Search

Amateur breeding of parrots as pets has contributed to many species being found in areas where they never occurred in the wild, particularly in warmer regions, but also in the temperate climates of North America and Europe. Climate change is likely to exacerbate this process. We hypothesised that parrots occurred in the wild in the cities of Poland, especially the rose-ringed parakeet, as there are reports of breeding sites in the literature. Using information on lost, found and sighted parrots posted on social media, we have analysed the extent of parrot emergence in Poland. In a period of less than two years (from October 2018, through 2019 and from June to the end of December 2021), 2,675 parrot specimens of 49 species were found in the wild. The most frequently observed species were cockatiel Nymphicus hollandicus (N = 962), budgerigar Melopsittacus undulatus (N = 884) and rose-ringed parakeet Psittacula krameri (N = 182). Parrots were most frequently observed in urban areas, in regions characterized by a higher population size, a higher income and a higher proportion of people with a university degree. Our study shows that the occurrence of parrots, especially rose-ringed parakeets in the wild, needs to be monitored as new breeding sites may appear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports on the location of badger setts generally focussed on woodland habitats and paid little attention to open areas. There was a negative correlation between the number of setts in open landscape and the proportion of forest cover with an inflection point at 25–35%. A higher proportion of badger setts in open habitats is observed when forest cover is below the inflection point. The location of setts in the open landscape results from the dominance of these habitats and the low availability of woodland and that is a permanent aspect of badger behaviour and not a short‐term trend. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the last 60 years, 34 cases of aberrant colouration in bats of the following species have been recorded in Poland: Rhinolophus hipposideros, Myotis daubentonii, Myotis mystacinus, Myotis nattereri, Myotis myotis, Eptesicus serotinus, Barbastella barbastellus and Plecotus auritus. The largest number of aberrant colouration cases was recorded during the hibernation period in the Nietoperek bat reserve, western Poland (0.016% individuals with albinism). In 2014, five individuals with partial albinism and one flavistic bat were found there. Proportion of individuals with albinism varied from 0.05% in the case of M. nattereri, 0.02% in the case of M. daubentonii and only 0.007% in the case of M. myotis. During the studies on bat swarming in the Tatra Mountains one case of leucistic whiskered bat was recorded which accounts for 0.016% out of over 5,900 representatives of this species that were caught. Aberrant colouration in bats is rarely recorded in Poland and it is not associated with any particular geographical region. Higher probability of observing atypically coloured individuals occurs in large populations of bats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Time is a necessary factor in processes of transportation. The economic value of travel time is the opportunity cost of the time spent on journey, so the reduction of travel time becomes the main goal of transport network users. Travel time losses in passenger transport are frequently observed in crowded cities, which are facing different types of traffic congestion. The article shows the analysis of the complicated causes of travel time loss, the need of implementing some simplifications during the estimation of the travel time value. Moreover the paper presents the most important results of the newest research on the discussed problem in Polish cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present work was to compare the prey species spectrum of three species of owls that co-occur in the mosaic environment of Silesian Lowland (SW Poland). The material for the study - the pellets - was collected at three sites in winter 2000/2001. The localities were: Chomiąża (church), the wintering site of barn owl Tyto alba, Owieczki (unused barn) - tawny owl Strix aluco, and Środa Śląska (park) - long-eared owl Asio otus. The aerial distance between the localities is: Chomiąża - Środa Śląska - 4 km, Chomiąża - Owieczki - 10 km, Środa Śląska - Owieczki - 6 km. The remains of 914 prey individuals were found in the pellets. Eighteen species of mammals of four orders were identified: Insectivora, Rodentia, Chiroptera, Carnivora and six species of passerine birds (Passeriformes). The species spectra of prey of barn owl and the long-eared owl are similar. However, the long- -eared owl specializes in small rodents and the barn owl includes also shrews Soricidae among its prey. The diet of the tawny owl is more diverse. It hunts for rodents and insectivorous mammals and birds. The feeding preferences are reflected not only in the species spectrum of prey but also in the biomass of the consumed food. According to the biomass analysis, the rodents make the basic food of the three species of owls. The analysis of the ecological groups of owls' prey living in various biotopes showed that 50% of the tawny owl prey were caught in the forest. The percentage of forest rodent species in the diet of the barn owl and the long-eared owl are very low. The tawny owl hunts also in open, wet and boggy habitats. Such biotopes are sometimes searched by the long-eared owl and the barn owl rarely flies there. The rodent species associated with open fields make the main part of the barn owl diet. The species spectra of the owls' prey in the studied area show that the food niches of barn owl and the long-eared owl overlap. The tawny owl exploits a separate food niche from the niches of the other owl species. The presence of weasel among the prey of the long-eared owl is reported here for the first time in Polish literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]