Home – Home – Jornals – Contemporary Problems of Ecology 2009 number 3

Features of the nesting biology of four species of birds nesting in tree hollows are investigated under the conditions of a city: common starling (Sturnus vulgaris L)., great tit (Parus major L.), common redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus L.) and pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca Pall). Under urban conditions, number of eggs in a nest of a redstart is significantly larger, while for great tit and pied flycatcher it is significantly smaller; differences between the populations of starling are unessential. Successfulness of reproduction for the birds nesting in tree hollows is significantly higher in a city and exceeds the reference value for all the species by 10-20 %. The number of baby birds per a reproduction attempt is also higher in the city for all the species. Starling population in the city exceeds the reference population in the successfulness of reproduction mainly due to a decrease in the fraction of neglected eggs. The leading reasons of an increase in the reproduction success of other species at the urban territory are weakened pressure of predators and a decrease in the fraction of neglected broods.