Breeding biology and survival of the Alpine Chough Pyrrhocorax graculus

We describe for the first time the breeding biology and survival of the Alpine Chough Pyrrhocorax graculus in different European massifs (Alps and West- Balkan). When all data were pooled, mean clutch and brood sizes were 3.6 eggs (se = 0.1) and 2.6 chicks (se = 0.1), respectively. Fledging success per pair varied between 1 and 4 fledged young per pair (mean 1.9). Survival of the Alpine Chough was estimated with a capture-resighting model using a colourringed population (n = 315 adults) which used human food sources. Adult survival rate varied from 83 to 92%, depending on the flock. This difference could be a consequence of differences in flock composition. No significant difference was detected between male and female survival. Survival of first-year birds (77%) was lower than that of adults. In order to analyse the effect of human food supplied by tourist activities, breeding success and flock structure were compared between 2 alpine populations which either did or did not exploit human food supplied by...