Bird fauna changes in a small urban park in South Sweden, over a period of 34 years

Magnus Ahlgren,Ulf Ottosson

doi:10.34080/os.v26.22529

Abstract

The density of birds in urban landscapes, including parks, is poorly known. In this study we present surveys of a small city park in south Sweden. The surveys were conducted in April–June 1980 and in May–June 2014. The study plot has an area of 5.1 ha. We found 143 pairs of 22 species in 1980 and 151 pairs of 26 species in 2014 (2,800 and 2,960 pairs/km2). Turdus pilaris was the most common species in 1980 and Columba palumbus in 2014. Three species showed significant decline: T. pilaris 38 to 15 pairs, Fringilla coelebs 12 to 5 pairs and Carduelis chloris 18 to 12 pairs, while Turdus merula increased from 11 to 15 pairs. Two species, T. merula and Sylvia atricapilla, nesting both 1980 and 2014, showed increasing numbers that are consistent with these species’ population increase in Sweden. The bird densities in this study are considerably higher compared to what is generally observed in southern Sweden. Further study is required to establish whether the high densities are due to chance or edge effect.

Highlights

There is a general interest among ornithologists, amateurs and professionals alike, to know and understand bird abundance and its variation over time and space
The highest densities for single species was that of Fieldfare with 745 pairs/km2 in 1980 and that of Wood Pigeon with 313 pairs/km2 in 2014 (Table 2)
The number of species and the number of breeding pairs was quite similar between the two years, but there was high turnover in the species composition

Summary

Introduction

There is a general interest among ornithologists, amateurs and professionals alike, to know and understand bird abundance and its variation over time and space. In Sweden urban areas, or “built-up areas”, constitute about 3% of the total land area (SCB 2013). This is only a small fraction of Sweden, but it is the habitat in which most people live. In the recent book on the number of breeding birds in Sweden (Ottosson et al 2012), only ive of more than 700 references (0.7%) are about birds in urban areas, none of which are dedicated speciically to parks. Jokimäki 1999 and many references therein), but compared to the total number of publications on bird abundance and population variation in birds, data from urban areas are scanty Outside Sweden we ind more quantitative work (e.g. Jokimäki 1999 and many references therein), but compared to the total number of publications on bird abundance and population variation in birds, data from urban areas are scanty

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Conclusion