Cooperative harassment strategy by the European Starling to usurp cavities and reproductive cost for the neotropical Green-barred Woodpecker

Autores
Gerstmayer, Paula A.; Monges, María Virginia; Jauregui, Adrián; Colombo, Martín Alejandro; Segura, Luciano Noel
Año de publicación
2022
Idioma
inglés
Tipo de recurso
artículo
Estado
versión publicada
Descripción
The European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) is a cavity-nesting bird with great invasive potential. As a result of human intervention, this bird is now distributed across all continents (except Antarctica) and its distribution range is increasing at an alarming rate. The European Starling was introduced to Argentina in 1983 and is currently distributed across almost the entire country. It is considered one of the hundred most damaging invasive species in the world and constitutes a serious competitive threat to native cavity-nesting birds. Interactions between European Starlings and cavity-nesting birds generally have negative consequences on native bird populations, although there are still few reports in the literature that account for the degree of damage. In this study, we report for the first time details of the harassment strategy and subsequent cavity usurpation by European Starlings on a breeding pair of Green-barred Woodpeckers (Colaptes melanochloros) in an urban area of central-eastern Argentina. Over one breeding season, the woodpeckers excavated seven cavities, none of which were successful. In six of these reproductive attempts (86%) we recorded interactions with European Starlings and in five (71%) the cavity was usurped. On three occasions we recorded a cooperative harassment strategy by a group of European Starlings causing the woodpeckers to abandon the cavity. Our report is especially relevant if we consider the invasive potential of the European Starling worldwide and the frequently limited cavity supply in bird breeding habitats. Therefore, we encourage governmental authorities and environmental NGOs to take measures to control the populations of this aggressive invasive species.
Instituto de Limnología "Dr. Raúl A. Ringuelet"
Centro de Estudios Parasitológicos y de Vectores
Materia
Ciencias Naturales
Urban ecosystems
cavity nesting birds
aggressive behaviors
Nivel de accesibilidad
acceso abierto
Condiciones de uso
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Repositorio
SEDICI (UNLP)
Institución
Universidad Nacional de La Plata
OAI Identificador
oai:sedici.unlp.edu.ar:10915/160046

id SEDICI_a6b4abbe118782f9d7bf02d6a3ca6920
oai_identifier_str oai:sedici.unlp.edu.ar:10915/160046
network_acronym_str SEDICI
repository_id_str 1329
network_name_str SEDICI (UNLP)
spelling Cooperative harassment strategy by the European Starling to usurp cavities and reproductive cost for the neotropical Green-barred WoodpeckerGerstmayer, Paula A.Monges, María VirginiaJauregui, AdriánColombo, Martín AlejandroSegura, Luciano NoelCiencias NaturalesUrban ecosystemscavity nesting birdsaggressive behaviorsThe European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) is a cavity-nesting bird with great invasive potential. As a result of human intervention, this bird is now distributed across all continents (except Antarctica) and its distribution range is increasing at an alarming rate. The European Starling was introduced to Argentina in 1983 and is currently distributed across almost the entire country. It is considered one of the hundred most damaging invasive species in the world and constitutes a serious competitive threat to native cavity-nesting birds. Interactions between European Starlings and cavity-nesting birds generally have negative consequences on native bird populations, although there are still few reports in the literature that account for the degree of damage. In this study, we report for the first time details of the harassment strategy and subsequent cavity usurpation by European Starlings on a breeding pair of Green-barred Woodpeckers (Colaptes melanochloros) in an urban area of central-eastern Argentina. Over one breeding season, the woodpeckers excavated seven cavities, none of which were successful. In six of these reproductive attempts (86%) we recorded interactions with European Starlings and in five (71%) the cavity was usurped. On three occasions we recorded a cooperative harassment strategy by a group of European Starlings causing the woodpeckers to abandon the cavity. Our report is especially relevant if we consider the invasive potential of the European Starling worldwide and the frequently limited cavity supply in bird breeding habitats. Therefore, we encourage governmental authorities and environmental NGOs to take measures to control the populations of this aggressive invasive species.Instituto de Limnología "Dr. Raúl A. Ringuelet"Centro de Estudios Parasitológicos y de Vectores2022-11-11info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionArticulohttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501info:ar-repo/semantics/articuloapplication/pdfhttp://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/160046enginfo:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/issn/2376-6808info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1080/23766808.2022.2145089info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)reponame:SEDICI (UNLP)instname:Universidad Nacional de La Platainstacron:UNLP2025-09-29T11:41:52Zoai:sedici.unlp.edu.ar:10915/160046Institucionalhttp://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/Universidad públicaNo correspondehttp://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/oai/snrdalira@sedici.unlp.edu.arArgentinaNo correspondeNo correspondeNo correspondeopendoar:13292025-09-29 11:41:52.485SEDICI (UNLP) - Universidad Nacional de La Platafalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Cooperative harassment strategy by the European Starling to usurp cavities and reproductive cost for the neotropical Green-barred Woodpecker
title Cooperative harassment strategy by the European Starling to usurp cavities and reproductive cost for the neotropical Green-barred Woodpecker
spellingShingle Cooperative harassment strategy by the European Starling to usurp cavities and reproductive cost for the neotropical Green-barred Woodpecker
Gerstmayer, Paula A.
Ciencias Naturales
Urban ecosystems
cavity nesting birds
aggressive behaviors
title_short Cooperative harassment strategy by the European Starling to usurp cavities and reproductive cost for the neotropical Green-barred Woodpecker
title_full Cooperative harassment strategy by the European Starling to usurp cavities and reproductive cost for the neotropical Green-barred Woodpecker
title_fullStr Cooperative harassment strategy by the European Starling to usurp cavities and reproductive cost for the neotropical Green-barred Woodpecker
title_full_unstemmed Cooperative harassment strategy by the European Starling to usurp cavities and reproductive cost for the neotropical Green-barred Woodpecker
title_sort Cooperative harassment strategy by the European Starling to usurp cavities and reproductive cost for the neotropical Green-barred Woodpecker
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Gerstmayer, Paula A.
Monges, María Virginia
Jauregui, Adrián
Colombo, Martín Alejandro
Segura, Luciano Noel
author Gerstmayer, Paula A.
author_facet Gerstmayer, Paula A.
Monges, María Virginia
Jauregui, Adrián
Colombo, Martín Alejandro
Segura, Luciano Noel
author_role author
author2 Monges, María Virginia
Jauregui, Adrián
Colombo, Martín Alejandro
Segura, Luciano Noel
author2_role author
author
author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Ciencias Naturales
Urban ecosystems
cavity nesting birds
aggressive behaviors
topic Ciencias Naturales
Urban ecosystems
cavity nesting birds
aggressive behaviors
dc.description.none.fl_txt_mv The European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) is a cavity-nesting bird with great invasive potential. As a result of human intervention, this bird is now distributed across all continents (except Antarctica) and its distribution range is increasing at an alarming rate. The European Starling was introduced to Argentina in 1983 and is currently distributed across almost the entire country. It is considered one of the hundred most damaging invasive species in the world and constitutes a serious competitive threat to native cavity-nesting birds. Interactions between European Starlings and cavity-nesting birds generally have negative consequences on native bird populations, although there are still few reports in the literature that account for the degree of damage. In this study, we report for the first time details of the harassment strategy and subsequent cavity usurpation by European Starlings on a breeding pair of Green-barred Woodpeckers (Colaptes melanochloros) in an urban area of central-eastern Argentina. Over one breeding season, the woodpeckers excavated seven cavities, none of which were successful. In six of these reproductive attempts (86%) we recorded interactions with European Starlings and in five (71%) the cavity was usurped. On three occasions we recorded a cooperative harassment strategy by a group of European Starlings causing the woodpeckers to abandon the cavity. Our report is especially relevant if we consider the invasive potential of the European Starling worldwide and the frequently limited cavity supply in bird breeding habitats. Therefore, we encourage governmental authorities and environmental NGOs to take measures to control the populations of this aggressive invasive species.
Instituto de Limnología "Dr. Raúl A. Ringuelet"
Centro de Estudios Parasitológicos y de Vectores
description The European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) is a cavity-nesting bird with great invasive potential. As a result of human intervention, this bird is now distributed across all continents (except Antarctica) and its distribution range is increasing at an alarming rate. The European Starling was introduced to Argentina in 1983 and is currently distributed across almost the entire country. It is considered one of the hundred most damaging invasive species in the world and constitutes a serious competitive threat to native cavity-nesting birds. Interactions between European Starlings and cavity-nesting birds generally have negative consequences on native bird populations, although there are still few reports in the literature that account for the degree of damage. In this study, we report for the first time details of the harassment strategy and subsequent cavity usurpation by European Starlings on a breeding pair of Green-barred Woodpeckers (Colaptes melanochloros) in an urban area of central-eastern Argentina. Over one breeding season, the woodpeckers excavated seven cavities, none of which were successful. In six of these reproductive attempts (86%) we recorded interactions with European Starlings and in five (71%) the cavity was usurped. On three occasions we recorded a cooperative harassment strategy by a group of European Starlings causing the woodpeckers to abandon the cavity. Our report is especially relevant if we consider the invasive potential of the European Starling worldwide and the frequently limited cavity supply in bird breeding habitats. Therefore, we encourage governmental authorities and environmental NGOs to take measures to control the populations of this aggressive invasive species.
publishDate 2022
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2022-11-11
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
Articulo
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
info:ar-repo/semantics/articulo
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/160046
url http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/160046
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv eng
language eng
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/issn/2376-6808
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1080/23766808.2022.2145089
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:SEDICI (UNLP)
instname:Universidad Nacional de La Plata
instacron:UNLP
reponame_str SEDICI (UNLP)
collection SEDICI (UNLP)
instname_str Universidad Nacional de La Plata
instacron_str UNLP
institution UNLP
repository.name.fl_str_mv SEDICI (UNLP) - Universidad Nacional de La Plata
repository.mail.fl_str_mv alira@sedici.unlp.edu.ar
_version_ 1844616289721516033
score 13.070432