title: Nestling diet variation in an insular Mediterranean population of blue tits Parus caeruleus: effects of years, territories and individuals.
abstract: Mediterranean evergreen forests of Corsica are characterized by relatively high species diversity of arthropods with low population densities. Food is never superabundant for Corsican blue tits Parus caeruleus. This study focused on the composition of the food of blue tit nestlings and especially on two main components, caterpillars and spiders. The nestling diet was studied for two years using 8-mm cameras that automatically took photographs of adult birds with food. The diet was composed of c. 50% caterpillars and c. 30% spiders. There were between-year and between-individual differences in these proportions. In both years of the study the proportion of caterpillars declined during the course of the breeding season. Individual and time effects on prey sizes were also observed. Pairs and individuals were fairly constant in the proportions of prey over the feeding period. Different food items were not brought in runs. These findings suggest that strong food limitation exists on Corsica, which can considerably influence life-history traits of the blue tit.
authors.affiliation: Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, CNRS, B.P. 5051, F-34033, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Jerzy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bańbura
authors.affiliation: Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, CNRS, B.P. 5051, F-34033, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Blondel
authors.affiliation: Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, CNRS, B.P. 5051, F-34033, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Hilde
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: de Wilde-Lambrechts
authors.affiliation: Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, CNRS, B.P. 5051, F-34033, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Marie-Jose
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Galan
authors.affiliation: Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, CNRS, B.P. 5051, F-34033, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maistre
keywords: Corsica food; Evergreen forest; Life history; Parus caeruleus