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Full-Text Articles in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Linking Snake Behavior To Nest Predation In A Midwestern Bird Community, Patrick J. Weatherhead, Gerardo L.F. Carfagno, Jinelle H. Sperry, Jeffrey D. Brawn, Scott K. Robinson
Linking Snake Behavior To Nest Predation In A Midwestern Bird Community, Patrick J. Weatherhead, Gerardo L.F. Carfagno, Jinelle H. Sperry, Jeffrey D. Brawn, Scott K. Robinson
Biology Faculty Publications
Nest predators can adversely affect the viability of songbird populations, and their impact is exacerbated in fragmented habitats. Despite substantial research on this predator-prey interaction, however, almost all of the focus has been on the birds rather than their nest predators, thereby limiting our understanding of the factors that bring predators and nests into contact. We used radiotelemetry to document the activity of two snake species (rat snakes, Elaphe obsoleta; racers, Coluber constrictor) known to prey on nests in Midwestern bird communities and simultaneously monitored 300 songbird nests and tested the hypothesis that predation risk should increase for nests when …