BUSCADOR RECOLECTA

Between 30 June and 10 July 2013 we conducted a field experiment in central Spain to investigate the suitability of different plant species to attract ants as a tool used by European Honey buzzards (Pernis apivorus) in anting behaviour, under the assumption that buzzards would prefer easy-to-collect twigs from plants that effectively attract ants to perform anting behaviour. First, we estimated the strength needed to break 30 fresh twigs from the species that the buzzard used most frequently (maple tree), as well as from other abundant plants in the community, including rock rose, hawthorn, and Pyrenean oak. Second, we conducted a selection experiment at 23 random points to compare the effectiveness of ant attraction by these four species, measured as the total number of ants attracted, Peer reviewed

Between 1988 and 2016, we investigated the effects of breeding density and body size on natal dispersal propensity in a pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) population breeding in nest-boxes in two different habitats in central Spain (41°04'N, 3°27'W − 40°40'N, 4°80'W). Body size was measured as tarsus length. Breeding density was estimated as the annual number of nest-boxes occupied by pied flycatchers relative to the total area of each forest patch. Dispersal rates between habitats were also calculated by dividing the number of recruits that moved from their natal to the alternative habitat patch by the total number of recruits that returned to the study area each year. In addition, we calculated the annual rates of immigration to each habitat, expressed as the number of unbanded birds relative to the total number of birds in a given year., Peer reviewed