Ardea
Official journal of the Netherlands Ornithologists' Union

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Garrido-Bautista J., Santos-Baena C., Ramos J.A., Moreno-Rueda G. & Cláudia Norte A. (2022) A mixed brood of Coal Tits Periparus ater and Blue Tits Cyanistes caeruleus in Central Portugal. ARDEA 110 (2): 239-242
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 singlespecies brood in the same forest.


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