Provisioning habitat with custom-designed nest-boxes increases reproductive success in an endangered finch

Austral Ecology

Volumn 38, Issue 4, 2013, Pages 405-412

  Brazill Boast, James ^a   Pryke, Sarah R ^a   Griffith, Simon C ^a  

^a MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY   (Australia)

Author keywords

Erythrura gouldiae; Gouldian Finch; Hollow nesting; Reproductive success; Resource quality

Indexed keywords

BREEDING POPULATION; BREEDING SEASON; CLUTCH SIZE; ENDANGERED SPECIES; FLEDGING; INTERSPECIFIC COMPETITION; INTRASPECIFIC COMPETITION; LITERATURE REVIEW; NEST BOX; NEST SITE; REPRODUCTIVE SUCCESS; RESOURCE AVAILABILITY; RESOURCE SCARCITY; SITE SELECTION; SONGBIRD; TREEHOLE;

ANIMALIA; ERYTHRURA GOULDIAE;

EID: 84877924838     PISSN: 14429985     EISSN: 14429993     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1442-9993.2012.02424.x     Document Type: Article

References (56)

1. Aitken K. E. H. & Martin K. (2008) Resource selection plasticity and community response to experimental reduction of a critical resource. Ecology 89, 971-80.
2. Barba E., Gildelgado J. A. & Monros J. S. (1995) The costs of being late - consequences of delaying great tit Parus major first clutches. J. Anim. Ecol. 64, 642-51.
3. Brawn J. D. & Balda R. P. (1988) Population biology of cavity nesters in northern Arizona: do nest sites limit breeding densities? Condor 90, 61-71.
4. Brazill-Boast J. (2012) Competition for resources mediated by intrinsic social dominance in sympatric finches. Ibis (in press).
5. Brazill-Boast J., Pryke S. R. & Griffith S. C. (2010) Nest-site utilisation and niche overlap in two sympatric, cavity-nesting finches. Emu 110, 170-7.
6. Brazill-Boast J., Pryke S. R. & Griffith S. C. (2011a) Selection of breeding habitat by the endangered Gouldian Finch (Erythrura gouldiae) at two spatial scales. Emu 111, 304-11.
7. Brazill-Boast J., van Rooij E., Pryke S. R. & Griffith S. C. (2011b) Interference from long-tailed finches constrains reproduction in the endangered Gouldian finch. J. Anim. Ecol. 80, 39-48.
8. Cade T. J. & Jones C. G. (1993) Progress in restoration of the Mauritius kestrel. Conserv. Biol. 7, 169-75.
9. Catry I., Alcazar R., Franco A. M. A. & Sutherland W. J. (2009) Identifying the effectiveness and constraints of conservation interventions: a case study of the endangered lesser kestrel. Biol. Conserv. 142, 2782-91.
10. Crowley G. M. & Garnett S. T. (1999) Seeds of the annual grasses Schizachyrium spp. as a food resource for tropical granivorous birds. Aust. J. Ecol. 24, 208-20.
11. Dhondt A. A. & Eyckerman R. (1980) Competition between the great tit and the blue tit outside the breeding season in field experiments. Ecology 61, 1291-6.
12. Dostine P., Johnson G., Franklin D., Zhang Y. & Hempel C. (2001) Seasonal use of savanna landscapes by the Gouldian finch, Erythrura gouldiae, in the Yinberrie Hills area, Northern Territory. Wildl. Res. 28, 445-58.
13. Dostine P. L. & Franklin D. C. (2002) A comparison of the diet of three finch species in the Yinberrie Hills area, Northern Territory. Emu 102, 159-64.
14. Eadie J. M., Sherman P. & Semel B. (1998) Conspecific brood parasitism, population dynamics, and the conservation of cavity-nesting birds. In: Behavioural Ecology and Conservation Biology (ed. T. Caro) pp. 306-40. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
15. East M. L. & Perrins C. M. (1988) The effect of nestboxes on breeding populations of birds in broadleaved temperate woodlands. Ibis 130, 393-401.
16. EPBC (1999) Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. Available from URL: http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicthreatenedlist.pl
17. Fargallo J. A., Blanco G., Potti J. & Vinuela J. (2001) Nestbox provisioning in a rural population of Eurasian Kestrels: breeding performance, nest predation and parasitism. Bird Study 48, 236-44.
18. Fiehler C. M., Tietje W. D. & Fields W. R. (2006) Nesting success of Western Bluebirds (Sialia mexicana) using nest-boxes in vineyard and oak-savannah habitats of California. Wilson J. Ornithol. 118, 552-7.
19. Franklin D. C., Dostine P. L. & Tidemann C. R. (1998) Post-juvenile moult strategies of co-existing Gouldian, long-tailed and masked finches. Corella 22, 73-9.
20. Franklin D. C., Whitehead P. J., Pardon G., Matthews J., McMahon P. & McIntyre D. (2005) Geographic patterns and correlates of the decline of granivorous birds in northern Australia. Wildl. Res. 32, 399-408.
21. Gibbons P. & Lindenmayer D. B. (2002) Tree Hollows and Wildlife Conservation in Australia. CSIRO, Collingwood.
22. Goldingay R. L. & Stevens J. R. (2009) Use of artificial tree hollows by Australian birds and bats. Wildl. Res. 36, 81-97.
23. Goodenough A. E., Maitland D. P., Hart A. G. & Elliot S. L. (2008) Nestbox orientation: a species-specific influence on occupation and breeding success in woodland passerines. Bird Study 55, 222-32.
24. Griffith S. C., Pryke S. R. & Mariette M. (2008) Use of nest-boxes by the Zebra Finch (Taeniopygia guttata): implications for reproductive success and research. Emu 108, 311-9.
25. Gustafsson L. & Nilsson S. G. (1985) Clutch size and breeding success of pied and collared flycatchers Ficedula spp in nest-boxes of different sizes. Ibis 127, 380-5.
26. Hamerstrom F., Hamerstrom F. N. & Hart J. (1973) Nest-boxes - effective management tool for kestrels. J. Wildl. Manage. 37, 400-3.
27. Homan P. (2000) Excluding the common myna Acridotheres tristis from artificial nest-boxes using a baffle. Vic. Natur. 117, 75.
28. Karlsson J. & Nilsson S. G. (1977) Influence of nest-box area on clutch size in some hole-nesting passerines. Ibis 119, 207-11.
29. Korpimäki E. (1985) Clutch size and breeding success in relation to nest-box size in Tengmalms' owl Aegolius funereus. Holarctic Ecol. 8, 175-80.
30. Lambrechts M. M., Adriaensen F. & Ardia D. R. (2010) The design of artificial nestboxes for the study of secondary hole-nesting birds: a review of methodological inconsistencies and potential biases. Acta Ornithol. 45, 1-26.
31. Lehmann C. E. R., Prior L. D. & Bowman D. (2009) Fire controls population structure in four dominant tree species in a tropical savanna. Oecologia 161, 505-15.
32. Lehmann C. E. R., Prior L. D., Williams R. J. & Bowman D. (2008) Spatio-temporal trends in tree cover of a tropical mesic savanna are driven by landscape disturbance. J. Appl. Ecol. 45, 1304-11.
33. Lindenmayer D. B., Welsh A., Donnelly C. etal. (2009) Are nest-boxes a viable alternative source of cavities for hollow-dependent animals? Long-term monitoring of nest-box occupancy, pest use and attrition. Biol. Conserv. 142, 33-42.
34. Llambias P. E. & Fernández G. J. (2009) Effects of nestboxes on the breeding biology of Southern House Wrens Troglodytes aedon bonariae in the southern temperate zone. Ibis 151, 113-21.
35. Lohmus A. & Remm J. (2005) Nest quality limits the number of hole-nesting passerines in their natural cavity-rich habitat. Acta Oecol. 27, 125-8.
36. Mänd R., Tilgar V., Lohmus A. & Leivits A. (2005) Providing nest-boxes for hole-nesting birds - does habitat really matter? Biodivers. Conserv. 14, 1823-40.
37. Møller A. P. (1989) Parasites, predators and nest-boxes: facts and artefacts in nest-box studies of birds? Oikos 56, 421-3.
38. Munro H. L. & Rounds R. C. (1985) Selection of artificial nest-sites by five sympatric passerines. J. Wildl. Manage. 49, 264-76.
39. Newton I. (1994) The role of nest sites in limiting the numbers of hole-nesting birds: a review. Biol. Conserv. 70, 265-76.
40. Newton I. (1998) Population Limitation in Birds. Academic Press, San Diego.
41. Nilsson S. G. (1984) The evolution of nest-site selection among hole-nesting birds: The importance of nest predation and competition. Ornis Scand. 15, 167-75.
42. O'Donald P. (1983) The Artic Skua. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
43. O'Malley C. (2006) National Recovery Plan for the Gouldian Finch (Erythrura gouldiae). WWF-Australia, Sydney and Parks and Wildlife NT, Department of Natural Resources, Environment and the Arts, NT Government, Palmerston.
44. Pearce D., Pryke S. R. & Griffith S. C. (2011) Interspecific aggression for nest sites: model experiments with long-tailed and endangered Gouldian finches. Auk 128, 497-505.
45. Prior L. D., Murphy B. P. & Russell-Smith J. (2009) Environmental and demographic correlates of tree recruitment and mortality in north Australian savannas. For. Ecol. Manage. 257, 66-74.
46. Purcell K. L., Verner J. & Oring L. W. (1997) A comparison of the breeding ecology of birds nesting in boxes and tree cavities. Auk 114, 646-56.
47. Robertson R. J. & Rendell W. B. (1990) A comparison of the breeding ecology of a secondary cavity nesting bird, the tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor), in nest-boxes and natural cavities. Can. J. Zool. 68, 1046-52.
48. Tidemann S. C. (1996) Causes of the decline of the Gouldian Finch Erythrura gouldiae. Bird Conserv. Int. 6, 49-61.
49. Tidemann S. C., Boyden J., Elvish R., Elvish J. & O'Gorman B. (1992) Comparison of the breeding sites and habitat of two hole-nesting estrildid finches, one endangered, in northern Australia. J. Trop. Ecol. 8, 373-88.
50. Tilman D. (1982) Resource Competition and Community Structure. Princeton University Press, Princeton.
51. Toland B. R. & Elder W. H. (1987) Influence of nest-box placement and density on abundance and productivity of American kestrels in central Missouri. Wilson Bull. 99, 712-17.
52. van Balen J. H. (1984) The relationship between nest-box size, occupation and breeding parameters of the Great Tit Parus major and some other hole-nesting species. Ardea 72, 163-75.
53. Verhulst S. & Nilsson J. A. (2008) The timing of birds' breeding seasons: a review of experiments that manipulated timing of breeding. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B Biol. Sci. 363, 399-410.
54. Wiggins D. A., Part T. & Gustafsson L. (1994) Seasonal decline in collared flycatcher Fidecula albicollis reproductive success - an experimental approach. Oikos 70, 359-64.
55. Woinarski J. C. Z. & Tidemann S. C. (1992) Survivorship and some population parameters for the endangered Gouldian finch Erythrura gouldiae and two other finch species at two sites in tropical northern Australia. Emu 92, 33-8.
56. Yates C. P., Edwards A. C. & Russell-Smith J. (2008) Big fires and their ecological impacts in Australian savannas: size and frequency matters. Int. J. Wildland Fire 17, 768-81.