Breeding Parameters and Recruitment in Feral PigeonsColumba liviaf.Domestica

Abstract

This research was conducted on the Feral Pigeon population in Slupsk (NW Poland). Breeding parameters and the number of parental pairs' young recruited into the breeding population were determined for 52–112 marked pairs over three breeding seasons. Pairs had an average of 4.4 broods and produced 3.6 fledglings per breeding season. From 39 to 49% of pairs in various seasons did not have any young recruited. Every fourth pair (25–30%) had a single young bird recruited, from 12 to 20% of pairs — two young, from 4 to 11% — 3 young, and 6% of pairs had from four to six young recruited. The number of recruits depended on the breeding parameters of the parents: it was lowest among young pairs (low quality birds), those that began breeding late in the season, had a short breeding season, or low breeding success. In contrast, high quality birds with a long breeding season, the highest reproductive parameters and breeding success, had the most young recruited. Survival rate of young after leaving the nest was not found to be influenced by the starting date or the length of the breeding season of pairs. However, nesting conditions, such as pair density in colonies, may influence the fate of young birds after they leave the nest and are recruited.