Publication Details

Year Published

2021

Publication

Northeastern Naturalist

Abstract

Nest boxes are commonly used for species that utilize tree cavities, including small owls. Boxes were installed in 2011 to facilitate study of Northern Saw-whet Owls in Pennsylvania. We checked the 11 boxes that remained in 2020 after a hiatus of 8 years and found 3 rodent nests, but no evidence of owl usage. Playbacks revealed owls were present at 8 of 11 boxes checked. Cavity surveys yielded an average of 7.7 large cavities within 50 m of each box; extrapolation of cavity densities to a minimal territory size of 150 ha suggested that suitable cavities are an abundant, non-limiting resource here. Cavity abundance was likely a consequence of beech bark disease complex having recently top-killed most large American Beech trees locally, providing abundant resources for excavating woodpeckers. Assessing cavity abundance should be an essential first step for any management project involving cavity-nesting birds, and nest boxes should be used only in situations where cavities appear to be limited.

Keywords

Citation

Elias, Joseph M.; Stoleson, Scott H. 2021. Abundant Natural Cavities in a Deciduous Forest Leads to a Lack of Nest-Box Occupancy by Northern Saw-Whet Owls. Northeastern Naturalist. 28(2): 202-210. https://doi.org/10.1656/045.028.0209.​