Rabbits or Refuse? Landfill Use and Relevance as a Food Source for an IncreasingWintering Population of the Red Kite

Household waste landfills represent a huge source of trophic resources for opportunistic and versatile wildlife species. Among them, the red kite (Milvus milvus) is one of the most endangered in Europe. Several studies have pointed out the importance of landfills as a source of food for this species...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Vicente-Hernández, Íñigo, Martínez, Félix, Blanco, Guillermo
Formato: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2023
País:España
Recursos:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/331934
Acesso em linha:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/331934
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:Conservation
Milvus milvus
Oryctolagus cuniculus
Rubbish dumps
Scavenger raptors
Waste management
Wildlife
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spelling Rabbits or Refuse? Landfill Use and Relevance as a Food Source for an IncreasingWintering Population of the Red KiteVicente-Hernández, ÍñigoMartínez, FélixBlanco, GuillermoConservationMilvus milvusOryctolagus cuniculusRubbish dumpsScavenger raptorsWaste managementWildlifeHousehold waste landfills represent a huge source of trophic resources for opportunistic and versatile wildlife species. Among them, the red kite (Milvus milvus) is one of the most endangered in Europe. Several studies have pointed out the importance of landfills as a source of food for this species during the wintering season, but the information on the frequency, seasonal and daily patterns of use, and age of red kites that exploit this food source is still insufficient to understand their actual role in conservation. In this study, we evaluated the patterns of use of household waste by overwintering red kites in southeastern Madrid, central Spain. The results showed the constant presence of relatively low numbers (<30 on average) and a reduced hourly inflow and outflow of red kites throughout the day and during the whole winter period in the studied landfill. A higher proportion of juveniles was found in the landfill than in the overall wintering population. Pellet analysis clearly shows that the diet of red kites is dominated by the wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus), which is quantitatively very relevant compared to household waste obtained from the landfill. This suggests a relatively low quantitative importance of landfills as foraging grounds for the increasing population of wintering red kites in the study area. Instead, the high regional density of wild rabbits attracts large numbers of red kites that can eventually use landfills as a non-optimal last-resort foraging option, owing to the predictability of household waste, especially for juveniles. The continuous presence of red kites in landfills likely influences an uninformed positive perception about their relevance to the conservation of the wintering population, despite risks there faced, such as collision, electrocution, and intoxication. Future research is needed to assess in depth the influence of wild rabbits in Spain on the habitat use and global population dynamics of red kites.Fieldwork was funded by the project PID2019-109685GB-I00 of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation.Peer reviewedMultidisciplinary Digital Publishing InstituteMinisterio de Ciencia e Innovación (España)Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [https://ror.org/02gfc7t72]202320232023info:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501Publisher's versioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttp://hdl.handle.net/10261/331934reponame:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSICinstname:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)Inglés#PLACEHOLDER_PARENT_METADATA_VALUE#info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/AEI/Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2017-2020/PID2019-109685GB-I00https:// doi.org/10.3390/d15060704Síinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:digital.csic.es:10261/3319342026-05-22T06:33:51Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Rabbits or Refuse? Landfill Use and Relevance as a Food Source for an IncreasingWintering Population of the Red Kite
title Rabbits or Refuse? Landfill Use and Relevance as a Food Source for an IncreasingWintering Population of the Red Kite
spellingShingle Rabbits or Refuse? Landfill Use and Relevance as a Food Source for an IncreasingWintering Population of the Red Kite
Vicente-Hernández, Íñigo
Conservation
Milvus milvus
Oryctolagus cuniculus
Rubbish dumps
Scavenger raptors
Waste management
Wildlife
title_short Rabbits or Refuse? Landfill Use and Relevance as a Food Source for an IncreasingWintering Population of the Red Kite
title_full Rabbits or Refuse? Landfill Use and Relevance as a Food Source for an IncreasingWintering Population of the Red Kite
title_fullStr Rabbits or Refuse? Landfill Use and Relevance as a Food Source for an IncreasingWintering Population of the Red Kite
title_full_unstemmed Rabbits or Refuse? Landfill Use and Relevance as a Food Source for an IncreasingWintering Population of the Red Kite
title_sort Rabbits or Refuse? Landfill Use and Relevance as a Food Source for an IncreasingWintering Population of the Red Kite
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Vicente-Hernández, Íñigo
Martínez, Félix
Blanco, Guillermo
author Vicente-Hernández, Íñigo
author_facet Vicente-Hernández, Íñigo
Martínez, Félix
Blanco, Guillermo
author_role author
author2 Martínez, Félix
Blanco, Guillermo
author2_role author
author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España)
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [https://ror.org/02gfc7t72]
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Conservation
Milvus milvus
Oryctolagus cuniculus
Rubbish dumps
Scavenger raptors
Waste management
Wildlife
topic Conservation
Milvus milvus
Oryctolagus cuniculus
Rubbish dumps
Scavenger raptors
Waste management
Wildlife
description Household waste landfills represent a huge source of trophic resources for opportunistic and versatile wildlife species. Among them, the red kite (Milvus milvus) is one of the most endangered in Europe. Several studies have pointed out the importance of landfills as a source of food for this species during the wintering season, but the information on the frequency, seasonal and daily patterns of use, and age of red kites that exploit this food source is still insufficient to understand their actual role in conservation. In this study, we evaluated the patterns of use of household waste by overwintering red kites in southeastern Madrid, central Spain. The results showed the constant presence of relatively low numbers (<30 on average) and a reduced hourly inflow and outflow of red kites throughout the day and during the whole winter period in the studied landfill. A higher proportion of juveniles was found in the landfill than in the overall wintering population. Pellet analysis clearly shows that the diet of red kites is dominated by the wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus), which is quantitatively very relevant compared to household waste obtained from the landfill. This suggests a relatively low quantitative importance of landfills as foraging grounds for the increasing population of wintering red kites in the study area. Instead, the high regional density of wild rabbits attracts large numbers of red kites that can eventually use landfills as a non-optimal last-resort foraging option, owing to the predictability of household waste, especially for juveniles. The continuous presence of red kites in landfills likely influences an uninformed positive perception about their relevance to the conservation of the wintering population, despite risks there faced, such as collision, electrocution, and intoxication. Future research is needed to assess in depth the influence of wild rabbits in Spain on the habitat use and global population dynamics of red kites.
publishDate 2023
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2023
2023
2023
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
Publisher's version
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/10261/331934
url http://hdl.handle.net/10261/331934
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv #PLACEHOLDER_PARENT_METADATA_VALUE#
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/AEI/Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2017-2020/PID2019-109685GB-I00
https:// doi.org/10.3390/d15060704
Sí
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
instname:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
instname_str Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
reponame_str DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
collection DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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score 15.812429

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