Predator and destructive species of artificial bird nests in La Paz, Bolivia

Abstract

Urbanization alters the composition of biological communities and, therefore, ecological processes such as predation and destruction of bird nests. It is useful to identify predator and destructive species in order to design research that aims to understand the effects of urbanization on these ecological processes. In this study, we identify, using web cameras, diurnal predator and destructive species of artificial bird nests in urban and peri-urban areas of the metropolitan region of La Paz, Bolivia. We further describe the events of predation and nest destruction according to the number of eggs and nests affected, as well as latency periods for approach and attack. The House Wren (Troglodytes aedon) was the only nest-destroying species, recorded in both urban and peri-urban environments. This species affected nests by extracting material. We recorded one predation event by the Andean Caracara (Phalcoboenus megalopterus) in a peri-urban area and one by the Domestic Cat (Felis silvestris catus) in an urban area. The Chiguanco Thrush (Turdus chiguanco) was the species with the highest incidence of nest predation in both urban and peri-urban areas a behavior that was not previously reported for this species and which is also very rare for the genus. Our results highlight the importance of implementing filming systems in studies of bird predation and nest destruction.