Distribution and characteristics of urban nesting sites of sympatric swifts

Abstract

Distribution and nest locations of Common and Pallid Swifts are compared in two towns located in the Mediterranean zone, Bastia in Corsica and Nice on the French Riviera. Our goal is to evaluate whether nesting site selection by swifts on urban settings differs between the two locations. First, we noted an avoidance in the distribution between the two swifts in both towns. Secondly, our results show that Common and Pallid Swifts use different nesting sites to breed in Bastia, whereas the same structures are used by the two species in Nice. Requirement of each species differs between the two localities, suggesting that nesting site use is more locality dependent than species dependent.

Keywords

• Apodidae
• competition
• nesting site
• sympatry