Nest survival of the Red-crested Cardinal (Paroaria coronata) in a modified habitat in Argentina

• Autores: Segura, L.N.; Berkunsky, I.
• Año de publicación: 2012
• Idioma: inglés
• Tipo de recurso: artículo
• Fuente: Ornitol. Neotrop. 2012;23(4):489-498
• Materia: Ecotourism; Human disturbance; Nest predation; Nest success; Paroaria coronata; Red-crested Cardinal; Thraupidae
• Institución: Universidad Nacional de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales

Modification of nesting sites caused by human activity can have a negative effect on the reproductive success of birds. In recent decades, a population of Red-crested Cardinal (Paroaria coronata) was established in a modified forest with ecotourism intense activity. In this paper, we model the daily nest survival rate of this population of Red-crested Cardinal and we assessed the effect of time of season, age of nest and environmental variables. Between 2007 and 2009 we monitored 69 nests found in areas with different eco-tourist activity and we used the program MARK to estimate and model the daily survival rates. Only six nests produced fledglings and the main cause of nest failure was predation (88%). Nest survival increased with the vegetation cover around the nest and decreased with the date of the breeding season. We found no significant effect in nest survival of the activities related to ecotourism. The coverage around the nest could reduce their exposure by decreasing their detectability and hindering the access of predators, while the decrease in survival over the season could be the result of changes in the community of predators. The low nest survival associated with high rates of nest predation suggest that, in this study site, predator community could be being affected by human habitat alterations. © The Neotropical Ornithological Society.
Fil:Segura, L.N. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina.