Unplanned restoration: Pallid swifts recover twenty years after rat removal from a Mediterranean island

Abstract

Results from an experimental study from 1994 suggested that Black Rats, introduced on small Mediterranean islands, restricted Pallid Swift nesting to a small number of sites inaccessible to rats. We report here that the removal of rats in 2000 to restore a seabird population was followed by an unplanned increase of nesting Pallid Swifts through an increase in the number and variety of nest sites used, including low and easily reachable sites.