June 21,
2018, University of Lincoln
Young
turtle doves raised on a diet of seeds from non-cultivated arable plants are
more likely to survive after fledging than those relying on food provided in
people's gardens, new research into Britain's fastest declining bird species
has shown.
Ecologists
at the University of Lincoln, UK, investigated the dietary habits of adult and
nestling European turtle doves – an IUCN Red List Threatened Species – breeding
in the UK, using DNA analysis of faecal samples. They
found significant associations between the body condition and the diet of
the bird.
Nestling
turtle doves still being fed by their parents were found to thrive on seeds
foraged from non-cultivated arable plants such as scarlet pimpernel and
chickweed, but the birds were in poorer condition when their diet was high in
seeds provided by humans in back gardens or public spaces. In contrast, adult
body condition was better when more cultivated seeds such as wheat, oil seed rape
and barley were present in the diet.
Data
collected for the study, which was carried out in collaboration with the Royal
Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), the University of Sheffield and
Cardiff University, was compared with the results of previous studies carried
out in the 1960s and 1990s. It revealed a fundamental shift in the diet of
turtle doves, showing that the birds are now relying more heavily on food found
in gardens, such as sunflower and niger seeds, than they did 50 years ago.
As the
UK's fastest declining bird species, the results
of the study have important implications for conservation strategies to save
the turtle dove. Previous research has shown that nestling birds with better
body condition are more likely to survive after fledging and strategies should
be developed to provide the correct diet for the bird at each stage of its life.
