Examining the Effects of Settlement and Habitat Preferences on Eastern Bluebirds Breeding Biology

 

Melissa Bailey
Dr. Joanna Hubbard, Faculty Mentor

Eastern bluebirds, Sialia sialis, are a multi-brooded, secondary cavity nesting species, making them an excellent study system to observe the effects of habitat choice on offspring development due to their inability to excavate their own nesting cavities causing a natural limit on the number of high quality sites available to a population. To study the effect of settlement choice on nestling development, three sites in Northeastern, MO were studied, two of which contained only newly made boxes while one contained a mix of old and new boxes. Preliminary results show variation in settlement patterns with greater levels of settlement in the sites that have a mixture of new and old boxes. Further analysis of data collected in the field are predicted to show variation in reproductive output, reproductive initiation date, nestling body condition, and nestling ornamentation production between new and old boxes. 

 

Keywords: Ecology, Ornithology, Eastern Bluebirds, Sialia sialis, Settlement, Habitat preference, Development

Topic(s):Biology

Presentation Type: Oral Presentation

Session: TBA
Location: TBA
Time: TBA