Native Birds Find a New Home as Part of an Ongoing U of A Research Project

Todd Hansen

A nesting box in the CSRC remnant prairie waiting for a new family of bluebirds.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – In collaboration with the U of A Office for Sustainability, Will Kirkpatrick, a third-year doctoral student in the DuRant Lab in the Department of Biological Sciences, has established a new field site in his ongoing nest box system around Fayetteville. This site is on U of A land just south of the Cato Springs Research Center. They are investigating impacts of the thermal environment on two native bird species, Eastern Bluebirds and Tree Swallows.

Kirkpatrick's Ph.D. thesis aims to develop a deeper understanding of how temperature, specifically temperature variation, impacts eastern bluebirds and tree swallows. Both species nest in cavities in the trunks of trees or manufactured bird boxes. They are altricial, meaning that they hatch in a relatively early developmental stage and require time in the nest before they are developed enough to feed themselves or move significantly. Given that these species are confined to the nest as eggs and for their first 14-20 days of life, it is critically important that their parents are attentive and keep them from extreme hot or cold temperatures. 

In each of the field sites located in Fayetteville, arrays of nest boxes are set up on poles five feet off the ground. The Cato Springs site is home to over 60 nest boxes. Both eastern bluebirds and tree swallows use these nest boxes for reproduction in the spring and summer when temperature data is collected. This is done by inserting egg-shaped temperature probes into and outside the nest. By comparing these temperatures, they can track when the mother is incubating her eggs. Incubation temperature has been linked to offspring physical development and general nest success. By monitoring these parental behaviors, Will and his team hope to discover if natural temperature variation in the environment significantly impacts each species' parental behavior and offspring development.

Kirkpatrick said, "It is important for the scientific community to understand how species interact with the natural environment to better anticipate what will happen when environmental change occurs. Climatic shifts, deforestation, and other sudden changes to the environment may have catastrophic results for wild animals across the globe. Regardless of the environment, all species are exposed to temperatures that influence development and behavior. Parsing how environmental temperature impacts native species is critical to understanding what is to come with anthropogenic climate change." 

In preliminary analyses, the research team has discovered that native birds are altering their behavior to combat temperature variability. Unfortunately, there seems to be a limit to how much parental behavior dampens temperature swings in the nest; however, further data collection is needed across the relatively young field system to investigate how this impacts the survival of the offspring. 

"When working on the UA Oak Savanna restoration at Cato Springs, we wanted to partner with other departments who could bring additional expertise," said Eric Boles, director of the U of A Office for Sustainability. "Bird nesting boxes are a natural fit that will hopefully lead to more birders visiting the site to watch the progress."

Using publicly owned land in Fayetteville opens opportunities for mentoring undergraduate researchers without the burden of long field excursions that could lead to exclusion from research. A primary goal of this research project is to provide opportunities for young researchers to get their feet wet (sometimes literally!) in the field.

"The prescribed burns, invasive plant removal, and native plant propagation on this site will surely assist with making this a place that any bluebird family would want to call home." said Boles. To learn how to get involved with volunteer opportunities on the site such as invasive plant removal and native seed collection, visit the Office for Sustainability GivePulse page. 

The project is supported financially by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and the DuRant Lab. In collaboration with the university and other landowners, associate professor Sarah DuRant and Will Kirkpatrick hope to shed light on how the natural thermal environment impacts native birds. The university's agricultural research farm and the Cato Springs remnant prairie site are crucial to ongoing research and future projects to help understand critical issues with native species and the ongoing climate crisis.

To learn more, contact Kirkpatrick at whkirkpa@uark.edu or visit www.whkecology.com.

About the Office for Sustainability: The mission of the University of Arkansas Office for Sustainability (OFS) is to motivate, facilitate, and coordinate responsible practices through partnerships with students, faculty, and staff across all campus departments. The OFS uses the campus as a living laboratory by overseeing the implementation of the University of Arkansas environmental goals. These programs are part of the UA Resiliency Center, hosted by the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design, and are supported by UA Facilities Management. 

About the University of Arkansas: As Arkansas' flagship institution, the U of A provides an internationally competitive education in more than 200 academic programs. Founded in 1871, the U of A contributes more than $2.2 billion to Arkansas' economy through the teaching of new knowledge and skills, entrepreneurship and job development, discovery through research and creative activity while also providing training for professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the U of A among the top 3% of U.S. colleges and universities with the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the U of A among the top public universities in the nation. See how the U of A works to build a better world at Arkansas Research News.