Investigating supplementary food use of UK Hawfinch Coccothraustes coccothraustes populations using DNA metabarcoding

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Capsule This pilot study showed that DNA metabarcoding can detect supplementary food in the diet of Hawfinches, which differed spatially and between years but not between sexes.Aims To explore the potential of DNA metabarcoding to assess the use of supplementary food by Hawfinches, which was supplied experimentally in different woodland sites, and how this varied over space and time.Methods We identified supplementary food in faecal samples using DNA metabarcoding techniques. Faecal samples were collected in the 2016 to 2019 breeding seasons at 11 field sites across five UK regions. Prevalence of supplementary food within the diet was then compared between populations and sexes.Results Across 286 Hawfinches captured, sunflower Helianthus spp. was detected in 30.5% of samples, with significant differences between regions, sites and years, but not between sexes.Conclusion DNA metabarcoding was successful in detecting supplementary food in Hawfinch faecal samples, supporting its potential for future studies. Sample sizes from populations were modest and further work would be beneficial to explore how the use of supplementary food changes temporally, phenologically and in relation to natural and non-natural food availability in the wider landscape. Our study highlights the necessity to monitor supplementary food use within a conservation management setting to avoid negative impacts, such as the spreading of diseases.

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