Research conducted as part of a Behavioral Ecology course in Spring 2019

Abstract

Because of the increase in urban human populations and the decrease in forest areas, it is crucial that scientists focus efforts on investigating the influence of artificial light at night (ALAN) on urban wild animal populations. While behavioral and physiological changes in avian species in response to light pollution have been studied in the past, so far there has not been a study investigating ALAN-mediated nest site selection in our focal species. Here, we tested whether ALAN influenced where Northern mockingbirds (Mimus polyglottos) and brown thrashers (Toxostoma rufum) preferred to nest. This relationship was investigated by creating an illumination map of a college campus in Decatur, GA (33.7692° N, 84.2946° W) and testing the illumination levels at currently active and previously active nest sites, as well as the illumination at randomly selected control sites, areas where it was possible to build a nest but no nest was found. We found that these species do in fact preferentially nest in areas with low ALAN, suggesting that they may use this as a strategy to avoid the negative fitness and wellness effects of night time illumination.

            Keywords: urban ecology, avian nest selection, light pollution, ALAN