Abstract
A large number of field studies have concluded that habitat fragmentation by urban development and other human activities results in significant declines in species richness in a broad range of avian communities (e.g., Whitcomb et al. 1981; Wilcove et al. 1986; Soule et al. 1988; Wilcove 1988; Robbins et al. 1989; Terborgh 1989). The proximate mechanisms by which this occurs, however, are not understood for most species. Important research on various bird communities has found that these mechanisms are likely to involve increased nest predation and nest parasitism (e.g., Brittingham & Temple 1983; Andren et al. 1985; Wilcove 1985, 1988; Temple & Cary 1988; Bohning-Gaese et al. 1993). Wilcove (1985, 1988) identified the Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata), among other species, as a potentially important nest predator on open-nesting songbirds in fragmented habitat.
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