A death trap in the nest: Anthropogenic nest materials cause high mortality in a terrestrial bird

Heinze, Ursula M., Acácio, Marta, Franco, Aldina M. A. and Catry, Inês (2025) A death trap in the nest: Anthropogenic nest materials cause high mortality in a terrestrial bird. Ecological Indicators, 178. ISSN 1470-160X

Preview

PDF (Heinze_etal_2025_EcologicalIndicators) - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (5MB) | Preview

Abstract

The impact of anthropogenic debris on wildlife, particularly in marine environments, has garnered significant attention in recent years due to the severity of its effects. In terrestrial environments, the incorporation of human-derived materials into bird nests is well documented, yet most studies primarily focused on quantifying their prevalence rather than systematically examining their direct impacts, particularly on entanglement mortality. This study investigates the use of anthropogenic nest materials (ANMs) by a long-lived bird species and their impact on nestling mortality. Over four years, we photographed 568 white stork (Ciconia ciconia) nests to quantify ANMs and nestling mortality, while in 2023, we monitored 93 nests weekly from hatching to fledging to identify vulnerable developmental stages and high-risk materials. Habitat characteristics and proximity to landfill sites were analysed to infer ANM sources. ANMs were present in 91% of nests, with ropes – the main cause of entanglement − found in 42%. Entanglements, often fatal due to injuries such as necrosis and limb loss, were recorded in nearly one-third of the nests, affecting 12% of all nestlings. Most entanglements occurred in early nestling stages (mean age: 2 weeks ± 1.38), highlighting that such fatalities may go undetected without early monitoring of nests. Entanglement risk increased with the number of ropes in the nests which were associated with agricultural areas. Baler twine, a slow degrading polypropylene rope used in agriculture, accounted for 63% of entanglements. This study reveals the widespread use of ANMs, their harmful effects on terrestrial birds, and the urgent need to mitigate baler twine pollution through management actions that minimise the impacts on the species affected by ANMs.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Data availability: Data will be made available on request. Funding information: This work was financed by the British Ecological Society (Large Grant LRB22/1006), by the FEDER Funds through the Operational Competitiveness Factors Program - COMPETE and by National Funds through FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology within the scope of the project “POCI-01-0145-FEDER-028176 and UID/00329/2025. ” MA was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council (NE/N012070/1) and by Campus France with a MOPGA Fellowship.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	baler twine,breeding success,entanglement,human debris,plastic pollution,waste,white stork,decision sciences(all),ecology, evolution, behavior and systematics,ecology ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/1800
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences University of East Anglia Research Groups/Centres > Theme - ClimateUEA
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Environmental Biology
Related URLs:	http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?...
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	17 Nov 2025 16:30
Last Modified:	17 Nov 2025 16:30
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/101047
DOI:	10.1016/j.ecolind.2025.113796

Downloads

Actions (login required)

View Item