scholarly journals Macroecology of North European Wet Grassland Landscapes: Habitat Quality, Waders, Avian Predators and Nest Predation

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 8138
Author(s):  
Michael Manton ◽  
Per Angelstam
Keyword(s):  
Developmental Stage ◽  
Habitat Quality ◽  
Nest Predation ◽  
Relative Rate ◽  
Predation Pressure ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Artificial Nests ◽  
Wet Grassland ◽  
Nest Loss ◽  
Nest Predators

Wet grassland degradation is a global issue that involves both altered land cover patterns and ecological processes, which affect the distribution and abundance of species. The sharp decline in European wader bird (Charadrii) populations is a good example. The aim of this study is to test the hypothesis that the anthropogenic developmental stage of wet grassland habitats and landscapes drives avian nest predator abundance, and thus the predation pressure on nests, which is a major cause of wader bird declines. Using a macroecological approach we selected six wet grassland landscapes representing a gradient in both grassland habitat development and breeding wader population status in four European countries (Belarus, Iceland, Lithuania and Sweden). We (1) mapped wader and avian predator assemblages in multiple wet grassland patches in each landscape, (2) used artificial nests to estimate the relative rate of egg predation, and (3) analyzed relationships between nest predation pressure, corvid nest predators versus raptors, nest loss and the stage of wet grassland habitat and landscape development. We found (1) inverse relationships between the abundance of corvids and waders, as well as between wet grassland developmental stage and waders, and (2) a positive correlation between the probability of nest loss and the density of corvid birds. In conclusion, we found a clear macroecological pattern linking habitat quality, wader populations, nest predators and nest predation. These linkages stress the importance of including nest predation as a factor limiting wader bird populations, and that corvid control or management may be useful management tools.

scholarly journals Nestling begging calls increase predation risk by corvids

2019 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-155
Author(s):  
Magne Husby
Keyword(s):  
Nest Predation ◽  
Predation Rate ◽  
Artificial Nest ◽  
Auditory Cues ◽  
Artificial Nests ◽  
Breeding Failure ◽  
Nestling Begging ◽  
Real Costs ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Nest Predators

Abstract Despite nest predation being the most common cause of breeding failure in open-nesting birds, we have little insight into the cues used by nest predators when they search for nests. So far we have assumed that nest-predating birds are visually oriented while mammal predators to a large extent use scent and auditory cues like nestling begging calls. To evaluate how important nestling begging calls are for corvid nest predators searching for nests, I used artificial nests, which made it possible to find the real costs of the begging without mitigation by parental and nestling behavior. I used paired artificial nests, one with and one without nestling begging call playback. Within 10 days, 62.9% of the nests were predated. The analyses showed that nests with begging calls suffered a significantly higher predation rate than nests without begging calls, especially when the nests were placed close to corvid nests. Moreover, nests with begging calls were predated significantly earlier than nests without begging calls. In artificial nest pairs with both nests predated but on different days, nests with begging calls were predated first. In nest pairs with only one predated nest, nests with begging calls were predated most often. This experiment shows that nestling begging calls imply a cost in terms of increased and earlier nest predation, and that corvids use nestling begging calls as a cue to find and depredate bird nests, challenging earlier expectations.

Response to logging by a limited but variable nest predator guild in the boreal forest

2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (7) ◽  
pp. 1974-1982 ◽  
Author(s):  
Randy G. Thompson ◽  
Ian G. Warkentin ◽  
Stephen P. Flemming
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Nest Predation ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Landscape Fragmentation ◽  
Artificial Nests ◽  
Gray Jays ◽  
Predator Guild ◽  
Nest Predator ◽  
Predation Rates ◽  
Nest Predators

Predation rates on the eggs and young of forest-nesting songbirds typically rise in association with anthropogenic fragmentation, but predator responses depend on the spatial scale of disturbance, context, and predator assemblages present. For landscapes that are naturally fragmented, such as the boreal forest, our understanding of nest predation patterns associated with harvest may be further confounded by an additive response of nest predators to the loss of forest cover and the extension of habitat edges. We examined predation rates on artificial nests across a range of values for landscape metrics reflecting natural and anthropogenic forest fragmentation during two summers in boreal forest stands of western Newfoundland, Canada. Nest predation by gray jays ( Perisoreus canadensis (L.)) increased significantly in logged areas, and gray jay abundance was positively linked to increasing amounts of logged edge; however, there was no response to the extent of natural openings suggesting that nest predation by jays was additive in the presence of harvest-created openings. In contrast, neither mammalian nest predators nor the unidentified predators (responsible for the largest proportion of nest losses) showed any association with the landscape fragmentation metrics assessed. Year effects shown by the unidentified nest predator category did coincide with a marked increase in small mammal and Newfoundland marten ( Martes americana (Turton) subsp. atrata (Bangs)) populations during our study. Thus, we were able to identify an additive predation response to logging, but also that the activities of predators may vary over space and time and, in turn, may variably influence the success of songbirds nesting in forests fragmented by logging.

Avian nest predation in Australian temperate forest and woodland: a review

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham R. Fulton
Keyword(s):  
Nest Predation ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Size Structure ◽  
Fragment Size ◽  
Conservation Strategy ◽  
Net Benefit ◽  
Phylogenetic Groups ◽  
Artificial Nests ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Nest Predators

Many forest and woodland birds are threatened by landscape modifications and predation, particularly nest predation. Nest predation affects a critical stage in avian life histories, which impacts the recruitment of new generations of adult birds. This review discusses the main issues in nest predation research in Australia: mesopredators, the use of artificial nests, ‘edge-effects’, the identification and role of nest predators and the responses of their prey. One conservation strategy is to selectively remove introduced mesopredators, but mesopredators iteratively replace one another, so the net benefit may be negligible. Authors have questioned the utility of artificial nests: they often provide results that vary from natural nests, thus I propose they are best seen as generators of hypotheses to be tested at natural nests. Many studies investigated nest success based on the distance to the edge of the forest or woodland, with equivocal results. Yet fragment size, structure and faunal assemblage set in a more complex paradigm may better explain the presence or absence of effects at edges. There are various types of evidence used to identify nest predators. I argue that cameras are the most functional and direct observations are the most informative. A large number and variety of nest predators are reported yet reviews of nest predation call for more information on the identity and roles of nest predators, particularly on those that add predation pressure beyond what the prey might be able to sustain. The impact of nest characteristics: type, height, vegetation layer, concealment and re-nesting were found to be equivocal in relation to nest predation and in need of focussed research on phylogenetic groups and guilds present within assemblages and within the context of assemblages. A handful of research studies have looked at the possible conservation actions of culling nest-predators and placing cages around threatened birds. More such studies are needed because they provide direct information about practical interventions. Research within assemblages is required to identify and elucidate the roles of nest predators and prey responses and to generate broad and useful theories, which may better inform conservation models.

scholarly journals Nesting Success and Nest Predators in Forest Fragments: A Study Using Real and Artificial Nests

The Auk ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 117 (2) ◽  
pp. 445-454 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liana Zanette ◽  
Bert Jenkins
Keyword(s):  
Nest Predation ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Fragment Size ◽  
Nesting Success ◽  
Forest Fragments ◽  
Artificial Nests ◽  
Area Sensitivity ◽  
Avian Nest ◽  
Nest Predator ◽  
Nest Predators

Abstract Area sensitivity in songbirds is commonly attributed to increased nest predation in forest fragments. In 1995 and 1996, we tested whether the nest predators and nesting success of an area-sensitive forest bird, the Eastern Yellow Robin (Eopsaltria australis), varied with fragment size, and we also conducted an artificial nest experiment. The study occurred in two small (55 ha) and two large (>400 ha) forest fragments in a matrix of agricultural land in New South Wales, Australia. Predation accounted for 95% of all failures of 282 robin nests, and the survival of robin nests was negatively correlated with how frequently we observed avian nest predators near nests (i.e. nest-predator activity). Of 461 artificial nests, 84% were depredated, nearly all (99%) by birds. Thus, birds were important predators of nests. The abundance, species richness, and activity of avian nest predators were not related to fragment size. Survival of robin nests averaged 19%; nests in small fragments had a 22% chance of producing at least one fledgling compared with 15% in large fragments, but the difference was not significant. Survival of artificial nests averaged 12% in both small and large fragments. Nest-predator activity accounted for the most variation (68%) in the fate of robin nests, followed by the cumulative density of open-cup nesters (16%). The placement of robin nests had no influence on nest fate. We conclude that nest predation was not area dependent and propose food supply as an alternative hypothesis to explain area sensitivity. We suggest that, rather than being related to fragment size, nest predation increases with decreasing forest cover in a landscape. Increased nest predation in fragmented compared with contiguous landscapes may lower the population viability of songbirds in a region, and hence regional numbers. Therefore, the spatial scale at which fragmentation influences nest predation and songbird populations must be considered carefully.

Predation-mediated bird nest diversity: an experimental test

1997 ◽  
Vol 75 (2) ◽  
pp. 317-323 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Ângelo Marini
Keyword(s):  
Nest Predation ◽  
Bird Community ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Large Spatial Scale ◽  
Artificial Nests ◽  
Bird Richness ◽  
High Site ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Breeding Seasons ◽  
Nest Type

Differences in nesting characteristics among species of a bird community may increase the mean reproductive success of all species by decreasing mean predation levels on nests (the predation/diversity hypothesis). I tested this hypothesis by (i) manipulating nest-type richness using natural translocated nests, and (ii) correlating predation levels on artificial nests with understory bird richness. I translocated abandoned natural nests (158 nests in 1992 and 199 nests in 1993) of five species of passerines to four (in 1992) and five (in 1993) 1.5 km long transects (ravines) in two-species or five-species assemblages. Experiments conducted in hardwood forests of southern Illinois, U.S.A., during two breeding seasons (1992 and 1993) showed significantly higher predation levels in low than high nest richness sites in 1992 and 1993, and in overall predation during both years. Predation levels, however, varied considerably within richness treatments. If high site-to-site variability in nest predation is not due to stochastic noise, nesting traits may be selected in opposite directions and strengths in different parts of a species' habitat or range. The nest predation/diversity hypothesis was supported at the landscape level but not at the local (ravine) level, stressing the importance of predation as a process structuring bird communities at a large spatial scale. The consequences of this high variation in nest-predation levels on populations, communities, and ecological processes should be well understood before conclusions are drawn.

Native marsupials as egg predators of artificial ground-nests in Australian woodland

2017 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham R. Fulton
Keyword(s):  
Nest Predation ◽  
External Validation ◽  
Brushtail Possum ◽  
Trichosurus Vulpecula ◽  
Resident Species ◽  
Live Prey ◽  
Artificial Nests ◽  
Bettongia Penicillata ◽  
Ground Nesting ◽  
Nest Predators

Reviews of nest predation call for the identification of nest predators. The identity of nest predators is perhaps most poorly known for ground-nesting birds. Marsupials are not generally regarded as potential nest-predators of these birds, partly because the biology of rare Australian marsupials is not fully understood due to their rarity. This study identified three marsupials – boodie (Bettongia lesueur), woylie (Bettongia penicillata) and brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) – taking eggs from artificial nests modelled on that of the threatened painted button-quail (Turnix varius). Approximately one-third of the eggs were taken by the two bettongs and another third by the brushtail possum. I present dietary evidence of bettongs consuming vertebrate items including taking live prey to provide external validation for the notion that they may depredate natural nests. I suggest that more research is required on the impacts of reintroductions to avoid deleterious effects on resident species.

scholarly journals Investigating how different classes of nest predators respond to the playback of the begging calls of nestling birds

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shilong Liu ◽  
Qiao Xie ◽  
Aiwu Jiang ◽  
Eben Goodale
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammals ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Nest Predation ◽  
Traffic Noise ◽  
Control Treatment ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Artificial Nests ◽  
Frequency Components ◽  
Benefits And Costs ◽  
Nest Predators

Abstract Background Begging brings benefits and costs for nestling birds: it can indicate their needs to their parents, but it can also be a cue used by predators to find the nest. The costs, like many variables related to nest predation, can be specific to what kinds of predators are present and their auditory capabilities. These costs and benefits could also be affected by human noise, as noise could disrupt communication to parents and eavesdropping by predators, although human-produced noise might be easily ignored if predators can hear high-frequency components of the begging. We studied nest predation on a generalist bird, the Red-whiskered Bulbul Pycnonotus jocosus, in a tropical rainforest in which there are many kinds of nest predators, including birds, mammals and reptiles. Results In a total of 160 artificial nests, we broadcast recordings of begging nestlings, with and without traffic noise, at two volume levels. We hypothesized that playback would increase predation relative to a silent control, and that mixing in traffic noise with the begging would decrease predation, as the begging signal was masked. However, we hypothesized that some predators, particularly small mammals with sensitive high-frequency hearing, might ignore the traffic noise. We found that predation was lowest for the control treatment, and lower for treatments mixed with traffic noise than for those without it. Small mammals, however, showed an unexpected pattern, strongly avoiding the treatments with traffic noise. Conclusion Our results demonstrate the human-associated noise can disturb nest predators and influence which kinds of predators use begging to locate nests.

scholarly journals Rodents as Nest Predators: Influences on Predatory Behavior and Consequences to Nesting Birds

The Auk ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 120 (4) ◽  
pp. 1180-1187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey E. Bradley ◽  
John M. Marzluff
Keyword(s):  
Nest Predation ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Predatory Behavior ◽  
Deer Mice ◽  
Glaucomys Sabrinus ◽  
Artificial Nests ◽  
Marbled Murrelet ◽  
Flying Squirrels ◽  
In Captivity ◽  
Nest Predators

Abstract Nest predation is the primary cause of nest failure among birds. As such, it has large consequences on avian populations and is believed to be an important force in the evolution of avian life-history traits. Therefore, using a combination of laboratory and field research, we investigated the potential of northern flying squirrels (Glaucomys sabrinus) and two species of deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus and P. keeni) to be predators on eggs and nestlings of birds, particularly the threatened, canopy nesting Marbled Murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus). In captivity, both mice and squirrels atempted to prey on eggs and live nestlings of various sizes. Mice atempted to prey on eggs more than nestlings, were more likely to atack nestlings when hungry than when sated, and were more likely to atack small than large nestlings. Individual flying squirrels varied in their propensity to atack but generally were more likely to atempt to open eggs when hungry than when sated. Opening of eggs by both mice and squirrels was limited by egg size. Video monitoring of artificial nests containing live nestlings confirmed that mice prey on large nestlings at canopy nests in Washington State's temperate rainforest. We conclude that mice and flying squirrels are predators of canopy nesting passerines, and their potential as nest predators must be considered to understand the consequences of nest predation.

scholarly journals Do Repugnant Scents Increase Survival of Ground Nests? A Test with Artificial and Natural Duck Nests

2007 ◽  
Vol 121 (2) ◽  
pp. 150
Author(s):  
Vanessa B. Harriman ◽  
Justin A. Pitt ◽  
Serge Larivière
Keyword(s):  
Human Hair ◽  
Nest Predation ◽  
Survival Rates ◽  
Olfactory Cues ◽  
Artificial Nests ◽  
Treatment Groups ◽  
Mammalian Predators ◽  
High Predation ◽  
Ground Nesting ◽  
Predation Rates

Ground-nesting birds typically experience high predation rates on their nests, often by mammalian predators. As such, researchers and wildlife managers have employed numerous techniques to mitigate nest predation. We investigated the use of scents as repellents to deter predators from both artificial and natural ground nests. Survival rates of artificial nests did not differ among six groups of substances (Wald ?2 df = 5 = 4.53, P < 0.48); however the chronology of predation among groups differed. A commercial Coyote urine based deterrent (DEER-D-TERTM), human hair, and Worcestershire sauce were depredated faster than the control (F4,5 = 40.3, P < 0.001). Nest survival of natural nests differed among those groups tested (Wald ?2 df = 2 = 11.8, P < 0.005); the eight mothball treatment decreased survival (Wald ?2 df = 1 = 11.5, P < 0.005), which indicated that novel smells may attract predators or result in duck nest abandonment when coupled with natural duck scent. Chronologies of predation events among treatment groups were not different for natural nests (F2,3 = 1.9, P = 0.22). These findings indicate an interaction between novel scents and predator olfactory cues.

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