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Juha Merilä, David A. Wiggins, Interspecific Competition for Nest Holes Causes Adult Mortality in the Collared Flycatcher, The Condor: Ornithological Applications, Volume 97, Issue 2, 1 May 1995, Pages 445–450, https://doi.org/10.2307/1369030
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Abstract
Interspecific competition for nest sites between tits (Parus spp.) and Collared Flycatchers (Ficedula albicollis) was responsible for the death of 23 flycatchers during one breeding season. Eighteen (78%) of the killed flycatchers were males, and nineteen (83%) of the kills took place in nest boxes occupied by Great Tits (Parus major), and two (9%) in boxes occupied by Blue Tits (P. caeruleus). The number of casualties in different plots increased with increasing proportion of nest boxes occupied by tits (r = 0.76), and decreased with increasing density of nest boxes (r = -0.43). The number of casualties equalled up to 17% of all flycatcher individuals breeding in a given plot, indicating that interspecific competition for nest sites may constitute a significant source of adult mortality in the Collared Flycatcher population studied.