<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Since urbanization is a worldwide phenomenon, numerous species have gained the advantage of urban ecosystems. The Eurasian Collared Doves <italic>(Streptopelia decaocto)</italic> has become widespread all across Europe along with human-altered habitats. In general, population levels are stable but numbers have locally decreased in the past few decades. In parallel, a new wave of urbanization came forward, so Wood Pigeons <italic>(Columba palumbus)</italic> entered urban ecosystems alongside with other Columbidae species. In this paper, our primary goal was to find any connection between habitat availability factors such as coniferous tree density and the population dynamics of two urbanized species. A locally emerging corvid species, the Hooded Crow <italic>(Corvus cornix)</italic> was also taken into consideration in influencing tree-nesting doves and pigeons as a primary nest predator. During the research period, we aimed to express the differences in habitat structure of two urban ecotypes by nesting tree availability and structure and to prove the power of predator presence in sampling sites. Our results showed that residential areas have a higher proportion of coniferous trees, as well as the high preference of residential areas by Wood Pigeons and Eurasian Collared Doves.</p></abstract>

Since urbanization is a worldwide phenomenon, numerous species have gained the advantage of urban ecosystems. The Eurasian Collared Doves (Streptopelia decaocto) has become widespread all across Europe along with human-altered habitats. In general, population levels are stable but numbers have locally decreased in the past few decades. In parallel, a new wave of urbanization came forward, so Wood Pigeons (Columba palumbus) entered urban ecosystems alongside with other Columbidae species. In this paper, our primary goal was to find any connection between habitat availability factors such as coniferous tree density and the population dynamics of two urbanized species. A locally emerging corvid species, the Hooded Crow (Corvus cornix) was also taken into consideration in influencing tree-nesting doves and pigeons as a primary nest predator. During the research period, we aimed to express the differences in habitat structure of two urban ecotypes by nesting tree availability and structure and to prove the power of predator presence in sampling sites. Our results showed that residential areas have a higher proportion of coniferous trees, as well as the high preference of residential areas by Wood Pigeons and Eurasian Collared Doves.

Population dynamics and habitat preference of two urbanized Columbidae species and their nest predator in two settlement types

Department of Nature Conservation Zoology and Game Management

Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Environmental Management

Ornis Hungarica

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Since urbanization is a worldwide phenomenon, numerous species have gained the advantage of urban ecosystems. The Eurasian Collared Doves (Streptopelia...

Population dynamics and habitat preference of two urbanized Columbidae species and their nest predator in two settlement types

Published Online: Dec 16, 2020

Page range: 146 - 157

Received: Jul 10, 2020

Accepted: Oct 16, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/orhu-2020-0023

Keywords
urbanization, Eurasian Collared Dove, Wood Pigeon, Hooded Crow, coniferous tree-availability

© 2020 Sámuel Zsolt Varga et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Population dynamics and habitat preference of two urbanized Columbidae species and their nest predator in two settlement types

Published Online: Dec 16, 2020

Page range: 146 - 157

Received: Jul 10, 2020

Accepted: Oct 16, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/orhu-2020-0023

Keywordsurbanization, Eurasian Collared Dove, Wood Pigeon, Hooded Crow, coniferous tree-availability

© 2020 Sámuel Zsolt Varga et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
urbanization, Eurasian Collared Dove, Wood Pigeon, Hooded Crow, coniferous tree-availability