Nest Site Selection in Mountain Bluebirds

Herlugson, Christopher J.

doi:10.2307/1367317

Cited by 25 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…The apparent maladaptive decision making of Indigo Buntings conflicts with previous work that documents the ability of birds to learn from past reproductive experiences (Pinkowski 1979, Herlugson 1981, Dow and Fredga 1983. Thus, it remains unclear why buntings did not respond to seemingly clear indicators of fitness.…”

Section: Ecological Trapsmentioning

confidence: 74%

The Effects of Patch Shape on Indigo Buntings: Evidence for an Ecological Trap

Weldon

Haddad

2005

Ecology

155

129

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Habitat loss and fragmentation have led to a widespread increase in the proportion of edge habitat in the landscape. Disturbance‐dependent bird species are widely assumed to benefit from these edges. However, anthropogenic edges may concentrate nest predators while retaining habitat cues that birds use to select breeding habitat. This may lead birds to mistakenly select dangerous habitat—a phenomenon known as an “ecological trap.” We experimentally demonstrated how habitat shape, and thus amount of edge, can adversely affect nest site selection and reproductive success of a disturbance‐dependent bird species, the Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea). We did so within a landscape‐scale experiment composed of equal‐area habitat patches that differed in their amount of edge. Indigo Buntings preferentially selected edgy patches, which contained 50% more edge than more compact rectangular patches. Further, buntings fledged significantly fewer young per pair in edgy patches than in rectangular patches. These results provide the first experimental evidence that edges can function as ecological traps.

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Section: Ecological Trapsmentioning

confidence: 74%

The Effects of Patch Shape on Indigo Buntings: Evidence for an Ecological Trap

Weldon

Haddad

2005

Ecology

155

129

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“…Whether this selection translates into the evolution of choice of specific nest sites remains an open question because there are no data available on heritability of nest placement for this or any other bird species. In some species, offspring tend to prefer the same type of nest site as their parents (Pinkowski 1979, Herlugson 1981). Although heritability is one possible reason for this consistency in nest placement, familiarity with this nest type through learning cannot be excluded as an explanation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Selection through predation, snowfall and microclimate on nest‐site preferences in the Water Pipit Anthus spinoletta

Rauter

Reyer²,

Bollmann

2002

Ibis

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Nest‐site characteristics can have a strong impact on reproductive success in birds. Nest sites should simultaneously protect from predators, offer shelter and provide a favourable microclimate. We studied the relationship between three agents of natural selection (predators [i.e. Adders and birds/mammals], snowfall and microclimate), nest‐site characteristics and reproductive success to determine whether these influenced preference for specific nest‐site characteristics in the Water Pipit Anthus spinoletta. Pooled over all nests, the relative importance as agents of natural selection decreased from mammalian/avian predation (15% of all nests) through Adder predation (12%) to snowfall (7%), but there were clear differences in space and time. Predation by Adders selected for nest sites surrounded by few medium‐sized shrubs. Selection by mammalian and avian predators favoured no specific nest‐site characteristics. Protection from snowfall was best in nests surrounded by relatively few medium‐sized shrubs. Microclimate had a strong influence on nestling survival and duration of nestling period. In nests on ENE‐facing slopes, where maximum temperatures were reached in the morning, nestling survival was higher than on WSW‐facing slopes, where temperature maxima occurred in the afternoon. Our results indicate that weak, but significant, directional selection is acting on preference for certain nest‐site characteristics through effects on survival and development of nestlings. As predation and snowfall are unpredictable, the evolution of an optimal nest placement strategy is unlikely on a small scale. On a larger scale, however, choice of one breeding area over another may be favoured because of predictable differences between locations in terms of survival and nestling development.

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“…To not alter the willingness of birds to defend a box, I did not trap or mark them prior to the experiments, but the manipulations were conducted at different sites separated by at least 5 km in the 2 years, which is greater than the typical interyear dispersal distance of 1.1 km for Mountain Bluebird (Herlugson 1981) and 100 m for Tree Swallow (Winkler et al 2011). It is therefore unlikely that any pairs were observed in both years.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Females may generally invest less in defense prior to laying because they face higher demands for foraging to accumulate nutrients for egg formation and so trade-off nest defense with foraging. Although Mountain Bluebird were not individually marked in this study, in the future it would be interesting to test whether philopatric (see Herlugson 1981) individuals value and defend their familiar nest box more than a newly colonizing pair.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%