Urbanization affects neophilia and risk-taking at bird-feeders.

Urban environments cover vast areas with a high density of humans and their dogs and cats causing problems for exploitation of new resources by wild animals. Such resources facilitate colonization by individuals with a high level of neophilia predicting that urban animals should show more neophilia than rural conspecifics. We provided bird-feeders across urban environments in 14 Polish cities and matched nearby rural habitats, testing whether the presence of a novel item (a brightly coloured green object made out of gum with a tuft of hair) differentially delayed arrival at feeders in rural compared to urban habitats. The presence of a novel object reduced the number of great tits Parus major, but also the total number of all species of birds although differentially so in urban compared to rural areas. That was the case independent of the potentially confounding effects of temperature, population density of birds, and the abundance of cats, dogs and pedestrians. The number of great tits and the total number of birds attending feeders increased in urban compared to rural areas independent of local population density of birds. This implies that urban birds have high levels of neophilia allowing them to readily exploit unpredictable resources in urban environments.

Winter Bird Assemblages in Rural and Urban Environments: A National Survey.

Urban development has a marked effect on the ecological and behavioural traits of many living organisms, including birds. In this paper, we analysed differences in the numbers of wintering birds between rural and urban areas in Poland. We also analysed species richness and abundance in relation to longitude, latitude, human population size, and landscape structure. All these parameters were analysed using modern statistical techniques incorporating species detectability. We counted birds in 156 squares (0.25 km2 each) in December 2012 and again in January 2013 in locations in and around 26 urban areas across Poland (in each urban area we surveyed 3 squares and 3 squares in nearby rural areas). The influence of twelve potential environmental variables on species abundance and richness was assessed with Generalized Linear Mixed Models, Principal Components and Detrended Correspondence Analyses. Totals of 72 bird species and 89,710 individual birds were recorded in this study. On average (± SE) 13.3 ± 0.3 species and 288 ± 14 individuals were recorded in each square in each survey. A formal comparison of rural and urban areas revealed that 27 species had a significant preference; 17 to rural areas and 10 to urban areas. Moreover, overall abundance in urban areas was more than double that of rural areas. There was almost a complete separation of rural and urban bird communities. Significantly more birds and more bird species were recorded in January compared to December. We conclude that differences between rural and urban areas in terms of winter conditions and the availability of resources are reflected in different bird communities in the two environments.

Urban and rural habitats differ in number and type of bird feeders and in bird species consuming supplementary food.

Bird feeding is one of the most widespread direct interactions between man and nature, and this has important social and environmental consequences. However, this activity can differ between rural and urban habitats, due to inter alia habitat structure, human behaviour and the composition of wintering bird communities. We counted birds in 156 squares (0.25 km(2) each) in December 2012 and again in January 2013 in locations in and around 26 towns and cities across Poland (in each urban area, we surveyed 3 squares and also 3 squares in nearby rural areas). At each count, we noted the number of bird feeders, the number of bird feeders with food, the type of feeders, additional food supplies potentially available for birds (bread offered by people, bins) and finally the birds themselves. In winter, urban and rural areas differ in the availability of food offered intentionally and unintentionally to birds by humans. Both types of food availability are higher in urban areas. Our findings suggest that different types of bird feeder support only those species specialized for that particular food type and this relationship is similar in urban and rural areas.

[Habitat preferences of the common tick Ixodes ricinus L. in Lublin region]. / Preferencje siedliskowe kleszcza pospolitego Ixodes ricinus L. na Lubelszczyznie.

UNLABELLED: A study was conducted on habitat preferences of the common tick Ixodes ricinus. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Eleven habitats were distinguished within the administrative borders of the city of Lublin as well as in the Gulowskie Forests and the Kozlowieckie Forests (Lublin voivodeship). They included meadows and pastures, thickets, poletimber woods, dry pine forests, mesic pine forests, mixed forests, mixed woods, deciduous woods, city parks, suburban wooded areas, and wasteland within the administrative borders of the city. In all of these habitats, a total of 61 one-hour flaggings were carried out. The mean number of the sampled specimens was regarded as the relative abundance of ticks in a given habitat. RESULTS: In the natural environments, the highest tick density was observed in mesic pine forests, mixed forests, and thickets. A relatively low abundance was found in deciduous woods, and the lowest abundance--in poletimber woods and dry pine forests (Table 1). It was demonstrated that the abundance of the parasites is determined by the capacity to maintain appropriate humidity of the environment throughout the period of their occurrence, and not by the type of vegetation. This may have been the reason behind similar abundance of ticks in meadows and deciduous woods (Tables 1 and 2). In Lublin, rare ticks were collected only on the outskirts of the urban zone and--exceptionally--in the wasteland. In typically urban parks, no parasites were found.

[Occurence of the common tick Ixodes ricinus L. in environments of various degree and character of anthropogenic impact]. / Wystepowanie kleszcza pospolitego Ixodes ricinus L. w srodowiskach o róznym stopniu i charakterze antropopresji.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study of the occurence and relative numbers of the common tick Ixodes ricinus in environments of various degree and character of anthropogenic impact was conducted in 3 forest complexes situated in the Lubelskie voivodeship: the Gulowskie Forests (district of Luków), the Kozlowieckie Forests (district of Lubartów) and the Dabrowa Forest (within the municipal boundaries of Lublin). The adopted method was flagging in the period of peak activity of ticks in the springs of 2005-2006. 7 environments were distinguished, in which a total of 48 censuses were conducted. Relative density of ticks was assessed based on the number of specimens caught by one person in 60 minutes. RESULTS: In total, 2081 specimens were caught; on average 43.4 in a single sample. For comparisons of the size of the population of the parasites in the distinguished environments, the so-called "risk factor" (Z) was formulated. It was calculated by assigning the value of 1.00 to the average number of ticks caught during one census. Ticks were found in all the investigated environments. Their highest average numbers (Z = 1.91) were found in forest tracks, the lowest ones--along the shoreline of water reservoirs. A high density (Z = 1.00) was recorded in an environment of homogenous vegetation structure, defined as the "forest interior".