Abstract

The influence of habitat structure on the nesting height of five species of birds in an urban area was investigated. All rock dove (Columba livia) nests were on two-story buildings. The nesting height of house sparrows (Passer domesticus) and starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) was influenced by building height being higher in two-story residential areas than in areas with bungalows. House sparrows were more versatile than starlings in the selection of nest sites. They occasionally nested in coniferous foliage but preferred man-made structures. The height of American robin (Turdus migratorius) nests ranged widely in response to vertical distribution of foliage. The largest number of nests in a given plot always occurred in the layer of foliage just below the layer with the largest volume of foliage. Robins nested in coniferous foliage early in the breeding season but switched to deciduous foliage as the season progressed. Common grackles (Quiscalus quiscula) nested exclusively in coniferous foliage and their nesting height was also influenced by the vertical structure. Habitat structure was found to be the main determinant of nesting height of birds in the urban environment and height in itself was not an important feature in the nest site selection of the species studied. Disturbance as measured by house density had a relatively minor influence.

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