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Adaptive Significance Of Re-Nesting Following Nest Abandonment In The Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila Caerulea), Melissa Nicole Helton
Adaptive Significance Of Re-Nesting Following Nest Abandonment In The Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila Caerulea), Melissa Nicole Helton
Masters Theses
We studied the adaptive significance of nest abandonment and re-nesting in the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea) in east-central Illinois from 1995 through 1997. This Neotropical migrant is widely distributed and highly persistent in re-nesting following nest abandonment. Nest abandonment may be a response to brood parasitism, predation or other nest disturbances. We studied the nesting behavior of gnatcatchers and investigated the cues which may elicit nest abandonment. We monitored 57 pairs of gnatcatchers which built a total of 98 nests. Twenty pairs successfully fledged a total of 63 young and overall nest success was only 8.5%. Daily mortality rates for …