Aversive conditioning of Steller's Jays to improve marbled murrelet nest survival

作者：Gabriel Pia O^*; Golightly Richard T

来源：Journal of Wildlife Management, 2014, 78(5): 894-903.

DOI：10.1002/jwmg.725

• Brachyramphus marmoratus
• conditioned aversion
• Cyanocitta stelleri
• marbled murrelet
• nest predation
• Pacific Northwest
• reproductive success
• Steller's jay

Predation on eggs of marbled murrelets (Brachyramphus marmoratus) has been linked to poor recruitment of young, especially in California, Oregon, and Washington. Corvids have been implicated as the most influential egg predators on murrelets. Remnant murrelet nesting habitats in California and elsewhere support a high population density of opportunistic corvids like the Steller's jay (Cyanocitta stelleri). We exposed Steller's jays to eggs mimicking murrelet eggs in color and size that contained the emetic carbachol. In laboratory tests, we effectively induced aversive conditioning subsequent to exposure to the murrelet-mimic eggs. Attack latencies on murrelet-mimic eggs increased following exposure to carbachol eggs and the strength of aversion was consistent over the range of retention periods tested (8 weeks). We conducted field trials on murrelet-mimic eggs and control eggs deployed across a systematic 428-ha grid in murrelet breeding habitat. After a period of aversive conditioning, the percentage of murrelet-mimic eggs that were attacked by corvids in the field experiment was reduced by at least 37% in comparison to control eggs. We concluded that corvid predation can be reduced significantly using aversive training in the field, and could be practically applied to jay territories within murrelet breeding habitat. We suggest that aversive conditioning treatment may be a cost-effective emergency tool to improve reproductive success of murrelets in the Pacific Northwest.

• 出版日期2014-7