Breeding Barn Swallows Hirundo rustica on organic and conventional arable farms in the Netherlands

Kragten, Steven; Reinstra, Erwin; Gertenaar, Erik

doi:10.1007/s10336-009-0383-5

Cited by 8 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Barn Swallow nests were also counted on all these farms during spring 2005. Skylark and Lapwing were both breeding in higher densities on organic farms (Kragten and de Snoo 2008), but there was no difference in the number of breeding Barn Swallows between the two farming types (Kragten et al 2009). In contrast to Skylarks, breeding densities of other species feeding mainly on ground-dwelling invertebrates, such as Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava and Meadow Pipit Anthus pratensis , did not differ between the two farming systems.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…In this way, not only was an overall picture obtained of the effects of organic farming on bird food abundance, but insights were also obtained into which types of crop potentially provide the greatest availability of food items. Breeding bird surveys have also been carried out on the same farms included in this study (Kragten and de Snoo 2008, Kragten et al 2009). Consequently, this study could provide additional insight into the effects of differences in food abundance between organic and conventional arable farms on breeding bird densities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Abundance of invertebrate prey for birds on organic and conventional arable farms in the Netherlands

Kragten

Tamis

Gertenaar

et al. 2010

Bird Conservation International

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SummaryAs a result of agricultural intensification, populations of farmland birds have been in steep decline for several decades. Reduction in food abundance has been mentioned as one factor behind these declines. Extensive farm management, such as use of organic methods, is expected to provide more food for birds. In this study we compared invertebrate prey abundance for birds during the breeding season between organic and conventional arable farms. We made comparisons for three different groups of birds: (1) birds feeding on soil-living invertebrates (earthworms), (2) birds feeding on ground-dwelling invertebrates and (3) birds feeding on aerial invertebrates. Invertebrate abundance was compared between organic and conventional farms, crop and non-crop habitats, and between crop and non-crop habitats under the same farm management. On organic sites, earthworm abundance was 2-4 times higher than on conventional sites, but no differences were found between crop types. Total abundance of ground-dwelling invertebrates did not differ between organic and conventional sites, but positive effects were found for several individual taxonomic groups, such as carabid beetles and spiders. On organic farms, invertebrate abundance was higher in carrots, cereals and onions compared to other crops; on conventional farms this was true for onions. When compared with most crops, ground-dwelling invertebrate abundance was low in uncropped field margins and on ditch banks. On organic farms, aerial invertebrate abundance was approximately 70% higher than on conventional farms. On cereal fields, aerial invertebrates were especially abundant.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Abundance of invertebrate prey for birds on organic and conventional arable farms in the Netherlands

Kragten

Tamis

Gertenaar

et al. 2010

Bird Conservation International

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“…A less intensive approach to farming and a more wildlife-friendly agriculture, which should be promoted by the future Common Agricultural Policy, may be beneficial for farmland birds in general (Báldi and Batáry 2011) and, hopefully, also for the Barn Swallow. However, the benefit of an environmentally friendly approach to agriculture for Barn Swallow is not unequivocal, as this species was found to be more abundant in organic than in traditional farms in Denmark (Christensen et al 1996), but not in the Netherlands (Kragten and de Snoo 2008, Kragten et al 2009). In addition, Barn Swallows population levels were not correlated with agricultural intensification in Britain (Robinson et al 2003).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Maintenance of livestock farming may buffer population decline of the Barn SwallowHirundo rustica

Ambrosini

Rubolini

Trovò³

et al. 2012

Bird Conservation International

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SummaryPopulations of farmland and long-distance migratory birds have suffered steep, often dramatic, declines in the last few decades. The Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica is a small migratory farmland bird that breeds synanthropically in farms, particularly where livestock is reared. Populations of this species have suffered marked declines in different parts of its European breeding range. Here, we first report a dramatic decline of 8.4% per year of the number of breeding pairs and the extinction of 19.6% of the colonies in three agricultural areas in Northern Italy, which differ in general ecological conditions. This decline was estimated on a very large sample of 190 randomly chosen farms where breeding pairs were censused both in 2001 and 2010, and occurred at different rates in the three study areas. Barn Swallows declined most (9.3% per year) in an intensively cultivated area where colonies are widespread, and least (1.3% per year) in a hilly area with a comparatively small density of colonies. Variation in livestock farming significantly influenced population dynamics. Specifically, cessation of livestock farming at a given farm between the two census years resulted in a significantly steeper decline in the number of breeding pairs compared to farms where livestock farming was maintained. Our findings highlight the fact that European populations of Barn Swallows breeding in intensively cultivated agro-ecosystems may become significantly depleted in the next decades, and indicate that maintenance of livestock farming may contribute to buffering the population decline of this species.

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“…An example of a bird species closely associated with agricultural activities and humans, and very sensitive to recent changes in agriculture, is the Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica [4][5][6]. This species breeds mainly in buildings where farm animals, mainly cows or pigs, are kept [7][8][9][10][11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The ongoing intensification of agriculture, especially a decline in the number of small farm holdings, termination of dairy farming and changes in the distribution of cattle, are shown as the main factors reducing breeding sites. This, in turn, has affected the negative trend of Barn Swallow numbers in rural areas of north-western Europe [3,[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. Møller [8,9] maintains that the decline of Barn Swallow populations is caused mainly by the reduction of its food resources, large Diptera, associated with cow rearing, mostly horse flies Tabanidae, hover flies Syrphidae and muscid flies Muscidae, which may constitute over 90% of the diet [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diet of nestling Barn Swallows Hirundo rustica in rural areas of Poland

Orłowski

Karg

2011

Open Life Sciences

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Analysis of faecal sacs of nestling Barn Swallows Hirundo rustica from 52 breeding colonies located within fifteen spatially-separated villages in Poland has revealed that the basic component of the diet was Coleoptera (56.1% of all identified prey items), followed by Hymenoptera (24.1%), Diptera (16.1%) and Hemiptera (3.3%). The average mass of all prey items with known weight amounted to 3.40 mg (95% CL, 3.16–3.63 mg; median=0.49 mg) dry weight. Coleopterans associated with dung and manure jointly made up 23.5% of the number and 24.3% of the total biomass of all representatives of the order. Statistically significant negative relationships between the average weight of prey and number of prey found in 52 analyzed breeding sites suggest a particular need for Barn Swallows to find larger-bodied prey rather than to exploit the local abundance of smaller prey. The high percentage of Coleoptera in the diet of nestling Barn Swallows probably results from extensive or traditional farm management based on rules of organic farming in agricultural areas of central Europe, mainly commonly used organic fertilizers, and suggests the importance of these insects as a more easily accessible and larger-bodied prey in comparison to some small Diptera or Hymenoptera. We believe that a large number of randomly collected faecal samples from tens of breeding sites allow us to precisely describe variation in the diet of the Barn Swallow. Our work has great importance for documenting of the food composition of the Barn Swallow in traditional European countrysides, i.e. under environmental and agricultural conditions which, as a result of transformations of the system of farming, ceased to exist in the western and northern part of this continent.

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Breeding Barn Swallows Hirundo rustica on organic and conventional arable farms in the Netherlands

Cited by 8 publications

References 12 publications

Abundance of invertebrate prey for birds on organic and conventional arable farms in the Netherlands

Abundance of invertebrate prey for birds on organic and conventional arable farms in the Netherlands

Maintenance of livestock farming may buffer population decline of the Barn SwallowHirundo rustica

Diet of nestling Barn Swallows Hirundo rustica in rural areas of Poland

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