Nest-Site Characteristics and Nesting Success of the Chestnut Thrush

Abstract

Nest-site characteristics may affect the daily survival rate of avian nests. We monitored the nests of Chestnut Thrush Turdus rubrocanus breeding in an agricultural landscape near the Lianhuashan Natural Reserve (central China) during the breeding seasons of 2013 and 2014. We describe the Chestnut Thrush's breeding ecology and used logistic-exposure methods and an information theoretic approach to assess the factors influencing daily survival rates of nests. Results from model averaging indicated that daily survival rates of nests consistently decreased from habitat edge to interior, contradicting the classic edge effect hypothesis describing predation of avian nests. Concealment of nests from below was positively correlated with nest daily survival rates, whereas concealment from the side and from above were not. These results suggest that determining the various effects of vertical and/or horizontal concealment on nest survival rates may help us assess the variation in the ability of local predators to detect nests.