Anthropogenic material in pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) nests varies with local habitat features and between nest sections

Abstract

Anthropogenic materials are often incorporated into bird's nests in marine and terrestrial habitats globally, although we understand very little about the non-random abundance, and variation in the abundance, of anthropogenic materials in the wider environment and in different sections of bird's nests. Here, we address these oversights by examining if the abundance of anthropogenic material in the environment is influenced by local habitat features and if their abundance varies between the outer and inner sections of pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) nests in rural woodlands. Locations in the wider environment with farms, houses and barns contained more anthropogenic material than locations without them, whilst the presence of roads, footpaths and hedges was not associated with the abundance of anthropogenic material in the environment. Nestboxes occupied by pied flycatchers had a greater mass of anthropogenic material in the environment surrounding nestboxes than unoccupied nestboxes. Meanwhile, pied flycatchers incorporated more white and to a lesser extent orange anthropogenic material into the inner and outer sections of their nests, whilst not including significant amounts of red, blue and yellow anthropogenic material. Our results suggest that local habitat features influence the abundance of anthropogenic material in the wider environment, which is presumably because such material is more abundant in modified habitats and that anthropogenic materials are non-randomly incorporated into birds’ nests in relation to their colour and also the nest section. Our study therefore increases our understanding of the incorporation of anthropogenic material into birds’ nests.