Effects of nest concealment on nest predation and cowbird parasitism, flight initiation distance and female stress levels in the Wood Thrush

Abstract

Temperate zone songbirds in North America can experience high levels of nest predation and Brown-headed Cowbird (<em>Molothrus ater</em>) parasitism, which may contribute to population declines, and an important question is whether nesting females can mitigate these threats through greater nest concealment. However, there is little known about the pros and cons of nest concealment to the incubating female, and whether concealment influences female corticosterone levels or nest escape behavior to potentially reduce risk of predation on females. This study investigates whether nest concealment resulted in reduced risk of nest predation and Brown-headed Cowbird parasitism in the Wood Thrush (<em>Hylocichla mustelina</em>), a forest bird that is declining across most of its range. We monitored nests (n = 186) in a highly fragmented forest landscape in southwestern Ontario, Canada and found high nest predation (53.2%) and moderate cowbird parasitism (25.3%). Overall nest concealment, nest height, and forest fragment size were not good predictors of daily nest survival or cowbird parasitism, but greater nest concealment one meter above the nest strongly reduced nest predation risk. We speculate that because most Wood Thrush nests are relatively low (< 2.5 m above ground), above-nest concealment may be effective against detection by avian nest predators. Overall nest concealment was not negatively correlated with flight initiation distance (FID) or positively related to baseline corticosterone level. This suggests that high nest concealment does not increase stress or personal risk to incubating females; however, nest concealment manipulations are needed to further explore whether any such trade-offs exist.