsewhere in North America (Donahue et al 2018) but higher than predation rates reported from D r a f t Europe (Møller 1987;Teglhøj 2018). We observed a seasonal decline in rates of nest predation indicated by lower predation on second broods than first broods, similar to other studies in North America (Donahue et al 2018).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

“…Low prey availability may have decreased chick quality leading to low post-fledgling survival, which has been documented in Europe (Teglhøj 2018). We did not monitor chick quality during the nestling period.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Alternatively, old nests may be attractive to Barn Swallows because nest reuse can have reproductive benefits. Barn Swallows reusing nests raised more young than D r a f t those that built new nests (Safran 2006;Teglhøj 2018). However, reusing nests is not always advantageous since old nests are more likely to harbour parasites that are detrimental to chick health (Møller 1990).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As we had only two years of data for this study, we cannot currently make broad conclusions about how weather conditions affect prey abundance and the probability of producing a second brood. Additionally, other events in the breeding cycle, such as nest building, require energy and may affect investment in second brooding (Mainwaring and Hartley 2013;Teglhøj 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Does prey availability affect the reproductive performance of Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica) breeding in Ontario, Canada?

2019

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Animal populations are often limited by food availability, particularly during the breeding season. In birds, food limitation can impact several components of the reproductive cycle, including the timing of reproduction and reproductive output. Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica Linnaeus, 1758) have experienced a population decline over the past 40 years in North America that is thought to be related to changes in prey availability. We monitored Barn Swallow reproductive behaviour and prey availability throughout two breeding seasons at 10 sites in Ontario, Canada, to test the hypothesis that limited prey availability during the breeding season affected reproductive behaviour. We found no relationship between food availability and number of eggs laid or number of young fledged. Neither did we observe higher rates of second brooding or more pairs nesting at breeding sites with higher food availability. Barn Swallows did not time their reproductive effort to maximize prey availability during the nesting period, but any mismatch in phenology of prey and bird reproduction at a breeding site was not associated with lower reproductive success. The results of this study did not support our hypothesis and suggest that Barn Swallow reproductive behaviour was not negatively affected by limited prey availability on the breeding grounds.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Does prey availability affect the reproductive performance of Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica) breeding in Ontario, Canada?

2019

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“…One explanation for this might be that older birds are the first to occupy existing nests (Piersma 2013) and are more experienced at building nests and rearing broods, and thus more likely to have high reproductive success (Forslund & Pärt 1995). The findings that birds nesting in previously used nests have an increased breeding performance are in line with work carried out on House Martins elsewhere (Bryant 1979, Piersma 2013) and on other hirundines (Safran 2006, Teglhøj 2018), where old nests are generally taken up early and produce multiple broods with more nestlings. There might be a trade‐off, as old bird nests generally have more parasites (Tomás et al .…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

Using citizen science to assess drivers of Common House Martin Delichon urbicum breeding performance

Kettel

Woodward

Balmer

et al. 2020

Ibis

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Many hirundine (swallows and martins) species are declining throughout their ranges. The Common House Martin Delichon urbicum is a migratory hirundine that breeds throughout Europe but has shown recent declines in some parts of the UK, particularly in the south. We conducted a large‐scale citizen science survey to assess how the breeding performance of House Martins, measured by the number of attempted broods and nest success, is influenced by nest‐specific, landscape and weather factors. Pairs in eastern parts of the UK started breeding earlier than those in the west, and breeding performance was higher in eastern regions. There was no effect of latitude on either aspect of breeding performance, so our measures of breeding performance alone do not help to explain differences in population trends across the UK. The probability of attempting multiple broods and producing successful nests was higher in previously used nests than in newly built nests, and in artificial nests than in natural nests. Nests built on plastic soffits of buildings were less likely to be multi‐brooded and less likely to be successful compared with other materials. Suggested conservation measures therefore include discouraging the removal of old nests and encouraging the installation of artificial nests, particularly on buildings with plastic soffits. This study provides comprehensive insight into the breeding biology of House Martins, and although our findings do not show conclusively that breeding performance is the sole driver of population trends, they go some way to explain declines in House Martins and ultimately provide information that may help conserve this species.

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Natal dispersal and recruitment of Barn SwallowsHirundo rusticain an urban habitat

Teglhøj

2020

Bird Study

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Artificial nests for Barn Swallows Hirundo rustica: a conservation option for a declining passerine?

Cited by 8 publications

References 45 publications

Does prey availability affect the reproductive performance of Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica) breeding in Ontario, Canada?

Does prey availability affect the reproductive performance of Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica) breeding in Ontario, Canada?

Using citizen science to assess drivers of Common House Martin Delichon urbicum breeding performance

Natal dispersal and recruitment of Barn SwallowsHirundo rusticain an urban habitat

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