Anthropogenic effects on Mountain Chickadees Breeding in Urban Ecosystems.

城市景观对鸟类既有挑战，也有好处。人工照明、植被改变以及城市和原生栖息地之间的小气候差异会影响繁殖的时机和成功，而与城市景观相关的噪音污染会阻碍沟通并增加压力水平。引入的捕食者，如猫，经常出现在比本地捕食者在农村网站高得多的密度。然而，喂鸟器的食物补充可以增加城市鸟类的个体越冬生存/条件，巢箱可以增加筑巢基质的可用性。补偿城市环境相对优势与劣势的能力可能取决于受影响物种的可塑性，许多城市开发者是栖息地通才。因此，令人惊讶的是，山雀（Poecile gambeli）-山地针叶林专家-在城市景观中表现出色。 我们在公元前坎卢普斯对山地山雀进行的研究发现，鸟类在城市地区繁殖：开始繁殖的时间最多可提前两周;雏鸟的羽毛生长速度更快;更有可能加倍育雏;并且，在黎明唱歌时有更高的歌声输出-这一特征反映了山雀中雄性的身体状况。城市山地山雀似乎通过使用修改的歌曲和电话，减少已知的信号干扰方面的城市噪音山雀发声，以补偿噪音污染。我们将进行的研究调查相对食物供应，小气候变化和噪音/光污染之间的相互作用，在城市与农村景观，以及这些如何与山雀条件，定居和筑巢物候相互作用。 我们将在不列颠哥伦比亚省坎卢普斯周围的多个城市、农村和接口地点分布的巢箱上安装光和温度数据记录器，并在不同地点控制冬季期间可用的相对食物质量。我们将这些与跟踪相对昆虫猎物的可用性和监测噪音污染使用安装在巢树的自主记录单元（ARU）。然后，我们将监测巢的启动，生殖输出和双重育雏之间的农村和城市的网站，以确定哪些人为影响最影响筑巢物候和成功。我们将跟踪个别条件的男性相对于鸟类的栖息地和操纵的变化，在冬季/春季食物供应通过黎明唱歌行为。放置在雏鸟上的腿带嵌入式PIT标签将使我们能够使用遍布坎卢普斯南部的多达200个配备射频识别（RFID）的喂鸟器网络来跟踪雏鸟的分散和生存。人口研究和行为研究的整合将提供深入了解是什么使人类景观可利用，这为城市规划提供了指导，将这些鸟类保护的功能整合到我们的城市中。

Urban landscapes can pose both challenges and benefits to birds. Artificial lighting, altered vegetation, and differences in microclimate between urban and native habitats can affect timing and success of breeding, while noise pollution associated with urban landscapes can impede communication and increase stress levels. Introduced predators, such as cats, often occur at much higher densities than native predators in rural sites. However, food supplementation from bird feeders can increase individual overwinter survival/condition of urban birds, and nest boxes can increase availability of nesting substrate. The ability to compensate for the relative advantages vs disadvantages of urban settings may depend on plasticity of affected species, and many urban-exploiters are habitat generalists. It is therefore surprising that mountain chickadees (Poecile gambeli) - montane conifer forests specialists - do well in urban landscapes.    Our mountain chickadee studies in Kamloops, BC have found birds breeding in urban areas: start breeding up to two weeks earlier; have nestlings with higher feather growth rates; are more likely to double brood; and, have higher song output during dawn singing - a trait known to reflect a male's physical condition in chickadees. Urban mountain chickadees appear to compensate for noise pollution via both use of modified songs and calls which reduce known signal-jamming aspects of urban noise on chickadee vocalizations. The research we will undertake investigates the interaction between relative food availability, microclimatic variation and noise/light pollution in urban vs rural landscapes, and how these interact with mountain chickadee condition, settlement and nesting phenology.    We will install Light and Temperature Data Loggers on nest boxes distributed throughout multiple urban, rural and interface sites around Kamloops, BC, and manipulate relative food quality available during the winter at different sites. We will couple these with tracking relative insect prey-availability and monitor noise pollution using Autonomous Recording Units (ARU) mounted on nest trees. We will then monitor nest initiation, reproductive output and double-brooding between rural and urban sites to determine which anthropogenic effects most influence nesting phenology and success. We will track individual condition of males with respect to a bird's habitat and manipulated variation in winter/spring food availability via dawn singing behaviour. Leg-band embedded PIT tags placed on nestlings will allow us to track dispersal and survival of nestlings using a network of up to 200 Radio-Frequency Identification(RFID)-equipped bird feeders set across southern Kamloops. The integration of demographic studies and behavioural research will provide insight into what renders anthropogenic landscapes exploitable, which provides guidance for urban planning that integrate these features for avian conservation into our cities.