Effects of Interspecific Competition for Food in Breeding Blue and Great Tits

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Abstract
Great tit and blue tit breeding densities in Wytham Wood, Oxfordshire [England] were examined. Annual fluctuations in the great tit population were intra- and interspecifically density dependent but the blue tit population appeared to be only intraspecifically density dependent. Great tit breeding success, as measured by the mean fledging weight of each chick in a brood, was negatively correlated with the density of blue tits. The nestling diets of blue and great tits were very similar. An area of woods from which all blue tit young were removed at hatching had significantly heavier broods of great tits when compared with a control area. Interspecific and intraspecific competition for food during the breeding season have been significant factors contributing to density dependent limits on reproductive success in great tits. The competition for insect food by breeding birds in temperate regions may be an important source of diffuse competition.

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