Risk Assessment During Nest Defense Against Three Simulated Predators by Female Northern House Wrens (Troglodytes aedon).

ABSTRACT: Offspring predation is one of the greatest obstacles to an organism's reproductive success, but parents vary in the strength of their response to potential predators. One explanation for this variable investment is that defending current offspring has the potential to lower future reproductive success if the predator is also capable of injuring or killing the parent. Northern house wrens (Troglodytes aedon) are cavity-nesting songbirds that defend against multiple species of nest predators including small mammals, birds of prey, and snakes. Here, we used three different predator decoys: two nest predators-an eastern chipmunk (Tamias striatus) and an eastern ratsnake (Pantherophis alleghaniensis)-as well as a predator of both offspring and adults-a juvenile Cooper's haw

SUBMITTER: Eggleston RC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11783239 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature