Nest box orientation affects internal temperature and nest site selection by Tree Swallows

Ardia, Daniel R.; Pérez, Jonathan H.; Clotfelter, Ethan D.

doi:10.1111/j.1557-9263.2006.00064.x

Cited by 122 publications

(120 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Similar shifts in preferences for sleeping site characteristics linked to temperature changes have been reported for birds (e.g. Ardia et al 2006;Velky et al 2010). It is well documented that tree holes can buffer against temperature fluctuations (Schmid 1998;Sedgeley 2001;Willis & Brigham 2007;Isaac et al 2008) and the change in sleeping site usage that we observed may thus indicate the lower thermoregulatory constraints experienced by the females during the wet season.…”

Section: Thermoregulatory Demands and Sleeping Sitessupporting

confidence: 75%

Resting and nesting in a small mammal: sleeping sites as a limiting resource for female grey mouse lemurs

Lutermann

Verburgt

Rendigs³

2010

Animal Behaviour

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Animals spend a substantial proportion of their lives resting and consequently the choice of a sleeping site can dramatically affect an individual's fitness. Sleeping sites have been implicated in predator defence and thermoregulation and their distribution can affect breeding and social systems in small mammals. Sleeping sites may constitute a limiting resource for females which experience energetic constraints to breeding and require shelter for their young. Despite the potential importance of sleeping sites, exhaustive studies of the factors determining their usage patterns are limited to a small number of mammal groups. We investigated how seasonal changes in temperature or the presence of young shape sleeping site usage patterns in a small primate, the grey mouse lemur, Microcebus murinus. Females preferred tree holes over nests and open sites and the usage duration of a particular tree hole site was affected by the physical characteristics likely to affect its insulation properties. Furthermore, climate variables strongly affected sleeping site choices and nests were chosen more often than tree holes during the wet season. However, when young were present preferences shifted back to tree holes. Preferred tree species used as sleeping sites as well as the properties of tree holes were rare among trees in the study area suggesting that sleeping sites may indeed be a limiting resource for female grey mouse lemurs. Our results suggest that in the study species sleeping site choices are governed by thermoregulatory considerations and their limited availability could also account for the social grouping. Ó

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Section: Thermoregulatory Demands and Sleeping Sitessupporting

confidence: 75%

Resting and nesting in a small mammal: sleeping sites as a limiting resource for female grey mouse lemurs

Lutermann

Verburgt

Rendigs³

2010

Animal Behaviour

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“…This daily pattern of heating and cooling could provide ecophysiological benefits to nocturnal mammals using cool chainsaw hollows (relative to external ambient conditions) during warm summer days by decreasing the amount of evaporative heat-loss required to maintain constant body temperature [39,40]. It could also benefit diurnal hollow-nesting birds using warm (compared to ambient) chainsaw hollows at night by decreasing the amount of metabolic heat production required to maintain core body temperature [41,84]. In contrast, glider and bat boxes had the opposite pattern of heating and cooling, being slightly colder than ambient at night and substantially hotter during the day.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chainsaw-Carved Cavities Better Mimic the Thermal Properties of Natural Tree Hollows than Nest Boxes and Log Hollows

Griffiths

Lentini

Semmens

et al. 2018

Forests

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Abstract:The creation of supplementary habitats that effectively mimic the physical and thermal characteristics of natural tree hollows should be a key priority for landscape restoration and biodiversity offset programs. Here, we compare the thermal profiles of natural tree hollows with three types of artificial hollows designed for small marsupial gliders and tree-roosting insectivorous bats: (1) 'chainsaw hollows' carved directly into the trunks and branches of live trees, (2) 'log hollows', and (3) plywood nest boxes. Chainsaw hollows had thermal profiles that were similar to natural tree hollows: they were consistently warmer than ambient conditions at night, while remaining cooler than ambient during the day. In contrast, glider and bat boxes had the opposite pattern of heating and cooling, being slightly cooler than ambient at night and substantially hotter during the day. Glider log hollows had greater variation in internal temperatures compared to natural hollows and chainsaw hollows, but fluctuated less than glider boxes. Our results provide the first empirical evidence that artificial hollows carved directly into live trees can produce thermally stable supplementary habitats that could potentially buffer hollow-dependent fauna from weather extremes; whereas, poorly insulated plywood nest boxes produce lower-quality thermal environments. Together these findings provide positive impetus for stakeholders involved in conservation management and biodiversity offset programs to consider trialing chainsaw hollows in situations where target fauna require well-insulated supplementary habitats.

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“…More specifically, birds are able to influence nest microclimates by preferentially occupying nestboxes in relation to the orientation of their entrance hole which influences the exposure to cold winds (e.g., Ardia et al, 2006) and their construction material because woodcrete nestboxes are about 1.5 • C higher on average than wooden nestboxes (e.g., García-Navas et al, 2008). Studies show that whilst great tits avoided nestboxes orientated toward south-southwest, there was no such relationship in blue tits, although the orientation of nestboxes did not influence reproductive success in either species (Goodenough et al, 2008).…”

Section: Environmental Adjustmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Causes and Consequences of Intraspecific Variation in Nesting Behaviors: Insights from Blue Tits and Great Tits

Mainwaring

2017

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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Nest building is an important and yet under-studied stage of the reproductive cycle in many taxa, including birds, and whilst we have a decent understanding of interspecific variation in avian nesting behaviors, our understanding of intraspecific variation in nesting behaviors is much less developed. This is largely because an insufficient number of studies have been performed on any one species to draw robust conclusions. Fortunately, though, the amount of research on the nesting behaviors of nestbox-breeding blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) and great tits (Parus major) has increased dramatically in recent years and their nesting behaviors are now sufficiently well-studied to offer useful insights into intraspecific variation in avian nesting behaviors. Studies show that individuals of both species select nest sites based on the presence and/or absence of conspecifics and heterospecifics and whilst neighbors were assumed to adversely affect focal individuals by competing for resources, they are now considered beneficial as they provide information about habitat quality and contribute to anti-predator defenses. Nest-building females accurately gauge local weather conditions and respond to predictable variation in environmental conditions by building nests with variable amounts of cup lining material to create suitable nest microclimates for nestlings. Meanwhile, both species vary the amount of aromatic plant materials in their nests in relation to the abundance of nest-dwelling parasites and pathogens and as aromatic plant materials also play a role in sexual selection then nest materials can have multiple functions. The height of nests is negatively correlated with the local risk of predation but whilst predator avoidance favors lower nests, sexual selection favors taller nests. In fact, higher quality females build taller nests that contain more green plant material which in turn influences the amount of care provided by males. This suggests there is considerable intraspecific variation in nesting behaviors in blue and great tits, and in birds generally, and highlights that birds are adept at adaptively varying their nesting behaviors in response to multiple factors. There is, however, a paucity of evidence directly linking such variation in nest building behaviors to reproductive success or fitness more broadly and so further studies could usefully examine such links because trade-offs between competing selection pressures may constrain adaptive nesting behaviors.

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Nest box orientation affects internal temperature and nest site selection by Tree Swallows

Cited by 122 publications

References 26 publications

Resting and nesting in a small mammal: sleeping sites as a limiting resource for female grey mouse lemurs

Resting and nesting in a small mammal: sleeping sites as a limiting resource for female grey mouse lemurs

Chainsaw-Carved Cavities Better Mimic the Thermal Properties of Natural Tree Hollows than Nest Boxes and Log Hollows

Causes and Consequences of Intraspecific Variation in Nesting Behaviors: Insights from Blue Tits and Great Tits

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