Avian response to nest box addition in two forests of the Colorado Front Range
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Published source details
Bock C.E. & Fleck D.C. (1995) Avian response to nest box addition in two forests of the Colorado Front Range. Journal of Field Ornithology, 66, 352-362.
Published source details Bock C.E. & Fleck D.C. (1995) Avian response to nest box addition in two forests of the Colorado Front Range. Journal of Field Ornithology, 66, 352-362.
Actions
This study is summarised as evidence for the following.
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Provide artificial nesting sites for songbirds Action Link |
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Provide artificial nesting sites for songbirds
A randomized, replicated and controlled before-and-after study at two pine forest sites in Colorado, USA (Bock & Fleck 1995), found that population densities of cavity-nesting birds on 27 experimental plots increased by 500-550% in 1992-3 following the installation of four nest boxes on each plot (7.5-10.0 birds/plot in 1990-1 vs. 41.5-52.5 birds/plot in 1992-3). There were significantly smaller increases on 27 control plots, which had had similar densities before nest box addition (8.5-16.0 birds/plot in 1990-1 vs. 15-20 birds/plot in 1992-3). Birds used 33-55% of the 108 boxes, with the most common species being pygmy nuthatch Sitta pygmaea (25% of box uses), house wren Troglodytes aedon (21%), mountain chickadee Parus gambeli (18%), white-breasted nuthatch Sitta carolinensis (14%) and western bluebird Sialia mexicana (12%). Open-nesting birds also increased in both experimental and control plots. All plots were circles with a 50 m radius.
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