Volume 2, Chapter 16-6: Bird Nests
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Glime, J. M. 2017. Bird Nests – Passeriformes, part 1. Chapt. 16-6. In: Glime, J. M. Bryophyte Ecology. Volume 2. Bryological 16-6-1 Interaction. eBook sponsored by Michigan Technological University and the International Association of Bryologists. Last updated 19 July 2020 and available at <http://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/bryophyte-ecology2/>. CHAPTER 16-6 BIRD NESTS – PASSERIFORMES, PART 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Passeriformes: Perching Birds ........................................................................................................................ 16-6-2 Tyrannidae – Tyrant Flycatchers .............................................................................................................. 16-6-2 Olive-sided Flycatcher (Contopus cooperi) ....................................................................................... 16-6-3 Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (Empidonax flaviventris) ......................................................................... 16-6-3 Pacific-slope Flycatcher (Empidonax difficilis) ................................................................................. 16-6-4 Hammond's Flycatcher (Empidonax hammondii) .............................................................................. 16-6-5 Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) ..................................................................................................... 16-6-6 Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus) .............................................................................................. 16-6-8 Yellow-bellied Chat-tyrant (Ochthoeca diadema) ............................................................................. 16-6-9 Crowned Chat-tyrant (Ochthoeca frontalis) ...................................................................................... 16-6-9 Laniidae – Shrikes ................................................................................................................................... 16-6-10 Vireonidae – Typical Vireos ................................................................................................................... 16-6-10 Rhipiduridae ............................................................................................................................................ 16-6-11 Monarchidae ........................................................................................................................................... 16-6-11 Corvidae – Jays, Magpies, and Crows .................................................................................................... 16-6-12 Common Raven (Corvus corax) ...................................................................................................... 16-6-13 Hirundinidae – Swallows ........................................................................................................................ 16-6-14 Tree Swallow (Trachycieta bicolor) ................................................................................................ 16-6-14 Paridae – True Tits .................................................................................................................................. 16-6-14 Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) ............................................................................... 16-6-17 Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis) ...................................................................................... 16-6-17 Varied Tit (Sittiparus varius) ........................................................................................................... 16-6-21 Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus), Great Tit (Parus major), and Japanese Tit (Parus minor) ............. 16-6-21 Ground Tit (Pseudopodoces humilis) .............................................................................................. 16-6-24 Pipridae – Manakins, Piprites ................................................................................................................. 16-6-24 Black-capped Piprites (Piprites pileata) .......................................................................................... 16-6-24 Aegithalidae – Long-tailed Tits .............................................................................................................. 16-6-24 Long-Tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus) ............................................................................................ 16-6-25 Sittidae – Nuthatches .............................................................................................................................. 16-6-25 Red-Breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis) ....................................................................................... 16-6-26 Certhiidae – Holarctic Treecreepers ........................................................................................................ 16-6-26 Troglodytidae – Wrens ............................................................................................................................ 16-6-26 Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) ..................................................................................... 16-6-27 Pacific Wren (Troglodytes pacificus) and Winter Wren (T. hiemalis) ............................................. 16-6-28 Eastern Winter Wren (Troglodytes hiemalis) .................................................................................. 16-6-28 Eurasian Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) ........................................................................................ 16-6-28 Cinclidae – Dippers ................................................................................................................................. 16-6-29 Brown Dipper (Cinclus pallasii) ...................................................................................................... 16-6-31 Summary ........................................................................................................................................................ 16-6-31 Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................................... 16-6-31 Literature Cited .............................................................................................................................................. 16-6-31 16-6-2 Chapter 16-6: Bird Nests – Passeriformes, part 1 2 CHAPTER 16-6 BIRD NESTS – PASSERIFORMES, PART 1 Figure 1. Moss nest from the Pacific Northwest, USA. The bryophytes include Isothecium and Neckera. Photo courtesy of Jerilyn Peck. Passeriformes: Perching Birds seem to be no data on the success of birds reared in nests made totally of mosses. Mosses and lichens alter the nest This is a large order (>5000 species) and comprises cup size, with the inner nest cup being narrower when more most of the birds that use bryophytes in their nests. But are used (Slagsvold 1989). Use of mosses and lichens also then, it also includes more than half the bird species in the depends on season, with those birds nesting early in the world (Wikipedia 2017). The order is distinguished by breeding season using significantly more mosses and having three toes pointing forward and one pointing back, lichens than are used in later nests. permitting these to be perching birds. Passerines also are In coniferous forests, bryophytes are often abundant. altricial (hatched or born in undeveloped state and Several species of birds that breed there build nests requiring care and feeding by parents). Richardson (1981) reports that a quarter of the bird exclusively of bryophytes. These include the Winter Wren species breeding in Great Britain use bryophytes in the (see below; Hejl et al. 2002), Marbled Murrelet (see construction of their nests. Hansell (2000) likewise reports Chapter 16-7; Nelson 1997), and Golden-crowned Kinglet that numerous small to medium-sized bird species use (see Chapter 16-7; Ingold & Galati 1997). In addition, bryophytes. Sakai (1988) described a Hammond Flycatcher nest (see Large passerine birds tend to build larger nests relative below) made with two epiphytic lichens and five to their body size when compared to small birds (Slagsvold bryophytes, including the epiphytic moss Isothecium sp. 1989). The depth of the inner nest cup size of these birds (Figure 11) and liverwort, Porella navicularis (Figure 17). does not relate to the size of the bird. Birds that nest off the ground in open nests have a narrow nest cup, but those with Tyrannidae – Tyrant Flycatchers a domed nest or which build in a cavity have a broad nest cup. Birds in exposed nests are less likely to survive than Wolf (2009) found fifteen species of Tyrannidae that those reared in nest cavities (Nice 1937, 1957). There use bryophytes in their nests in North America: Chapter 16-6: Bird Nests – Passeriformes, part 1 16-6-3 Contopus sordidulus (Western Wood-Pewee; Figure 2) Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (Empidonax Empidonax flaviventris (Yellow-bellied Flycatcher; Figure 4) flaviventris) Empidonax alnorum (Alder Flycatcher; Figure 5) Empidonax minimus (Least Flycatcher; Figure 6) In the eastern United States, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher Empidonax difficilis (Pacific-slope Flycatcher; Figure 7-Figure 8) (Empidonax flaviventris; Figure 4) nests close to mature Empidonax hammondii (Hammond's Flycatcher; Figure 13) stands of lowland coniferous forest (Harrison 1975; Hawrot Empidonax occidentalis (Cordilleran Flycatcher; Figure 18) & Niemi 1996). These forests often have a well-developed Sayornis nigricans (Black Phoebe; Figure 19) layer of mosses