Human recreational activity does not influence open cup avian nest survival in urban green spaces

Abstract

The breeding period of birds is a critical and sensitive portion of the annual cycle. Understanding how human use of urban green spaces affects nest survival can improve our understanding of conserving breeding bird populations in cities and support science-based management of urban green spaces that benefit both people and nature. We conducted a nest survival field study between April and August of 2023 in multiple green spaces in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the country's second-largest city. We asked whether human presence (distance to trails and amount of human activity) influences the nest survival of four common open-cup nesting bird species: American robins (Turdus migratorius), gray catbirds (Dumetella carolinensis), Northern cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis), and yellow warblers (Setophaga petechia). We also asked if variables traditionally associated with nest survival, such as vegetation concealment and seasonality, would influence nest survival. Our analyses surprisingly revealed no significant influence of human activity, vegetation concealment, and seasonality on nest survival for our target species. We found for nests that did fail, nests established during the earlier part of the nesting period failed faster. American robin nests were the most successful of our study's four target species, whereas Northern cardinal nests were the least successful. Within the limitations of our study system, our findings suggest that human presence on trails is not negatively impacting the nesting success for our target bird species using urban green spaces. Our study provides integrated science advice to land managers so they can support opportunities for people to connect with nature without causing trade-offs with biodiversity conservation.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11252-024-01669-0.

Keywords: Avifauna; Nest survival; Recreation; Urban ecology; Urban green spaces.

Fig. 1

Map of the island of Montreal highlighting the three study sites included in the nest survival study. To the left of the central map, Stoneycroft Wildlife Area is shown alongside an example trail image. The Technoparc area and a corresponding trail image are positioned below the central map, while Bois-de-Liesse and an image of one of its trails are displayed to the right of the central map

Fig. 2

Kaplan-Meier survival curve displaying the survival probability of our four target species: American robins, gray catbirds, Northern cardinals, and yellow warblers across three urban forested sites in Montreal over time