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The use of anthropogenic debris as nesting material by the greater thornbird, an inland–wetland-associated bird of South America

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Abstract

Plastic pollution has become a globally pressing environmental issue. In birds, plastic may cause harm by entangling or ingestion when used for nesting. The use of anthropogenic nesting material has so far been mostly studied in birds of terrestrial or marine habitats, but there are yet very few reports for inland water–associated birds. The aim of this study is to better understand the extension and magnitude of the use of anthropogenic debris as nesting material by the greater thornbird (Phacellodomus ruber), a bird species preferably nesting in river floodplain wetlands in South America. We found that P. ruber uses disproportionally large quantities of plastic debris as nesting material (more than 90% of some nest chambers is plastic). This occurred even if ample vegetation (commonly used as soft material) was available. Most of the artificial nesting material was derived from wrapping material released into the environment. We suggest that this species has the potential to indicate vulnerable areas to plastic pollution associated with urban waste mismanagement.

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Funding

This study was financially supported by the Rufford Foundation (RSG grant; Ref: 26610-2) granted to M. Blettler. This publication was issued under the auspices of the UNESCO Chair “Fleuves et Patrimoine/River Culture” granted to K. M. Wantzen.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The National Institute of Limnology (INALI; CONICET-UNL), Ciudad Universitaria (3000), Santa Fe, Argentina

    Martín C. M. Blettler, Elie Abrial, Rodrigo E. Lorenzón & Luis A. Espinola

  2. The National University of the Littoral (UNL), Faculty of Humanities and Sciences (FHUC), Ciudad Universitaria (3000), Santa Fe, Argentina

    Lucía Gauna

  3. University of Polytech Tours (IMA), 37200, Tours, France

    Alex Andréault

  4. UNESCO Chair “River Culture - Fleuves et Patrimoine”, Interdisciplinary Research Center for Cities, Territories, Environment and Society (CNRS UMR CITERES), University of Tours, 37200, Tours, France

    Karl M. Wantzen

Authors
  1. Martín C. M. Blettler
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  2. Lucía Gauna
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  3. Alex Andréault
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  7. Karl M. Wantzen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Martín C. M. Blettler.

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Responsible Editor: Philippe Garrigues

Supplemental Material

In order to make our dataset easier comparable across regions, we provided an alternative classification of plastic material based on Provencher et al. (2017) (Table S1). Such classification is extensively employed by studies of seabirds, turtles and marine mammals.

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Table S1

Classification of plastic material (and other rubbish) based on Provencher et al. (2017) classification. (DOCX 14 kb)

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Blettler, M.C.M., Gauna, L., Andréault, A. et al. The use of anthropogenic debris as nesting material by the greater thornbird, an inland–wetland-associated bird of South America. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27, 41647–41655 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-10124-4

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