Provide supplementary food for kingfishers to increase reproductive success

Overall effectiveness category Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence)
Number of studies: 1
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How is the evidence assessed?

Effectiveness

33%
Certainty

13%
Harms

0%

Calculating overall effectiveness category

Study locations

Key messages

A controlled study in the USA found that belted kingfisher Ceryle alcyon supplied with food had heavier nestlings and were more likely to renest. There was mixed evidence for the effect of feeding on laying date.

About key messages

Key messages provide a descriptive index to studies we have found that test this intervention.

Studies are not directly comparable or of equal value. When making decisions based on this evidence, you should consider factors such as study size, study design, reported metrics and relevance of the study to your situation, rather than simply counting the number of studies that support a particular interpretation.

Supporting evidence from individual studies

A controlled study of breeding pairs of belted kingfisher Ceryle alcyon in Colorado, USA (Kelly & Van Horne 1997), found that birds that nested earlier had heavier nestlings and were more likely to renest in the event of nest failure. In 1994 and 1995, food supplementation from early in the prebreeding season (8 March) was associated with earlier nest initiation. However, no supplemented nests occurred earlier than the earliest nests in 1992, in which there had been no feeding stations. A smaller amount of food started later in the season (20 April) in the previous year had been without effect.
Study and other actions tested
Referenced paper
Kelly J.F. & Van Horne B. (1997) Effects of food supplementation on the timing of nest initiation in belted kingfishers. Ecology, 78, 2504-2511.

Please cite as:

Williams, D.R., Child, M.F., Dicks, L.V., Ockendon, N., Pople, R.G., Showler, D.A., Walsh, J.C., zu Ermgassen, E.K.H.J. & Sutherland, W.J. (2020) Bird Conservation. Pages 137-281 in: W.J. Sutherland, L.V. Dicks, S.O. Petrovan & R.K. Smith (eds) What Works in Conservation 2020. Open Book Publishers, Cambridge, UK.

Where has this evidence come from?

List of journals searched by synopsis

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This Action forms part of the Action Synopsis:

Bird Conservation

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