Evaluation of the ‘‘safe nesting zone’ ’ hypothesis across an urban gradient: a multi-scale study

Urban areas have been considered ‘‘safe zones’ ’ for nesting birds because of low abundance of predators, and consequently low predation pressure. We studied risk of artificial ground nest predation across an urban gradient at regional (100/100 km) and local scales (5/5 km, within town) in Finland, Italy, and Spain. Risk of nest predation differed between countries, being greatest in Spain (66%), intermediate in Finland (51%), and lowest in Italy (29%). At the regional scale, risk of nest predation in Finland was lower in small villages and in forest area than in more urbanized sites. In Spain, the risk of nest predation was lower in villages than in the other habitat types. No differences in nest predation risk among habitat types were observed in Italy. At the local level, the risk of nest predation in Finland was higher within the town than in the surrounding forest. In Spain, the risk of nest predation in the surrounding forest area was as high as in the most urbanized areas. No difference in nest predation risk was observed between study plots in Italy at the local level analysis. Our results indicate that nest predation in town centers and their residential areas is similar to or higher than in villages and forest areas refuting the safe nesting zone hypothesis. Risk of nes