Effect of supplemental food on the breeding of blue and great tits in Mediterranean habitats
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Published source details
Clamens A. & Isenmann P. (1989) Effect of supplemental food on the breeding of blue and great tits in Mediterranean habitats. Ornis Scandinavica, 20, 36-42.
Published source details Clamens A. & Isenmann P. (1989) Effect of supplemental food on the breeding of blue and great tits in Mediterranean habitats. Ornis Scandinavica, 20, 36-42.
Actions
This study is summarised as evidence for the following.
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Provide supplementary food for songbirds to increase reproductive success Action Link |
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Provide supplementary food for songbirds to increase reproductive success
A cross-over study in a coppiced oak forest in southern France in 1986-7 (Clamens & Isenmann 1989) found that blue tit Parus caeruleus and great tit P. major pairs in an area provided with supplementary food started laying clutches significantly earlier than pairs in a control (unfed) area (1986: 9 pairs in a 10 ha fed area laid six days earlier than 26 pairs in a 50 ha control area; 1987: 15 pairs in a 30 ha fed area laid five days earlier than 18 pairs in a 30 ha control area). However there were no significant differences in clutch size or the number of young hatched between treatments (average of 9.2 eggs/clutch for 24 fed clutchea vs. 8.3-9.1 eggs/clutch for 44 controls) and, in 1987, significantly fewer chicks fledged from blue tit nests in fed areas than control areas (average of 3.0 chicks/nest for 11 fed pairs vs. 6.3 chicks/nest for 15 controls). There was no significant difference in productivity in 1986 (7.1 chicks/nest for seven from fed areas vs. 7.3 chicks/nest for 23 controls). The authors suggest this could be due to fed clutches hatching before the peak in natural food in 1987.
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