@article{ebd05aed759f40de8078eed061ec2d03,
title = "Ground nesting by arboreal American robins (Turdus migratorius)",
abstract = "Animals with dependent and vulnerable young need to decide where to raise their offspring to minimize ill effects of weather, competition, parasitism, and predation. These decisions have critical fitness consequences through impacting the survival of both adults and progeny. Birds routinely place their nest in specific sites, allowing species to be broadly classified based on nest location (e.g., ground- or tree-nesting). However, from 2018 to 2020, we observed 24 American robin (Turdus migratorius) nests placed not on their species-typical arboreal substrates or human-made structures but on the ground at a predator-rich commercial tree-farm in Illinois, USA. This behavior does not appear to be in response to competition and did not affect nest daily survival rate but was restricted to the early half of the breeding season. We hypothesize that ground nesting may be an adaptive response to avoid exposure and colder temperatures at sites above the ground early in the breeding season or a nonadaptive consequence of latent robin nest-placement flexibility.",
author = "Winnicki, {Sarah K.} and Hauber, {Mark E.} and Benson, {Thomas J.} and Mikus Abolins-Abols",
note = "Funding Information: We are grateful for the permission of local landowners to work on their property. For funding, we thank the Illinois Distinguished Fellowship program (to SKW), the BRIDGE program of the University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign and the University of Birmingham (to MEH), and the Harley Jones Van Cleave Professorship, the University of Illinois' Center for Advanced Study, and the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, Germany (to MEH). For assistance and discussions, we thank A. Luro, J. Enos, C. Goethe, C. Kim, J. Reynolds, O. Rhodes, and A. Turner. Funding Information: We are grateful for the permission of local landowners to work on their property. For funding, we thank the Illinois Distinguished Fellowship program (to SKW), the BRIDGE program of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Birmingham (to MEH), and the Harley Jones Van Cleave Professorship, the University of Illinois' Center for Advanced Study, and the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, Germany (to MEH). For assistance and discussions, we thank A. Luro, J. Enos, C. Goethe, C. Kim, J. Reynolds, O. Rhodes, and A. Turner. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.",
year = "2022",
month = jan,
doi = "10.1002/ece3.8489",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "12",
journal = "Ecology and Evolution",
issn = "2045-7758",
publisher = "John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.",
number = "1",
}