TY - JOUR
T1 - The raptor lockdown menu – shifts in prey composition suggest urban peregrine diets are linked to human activities
AU - Mak, Brandon
AU - Drewitt, Edward
AU - Francis, Robert
AU - Chadwick, Michael
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by a British Trust for Ornithology research grant (jointly awarded to Ed Drewitt and Brandon Mak), and grant funding from King's College London Faculty of Social Sciences and Public Policy (awarded to Brandon Mak). Funding sources were not involved in any aspects of study design, data collection, analysis and interpretation, writing of the report and decision to publish.
Funding Information:
We are very grateful to our dedicated volunteers Megan Abram, Thomas Allison, Louis Amor, Catherine Baker, Mimi Baker, Heather Barraclough, Stephanie Burns, Josh Clifford, Alfie Cross, Emily Daly, Samantha Day, Tom Dobson, Ella Doyle, Jane Del, Tabitha Gibbons, Mia Henstridge, Veronica Horvath, Luke Hurricks, Marie-Claire Jalaguier, Sarah Kennerley, Yaheeta Kusi-Mensah, Andrew Matheson, Robbie Mowbray, Victoria Muir, Yee Ng, Julianne Pickard, Lauren Rees, Zac Richards, Isabella Ricketts, Laura Robinson, Julie Roe, Kim Smith and Oliver Streeter for watching the peregrines with us. We would also like to thank members of the peregrine community Philippa Arnold, Alan Bateman, Keith Betton, Adrian Blumfield (Hawk and Owl Trust), John Boorman, Dennis Cooper, Nicole Craft, Steve Edwards, Jason Fathers, Jim Graham, Francis Hickenbottom, Nathalie Mahieu, Erin McDaid, Robin Morrison, Geoff Mullett, Kevin Palmer, Chris Skipper, Hamish Smith (Hawk and Owl Trust), Zoe Smith (Hawk and Owl Trust), Mark Speck, Verity West and Wild Marlow group for all their help with contributing data and/or allowing us private access to the cameras. We would also like to thank Josh Brian and Laura Kor from the KCL Political Ecology, Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services research group, Professor Kai Chan and our two anonymous reviewers whose discussions and helpful comments greatly contributed to, and improved previous versions of, this manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors. People and Nature published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Ecological Society.
PY - 2023/4
Y1 - 2023/4
N2 - Raptors can thrive in cities where food supplies are abundant and seasonally stable. The availability of such resources may be linked to spatio-temporally predictable human activities generating reliable food subsidies for both raptors and their prey, capable of sustaining large populations. However, raptors may become affected by shifts in human behaviour. Here, we explore how urban peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) diets respond to changes in human activity levels amidst COVID-19 pandemic social restrictions. We used online nest cameras to study peregrine diets and reproduction across 31 sites in 27 UK cities over three breeding seasons, including one during lockdown. Prey composition changed significantly between years, and these differences varied by region. During lockdown, London peregrines took a lower proportion of pigeons (-14.5%), offset by a greater proportion of starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) (+6.9%), and ring-necked parakeets (Psittacula krameri) (+3.2%). In other cities, lockdown diets showed no change for pigeons (+0.3%), starlings comprised a lower prey proportion (-4.3%), while non-dominant corvid prey (+2.3%) and waterbirds (+2%) had greater importance. Racing pigeon prey also decreased during lockdown, significantly outside London. However, breeding parameters (number of eggs, hatchlings, fledglings) were not significantly different, suggesting urban peregrines may not have experienced food shortages amidst restrictions. Thus, our study demonstrates that human activity can influence urban peregrine predation opportunities but is unlikely to be more important than other factors like habitat availability. It also highlights how impacts can vary regionally, which may have been driven by social and geographical differences between the capital and other cities.
AB - Raptors can thrive in cities where food supplies are abundant and seasonally stable. The availability of such resources may be linked to spatio-temporally predictable human activities generating reliable food subsidies for both raptors and their prey, capable of sustaining large populations. However, raptors may become affected by shifts in human behaviour. Here, we explore how urban peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) diets respond to changes in human activity levels amidst COVID-19 pandemic social restrictions. We used online nest cameras to study peregrine diets and reproduction across 31 sites in 27 UK cities over three breeding seasons, including one during lockdown. Prey composition changed significantly between years, and these differences varied by region. During lockdown, London peregrines took a lower proportion of pigeons (-14.5%), offset by a greater proportion of starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) (+6.9%), and ring-necked parakeets (Psittacula krameri) (+3.2%). In other cities, lockdown diets showed no change for pigeons (+0.3%), starlings comprised a lower prey proportion (-4.3%), while non-dominant corvid prey (+2.3%) and waterbirds (+2%) had greater importance. Racing pigeon prey also decreased during lockdown, significantly outside London. However, breeding parameters (number of eggs, hatchlings, fledglings) were not significantly different, suggesting urban peregrines may not have experienced food shortages amidst restrictions. Thus, our study demonstrates that human activity can influence urban peregrine predation opportunities but is unlikely to be more important than other factors like habitat availability. It also highlights how impacts can vary regionally, which may have been driven by social and geographical differences between the capital and other cities.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85149676063&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10445
DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10445
M3 - Article
SN - 2575-8314
VL - 5
SP - 795
EP - 807
JO - People and Nature
JF - People and Nature
IS - 2
ER -