A Nest Predator's View of a Managed Forest: Gray Jay (Perisoreus Canadensis) Movement Patterns in Response to Forest Edges

Abstract

Abstract High nest-predation risk is often associated with forest edges. Most nest predators in boreal coniferous forests of North America are forest specialists living in mature stands. Nest predators have been studied mainly through use of artificial nests; knowledge of their behavior remains limited. We used radiotelemetry to examine movement patterns, relative to forest edge, of a forest nest predator, the Gray Jay (Perisoreus canadensis), in boreal coniferous forest. Each of 11 family groups of Gray Jays monitored in early summer exhibited a marked association with forest edges. Jays were found within 30 m of the forest edges more often than expected from random use of mature forest. Furthermore, jays traveled more slowly near forest edges than in the forest interior. Because forest edges apparently represent prime foraging habitat for Gray Jays, narrow forest strips left by logging could act as ecological traps for mature-stand songbirds before stands regenerate in adjacent clearcuts.