Ardea
Official journal of the Netherlands Ornithologists' Union

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Torok J. (1986) Food segregation in three hole-nesting bird species during the breeding season. ARDEA 74 (2): 129-136
Food resource partitioning among three common hole-nesting bird species of Central European deciduous forests, the Great Tit, the Blue Tit and the Collared Flycatcher was studied in an oak wood near Budapest. Food samples were collected by placing neck-collars on nestlings between 1978 and 1982. The Collared Flycatcher took the most diverse prey and shifted its composition in consecutive years. It appears from the feeding similarities of the species that at high density the Collared Flycatcher may be a potential diffuse competitor for food of the tit species. Based on literature data it may be assumed that the Blue Tit is a more specialized feeder in the breeding season than the Great Tit. The specialist Blue Tit is at advantage in utilizing the food resource in common with the generalist Great Tit. which results in the dominance of the Blue Tit in the competition between the two species.


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