NEST SITE SELECTION AND NESTING SUCCESS OF THE RED-EYED VIREO IN CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA

Abstract

Abstract We compared nest placement and characteristics of nesting habitat used by Red-eyed Vireos (Vireo olivaceous) in deciduous forests of central Pennsylvania during the breeding seasons of 1998 and 1999. Nest patches versus random patches (0.04-ha circular plots centered on nests or random points, respectively) and successful versus unsuccessful nest patches were compared. Vireos selected nest patches in a nonrandom fashion with respect to vegetative characteristics at two strata: canopy level and ground/shrub level (<1.0 m). Nests were located closer to surrounding trees and were found in areas with greater canopy coverage, less ground vegetation, and fewer small (0.5–1.0 m in height) stems than random patches. Of the four microhabitat characteristics that distinguished used from random patches, however, only ground vegetation was associated with nest fate. Successful nests were surrounded by less ground vegetation than failed nests. Nest placement characteristics were not significantly associated w...