Nest survival data confirm managed housing is an important component to the conservation of the eastern purple martin
ABSTRACT The purple martin (Progne subis) is entrenched in a consistent, long‐term decline. This is especially true for the subspecies east of the Rocky Mountains (P. s. subis), which today nests almost exclusively in provisioned housing (birdhouses and hollow gourds) provided by citizen scientists....
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Wiley
2019-03-01
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| Series: | Wildlife Society Bulletin |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.941 |
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| author | Daniel Raleigh James D. Ray Blake A. Grisham Joe Siegrist Daniel U. Greene |
| author_facet | Daniel Raleigh James D. Ray Blake A. Grisham Joe Siegrist Daniel U. Greene |
| author_sort | Daniel Raleigh |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACT The purple martin (Progne subis) is entrenched in a consistent, long‐term decline. This is especially true for the subspecies east of the Rocky Mountains (P. s. subis), which today nests almost exclusively in provisioned housing (birdhouses and hollow gourds) provided by citizen scientists. One benefit of provisioned housing is reduced nest‐site competition with nonnative European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) and house sparrows (Passer domesticus) when managed by citizen scientists. Increased competition for nest sites and subsequently lower productivity due to declining management of available housing is speculated to be primary factors for their long‐term declines. To assess whether managed housing promoted high nest‐survival metrics, we used a 19‐year database (1995–2013) of nest‐check records provided by Project MartinWatch, a citizen science program of the Purple Martin Conservation Association. We compared nest ecology metrics and survival among housing and entrance‐hole type to assess if specific provisioned housing or entrance‐hole type increased clutch size or number of chicks fledged. Using 72,627 nests across 8 regions monitored by citizen scientists, our major findings were 1) nest survival was >85% among 8 regions in the eastern United States and Canada; and 2) clutch size and number of fledglings produced were slightly larger in natural and artificial gourds with entrances designed to exclude European starlings; but 3) housing and entrance‐hole types were not important predictors of nest survival and clutch size had a small, inverse relationship with daily nest survival (βClutch = −0.002). Our results suggest managed housing is an important conservation tool based on previously undocumented high nest survival across the numerous artificial housing options. Our findings encourage the use of artificial and natural gourds with European starling‐resistant entrance holes, but promotion of managed artificial housing of any type in North America is beneficial and strongly encouraged. © 2019 The Wildlife Society. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-7e26268926aa43ff96e59eedacd40b88 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2328-5540 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2019-03-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Wildlife Society Bulletin |
| spelling | doaj-art-7e26268926aa43ff96e59eedacd40b882025-08-20T02:49:22ZengWileyWildlife Society Bulletin2328-55402019-03-014319310110.1002/wsb.941Nest survival data confirm managed housing is an important component to the conservation of the eastern purple martinDaniel Raleigh0James D. Ray1Blake A. Grisham2Joe Siegrist3Daniel U. Greene4Department of Natural Resources ManagementTexas Tech UniversityLubbockTX79409USAConsolidated Nuclear Security, LLCPantex Plant, P.O. Box 30020AmarilloTX79210USADepartment of Natural Resources ManagementTexas Tech UniversityLubbockTX79409USAPurple Martin Conservation Association301 Peninsula DriveEriePA16505USAWeyerhaeuser CompanySouthern Timberlands TechnologyP.O. Box 2288ColumbusMS39704USAABSTRACT The purple martin (Progne subis) is entrenched in a consistent, long‐term decline. This is especially true for the subspecies east of the Rocky Mountains (P. s. subis), which today nests almost exclusively in provisioned housing (birdhouses and hollow gourds) provided by citizen scientists. One benefit of provisioned housing is reduced nest‐site competition with nonnative European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) and house sparrows (Passer domesticus) when managed by citizen scientists. Increased competition for nest sites and subsequently lower productivity due to declining management of available housing is speculated to be primary factors for their long‐term declines. To assess whether managed housing promoted high nest‐survival metrics, we used a 19‐year database (1995–2013) of nest‐check records provided by Project MartinWatch, a citizen science program of the Purple Martin Conservation Association. We compared nest ecology metrics and survival among housing and entrance‐hole type to assess if specific provisioned housing or entrance‐hole type increased clutch size or number of chicks fledged. Using 72,627 nests across 8 regions monitored by citizen scientists, our major findings were 1) nest survival was >85% among 8 regions in the eastern United States and Canada; and 2) clutch size and number of fledglings produced were slightly larger in natural and artificial gourds with entrances designed to exclude European starlings; but 3) housing and entrance‐hole types were not important predictors of nest survival and clutch size had a small, inverse relationship with daily nest survival (βClutch = −0.002). Our results suggest managed housing is an important conservation tool based on previously undocumented high nest survival across the numerous artificial housing options. Our findings encourage the use of artificial and natural gourds with European starling‐resistant entrance holes, but promotion of managed artificial housing of any type in North America is beneficial and strongly encouraged. © 2019 The Wildlife Society.https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.941artificial housingeastern purple martinmanagementnest survivalProgne subis subistraditional cavities |
| spellingShingle | Daniel Raleigh James D. Ray Blake A. Grisham Joe Siegrist Daniel U. Greene Nest survival data confirm managed housing is an important component to the conservation of the eastern purple martin Wildlife Society Bulletin artificial housing eastern purple martin management nest survival Progne subis subis traditional cavities |
| title | Nest survival data confirm managed housing is an important component to the conservation of the eastern purple martin |
| title_full | Nest survival data confirm managed housing is an important component to the conservation of the eastern purple martin |
| title_fullStr | Nest survival data confirm managed housing is an important component to the conservation of the eastern purple martin |
| title_full_unstemmed | Nest survival data confirm managed housing is an important component to the conservation of the eastern purple martin |
| title_short | Nest survival data confirm managed housing is an important component to the conservation of the eastern purple martin |
| title_sort | nest survival data confirm managed housing is an important component to the conservation of the eastern purple martin |
| topic | artificial housing eastern purple martin management nest survival Progne subis subis traditional cavities |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.941 |
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