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WOS 2010 ~ ABSTRACTS p. 20 21 Nest predation reduces benefits to early clutch initiation in an urbanizing landscape. Daniel P. Shustack, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, Biology Dept., North Adams, MA 01247, and Amanda D. Rodewald, School of Environment and Natural Resources, Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH 43210 Life history theory and empirical studies suggest that early breeding confers higher reproductive success, but the extent to which this advantage can be generalized to human-dominated systems is poorly understood. For example, although advanced reproductive phenology is well documented for birds breeding in urban systems, the fitness benefits (e.g., increased nest survival, greater number of fledglings) of early breeding remain largely unexplored. We studied the fitness consequences of reproductive timing for female Northern Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) in forests within urbanizing landscapes of Ohio, USA between 2004-2007. In this heavily human-altered system, birds that bred early did not produce significantly more fledglings over the season compared to later-initiating individuals, although earlier breeders made significantly more nesting attempts and tended to produce more fledglings. The expected number of fledglings produced per successful nest remained constant over the course of the season at ~1.7 fledglings per successful nest. However, nest survival rates improved dramatically as the season progressed. Because the probability of resighting breeding individuals in subsequent years was unrelated to clutch initiation date, we have no evidence that reproductive timing and effort affected survival. The absence of a clear benefit to early breeding appears to be a consequence of very high rates of nest predation earliest in the breeding season. 22 Does habitat choice in the post-breeding season affect physiological condition of forest-interior songbirds Scott H. Stoleson U.S.F.S. Northern Research Station, Irvine, PA 16329 Concern about declining populations of many songbirds of mature forest interiors has fueled opposition to evenaged management on public lands. However, recent work has shown that forest-interior species can be common in regenerating clearcuts during the post-breeding period, a critical time in avian life cycles. Whether such habitat shifts are commonplace, and whether birds’ habitat choices carry detectable consequences for physiological condition, remains unclear. I used constant-effort mist-netting in mature and young regenerating forests in northwestern Pennsylvania from July to September of 2005 to 2008 to test (1) whether forest-interior birds used early successional habitats disproportionally in the post-breeding season, and (2) whether such use affected physiological condition. Capture rates for forest interior species were significantly higher in early successional (12.4 captures/100 net-hrs) than forest interior (5.3 captures/100net-hrs) habitats, although ratios differed among species. Further, birds captured in early successional habitats were more likely to have fat deposits (P = 0.05) and less likely to have ectoparasites (P
WOS 2010 ~ ABSTRACTS p. 21 forest songbird demographics. Birds were related to soil conditions in three main ways: (1) Bird species, like the Black-throated Blue Warbler, were most abundant in areas with very acidic soils. Abundances of these birds were often positively related to acid-tolerant plants, like mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia), and were negatively related to snail abundance. Habitat for these birds may be increasing in PA, but we suspect they may be calcium-limited in their preferred habitat because many responded positively to liming. (2) Bird species, like the Wood Thrush, were most abundant in areas with less acidic soils, with more small and sapling trees and higher snail abundances. We believe these bird populations are at greatest risk from soil acidification. (3) Bird species, like the Ovenbird, were abundant in most forests, regardless of soil conditions. However, we believe the Ovenbird is calcium-limited in forests with acidified soils because reproduction and territory size were related to soil calcium, and responded positively to liming. These complex relationships between birds and soils will likely result in different responses to further soil acidification, and will need to be considered in future conservation and management activities. 25 S Seasonal energetic differences between migratory, non-migratory, and irruptive songbirds. Christine Eldredge, Brian Monaco, and Mark E. Deutschlander, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva, NY 14456 The spring fatter hypothesis suggests that migratory birds should be in better energetic condition upon spring arrival, for energetically demanding tasks such as breeding and thermoregulation, than they are before autumn departure. We investigated the seasonal changes, between fall and spring, in energetics among migratory, non-migratory, and irruptive songbirds at Braddock Bay Bird Observatory along the south shore of Lake Ontario in New York State. Two temperate migratory species, the Lincoln’s Sparrow (Melospiza lincolnii) and Eastern White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys), one non-migrant species, the Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis), and one irruptive species, the Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) were compared by analyzing differences in mass, energetic condition, and fat score. As predicted by the spring-fatter hypothesis for migratory birds, the two migratory species were significantly heavier, had a higher energetic condition, and higher fat scores in the spring than in the fall. The non-migratory Northern Cardinal showed the opposite trends; they were heavier, had a higher energetic condition, and higher fat scores in the fall rather than in the spring. The Black-capped Chickadee followed the same fat, mass, and energetic condition trends during irruptive years as the two migratory sparrow species and the same fat, mass, and energetic condition trends during the non-irruptive years as the non-migratory Northern Cardinal. These results indicate that Black-capped Chickadees undergo major physiological changes during irruptive years that are similar to the physiological changes migratory species undergo. 26 Patterns in migratory songbird capture between 1966-1980 and 1995-2009 at an autumn banding station in the High Plains. Greg H. Farley, Andrée Brisson, Alex Galt and Stephanie Kane, Dept. Biological Sciences, Fort Hays State Univ., Hays, KS 67601 Timing, trends, and changes in population size of long-distance migratory songbirds continue to be areas of active research in ornithology. However, few long-term data sets are available, resulting in a limited ability to address hypotheses concerning recent population declines in these species. This is especially true in the High Plains region where a paucity of data from Nearctic-Neotropical migrants exists. A group of trained volunteers and students annually sample fall migrants at a single location in western Kansas following a protocol established by Professor C. Ely in 1966. Analyses of these data indicate significant year-to-year variation in the number of individuals and species captured, independent of sampling effort. A variety of factors, e.g., weather and habitat structure, appear to interact on both local and landscape scales to produce unpredictable numbers of migrants captured on the study site. Population estimates, although inexact, suggest no overall decline in these species over the last several decades using this sampling regime. 27 Tracking birds migrating at night through an urban-rural corridor and quantifying the effects of light and noise pollution. J. Alan Clark, Dept. Biological Sciences, Fordham Univ., Bronx, NY 10458 Many migratory bird species are in serious decline. Understanding how birds assess and use increasingly large, brightly lit, and noisy cities as they travel through urban landscapes and encounter tall buildings, towers, and aircraft is essential to their conservation. However, little is k<strong>now</strong>n about how birds evaluate the obstacles presented by cities during migration, which generally occurs at night and is confounded by ubiquitous, yet highly variable, light and noise pollution. We test a novel approach to tracking birds migrating through an urban-rural corridor and quantifying the effects of light and noise pollution on such migration. We recorded nocturnal flight calls at multiple sites along an urban-rural corridor from New York City north and simultaneously collected data on measures of light and noise. Some studies suggest that birds are drawn to brightly lit areas and that bird density is artificially increased in cities. Consistent with these studies, we documented more nocturnal flight calls in brighter, noisier locations than in nearby quieter, darker green spaces. These higher calling rates may reflect increased confusion of birds in noisy urban environments. 28 S The relationship of migrant avian frugivory and honeysuckle (Lonicera) management in the fall. Jessie Hogue- Morgenstern and James Marshall, Dept. Biology, Denison Univ., Granville, OH 43023
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