Isotopic analysis of island House Martins Delichon urbica indicates marine provenance of nutrients

The presence of one of the largest colonies of House Martins in Europe on the small island of Stora Karlsö, Sweden, led us to investigate the source of their food by analysis of stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen. Carbon isotopic values of House Martin nestlings were the same as those of Common...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ibis
Main Authors: Cross, Adam D P, Hentati-Sundberg, Jonas, Österblom, Henrik, McGill, Rona A R, Furness, Robert W
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: BlackWell Publishing Ltd 2014
Subjects:
Short Communications
common guillemot
Uria aalge
uria
Online Access:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4384760
https://doi.org/10.1111/ibi.12150
Description
Summary:The presence of one of the largest colonies of House Martins in Europe on the small island of Stora Karlsö, Sweden, led us to investigate the source of their food by analysis of stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen. Carbon isotopic values of House Martin nestlings were the same as those of Common Guillemot Uria aalge nestlings fed on marine fish, but differed from local Collared Flycatcher Ficedula albicollis nestlings fed on woodland insects. We infer that these House Martins fed their chicks almost exclusively on insects that had used nutrients derived from seabirds, indicating a dependence on the presence of a large seabird colony. We suggest by extension that some populations of island passerines of high conservation importance may also be dependent on nutrient subsidies from seabird colonies.

Similar Items