Abstract
The reaction of wildlife to humans is known to differ with surroundings. In urban environments that provide suitable habitats for breeding birds, animals adapt to humans and their response is accordingly altered. This study examined the nest defense behavior of female Eurasian sparrowhawks (Accipiter nisus) during the breeding season in urban and rural areas of Prague. The females showed four different types of reaction to humans that approached the nest and differed significantly between the two study areas. Contrary to expectations, urban nesting females were more aggressive than rural conspecifics. The intensity of response increased as the season progressed, and females defended their broods to a much greater degree than their clutches in both urban and rural habitats, suggesting a differential effort as a function of their relative investment in the breeding attempt conforming with the parental investment hypothesis.
Highlights
Wildlife are known react to perceived danger, including human presence, which affects their normal behavior and responses in a wide range of species-specific ways (Dukas, 2001; Wojciechowski & Yosef, 2011)
The responses of females were observed at 17 rural nest sites and 19 urban nest sites
We discovered that the females in urban areas appeared to have much higher stress levels than those in the rural areas
Summary
Wildlife are known react to perceived danger, including human presence, which affects their normal behavior and responses in a wide range of species-specific ways (Dukas, 2001; Wojciechowski & Yosef, 2011). In the presence of persecution, or high levels of disturbance resulting in stress or unsuccessful breeding, it would be maladaptive to habituate to human predominant environments and birds can be expected to display avoidance behavior or increased aggression towards the instigator of the disturbance (Shannon et al, 2014). Persecuted avian species are known to behave differently in rural and urban environments (Kenney & Knight, 1992). As a result of direct persecution/disturbance and subsequent evasion, breeding birds react to perceived danger with stereotypic antipredator behavior. Knight & Temple (1986) discovered that nest defense behavior was gradually modified by repeated visits to the nests, resulting in the parents’ loss of fear
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