Incidence of Nest Material Kleptoparasitism Involving Cerulean Warblers

We document 21 observations of interspecific stealing of nesting material involving Cerulean Warblers (Dendroica cerulea), Red-eyed Vireos (Vireo olivaceus), Blue-gray Gnatcatchers (Polioptila caerulea), Northern Parulas (Parula americana), Black-throated Green Warblers (D. virens), American Redstar...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Wilson journal of ornithology 2007-06, Vol.119 (2), p.271-275
Main Authors: Jones, Kelly C., Roth, Kirk L., Islam, Kamal, Hamel, Paul B., Smith, Carl G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abandoned buildings
Aggressiveness
Animal behavior
Animal behaviour
Behavior
Bird nesting
Birds
Female animals
Forest canopy
Gnats
Kleptoparasitism
Nest building
Observations
Old World warblers
Ornithological research
Parasitism
Short Communications
State forests
Studies
Vireos
Warblers
Wood buildings
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Summary:We document 21 observations of interspecific stealing of nesting material involving Cerulean Warblers (Dendroica cerulea), Red-eyed Vireos (Vireo olivaceus), Blue-gray Gnatcatchers (Polioptila caerulea), Northern Parulas (Parula americana), Black-throated Green Warblers (D. virens), American Redstarts (Setophaga ruticilla), and Orchard Orioles (Icterus spurius) that occurred during studies of Cerulean Warbler breeding biology. These incidents involved a variety of combinations of nest owner and nest material thief suggesting that each of these species is both a perpetrator and recipient of this behavior in our study areas. Kleptoparasitic incidents occurred at all stages of the nesting cycle from nest-building through post-fledging. Two possible motivations for this behavior are related to saving time in finding nest materials and collecting this material for nest construction.
ISSN:1559-4491
1938-5447
DOI:10.1676/05-145.1