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23 November 2023 A Mixed Brood of Coal Tits Periparus ater and Blue Tits Cyanistes caeruleus in Central Portugal
Jorge Garrido-Bautista, Carolina Santos-Baena, Jaime A. Ramos, Gregorio Moreno-Rueda, Ana Cláudia Norte
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Mixed-species broods appear to be an uncommon phenomenon in altricial birds. In secondary hole-nesting birds, such as tits (Paridae), mixed-species clutches occur as a consequence of facultative interspecific brood parasitism or as a byproduct of nest takeover. Here, we report a case of a mixed-species brood composed of one Coal Tit Periparus ater and three Blue Tit Cyanistes caeruleus nestlings that was successfully raised by a Blue Tit pair. The foreign Coal Tit nestling received more food than its Blue Tit nestmates, possibly resulting in a larger tarsus length compared to other Coal Tit nestlings from a regular single-species brood in the same forest.

Jorge Garrido-Bautista, Carolina Santos-Baena, Jaime A. Ramos, Gregorio Moreno-Rueda, and Ana Cláudia Norte "A Mixed Brood of Coal Tits Periparus ater and Blue Tits Cyanistes caeruleus in Central Portugal," Ardea 110(2), 239-242, (23 November 2023). https://doi.org/10.5253/arde.2022.a4
Received: 20 August 2021; Accepted: 7 March 2022; Published: 23 November 2023
KEYWORDS
Blue Tit
Coal Tit
interspecific brood parasitism
mixed-species brood
nest takeover
Paridae
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