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10 October 2019 Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia sialis) do not avoid nest cavities containing predator odors
Mark T. Stanback, Cameron M. Dove, Christina Fonda, Presley Parkes, Jenna Ptaschinski
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Abstract

We tested whether Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia sialis) avoid nest cavities containing the odors of potential nest predators: the northern raccoon (Procyon lotor) and the house mouse (Mus musculus). In our first experiment, we applied either raccoon urine or white vinegar to partially completed bluebird nests and recorded whether the bluebirds continued nesting or switched to an empty nest box 10 m away. We restricted our analyses to cases in which the nest start was no more than 50% complete at the time we applied the odor. We found no difference in the propensity of bluebirds to switch nest sites in response to urine versus vinegar. Indeed, the vast majority of bluebirds continued nesting in the box into which we added an odor, suggesting that either bluebirds do not associate the odor of raccoon urine with a significantly increased probability of nest predation or that they perceive a nest box 10 m away as being no less threatened. In our second experiment, we presented bluebirds with a choice of 2 identical nest boxes, one containing clean (unused) mouse cage bedding and the other containing bedding soiled with mouse urine and feces. We concealed the bedding in both treatments under cardboard discs to eliminate visual cues and to force bluebirds to rely on their olfactory abilities. Although we used different volumes of cage bedding in the 2 summers, we found no difference between years in the propensity to avoid soiled bedding: bluebirds showed no sign of avoiding soiled bedding at all.

Mark T. Stanback, Cameron M. Dove, Christina Fonda, Presley Parkes, and Jenna Ptaschinski "Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia sialis) do not avoid nest cavities containing predator odors," The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 131(3), 680-686, (10 October 2019). https://doi.org/10.1676/18-163
Received: 31 October 2018; Accepted: 25 January 2019; Published: 10 October 2019
KEYWORDS
Eastern Bluebird
olfactory
Sialia sialis
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