Ecological Studies of the Rook (Corvus frugilegus L.) in North-East Scotland: Food Intake and Feeding Behaviour

Feare, C. J.; Dunnet, G. M.; Patterson, I. J.

doi:10.2307/2401751

Cited by 65 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…At this time in northeast Scotland, food-stocks were minimal, because of a reduction in the numbers of fields in which birds (Feare 1972, Feare et al 1974.…”

Section: Rook Corvusfrugilegusmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Food in Limiting Bird Numbers

Newton¹

2002

Ardea

116

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“…At this time in northeast Scotland, food-stocks were minimal, because of a reduction in the numbers of fields in which birds (Feare 1972, Feare et al 1974.…”

Section: Rook Corvusfrugilegusmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Food in Limiting Bird Numbers

Newton¹

2002

Ardea

116

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“…In north-east Scotland, for example, it has been shown by Feare et al (1974) that at any time of year Rooks spent most of their feeding time on one or two 'major' crops. Whenever grain was available, at least one grain-yielding crop was used extensively, but during the breeding period, although grain was important, more time was spent on crops which yielded invertebrates (eg grassland and cultivation in progress).…”

Section: Density In Relation To Soils and Land Usementioning

confidence: 99%

The 1975 National Survey of Rookeries

Sage¹,

Vernon²

1978

Bird Study

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Comparisons of national Rook censuses in 1944-46 and1975, and various A Report to the British Trust for OrnithologyA SURVEY OF ROOKERIES IN ENGLAND, SCOTLAND AND WALES was carried out between [1944][1945][1946] under the auspices of the British Trust for Ornithology, at the request of the Agricultural Research Council. The survey was organised by the late James Fisher and covered about two-thirds of the country (90,000 sq. miles or 233,100 km 2 ). By extrapolation, the total of adult Rooks Corvus frugilegus was estimated at about 3 million birds, distributed as follows : England and the Isle of Man, 1.75 to 2 million; Wales and Monmouth, 200,000; and Scotland, 750,000 (Fisher 1947). It was concluded that the Rook population of Britain had increased by about 20% since the 1930s. This situation was paralleled elsewhere, as for example in the Netherlands where census work indicated an increase of some 21% from 1936 to 1944.In Britain the increase continued, with some exceptions, into the late 1950s and early 1960s (Parslow 1967), but then came evidence (eg Dobbs 1964, Lomas 1968, Sage 1972) that marked declines were taking place in many areas. These population changes, which will be discussed in detail below, led to the decision to launch a survey throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in 1975, with the objectives of (i) establishing as accurately as possible the size of the breeding population, and (ii) of recording the locations of the rookeries. Most of the fieldwork was done in 1975, but in a few areas more work was necessary in 1976, and some 10 km squares in east Norfolk and Northern Ireland could not be surveyed until 1977.The original record cards have been deposited with the British Trust for Ornithology, and copies of those for Scotland may also be found at the offices of the Scottish Ornithologists' Club in Edinburgh. In addition, copies of schedules showing the number of rookeries and nests for each 10 km square, county by county, have been deposited with the BTO and the Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology in Oxford.The ideal of locating and counting every rookery in Britain during the period of a survey is probably unattainable in practice. Because of this, and the counting difficulties mentioned below, the figures presented here must be regarded as minimum estimates of the breeding population. Nevertheless, they constitute the most complete record to date for this species, and will form a sound base against which to assess the results of future surveys. As a breeding species the Rook is generally distributed over most of Britain, but is sparse in north-west Scotland, Orkney and Shetland, and parts of upland Wales (Figures 1-2). The colonisation of Shetland occurred as recently as 1952 (Venables and Venables 1955).THE 1975 SURVEY -METHODS For the purpose of this survey a rookery was defined as any group of nests 100 metres or more from the next nearest group. Whilst this is an arbitrary definition it has the advantage of being relatively easy to apply in the field, althoug...

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“…Feare, Dunnet and Patterson (1974) found that in NE Scotland Rooks could be caught only during spring and again in early summer. In this study, trapping was attempted with automatic cage traps (see Appendix) between January and August 1979, and again from November 1979 to July 1980, using bread and oats as bait, although other items were tried (see below).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…However, whereas the cold-induced food shortage, which coincides with a high food demand of the growing young, resulted in successful trapping, that resulting from dry, warm weather did not. This latter dryness coincides with an increase in food demand due to the onset of moult (Feare et al 1974). The latter finding is surprising as there is evidence of a food shortage; lack of rain and higher temperatures resulted in a predictable gathering of Rooks into large flocks on a few damp fields (Green in prep).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Some results from trapping rooks

Green

1981

Ringing & Migration

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INTRODUCTIONThe catching of crows, Corvus spp., can be a time consuming and expensive process (Rowley 1968), and during a study of the social behaviour of the Rook Corvus frugilegus ringing and wing-tagging of large numbers of this species was necessary. Several trap designs were tried and a cheap, effective one developed which could be of use to ringers. This paper investigates the effects of seasonal factors and design of the trap on trapping success. Over 500 Rooks were caught over two years, and the results of morphometric analysis are given and discussed. All trapping was done within 100 m of a rookery situated 20 miles south of Edinburgh in the Borders Region of southern Scotland, 55°44'N., 2°54'W.

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Ecological Studies of the Rook (Corvus frugilegus L.) in North-East Scotland: Food Intake and Feeding Behaviour

Cited by 65 publications

References 24 publications

The Role of Food in Limiting Bird Numbers

The Role of Food in Limiting Bird Numbers

The 1975 National Survey of Rookeries

Some results from trapping rooks

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