Alien vs. Predator: Impacts of Invasive Species and Native Predators on Urban Nest Box Use by Native Birds

SIMPLE SUMMARY: We aimed to investigate how an invasive cavity-breeding bird, the common (Indian) myna, and a native nest predator, the common brushtail possum, influence urban nest box use by native birds in Queensland and New South Wales, Australia. We quantified nest box use by invasive and native species, assessed nesting success and failure rates, and explored what environmental factors might influence nest box occupancy and nesting success. We found that the native possums were the most common nest box users and that possum occupancy of boxes was associated with higher rates of nesting failures by all bird species. More common myna nesting attempts were observed in areas where mynas have been established longer. We found no evidence of a significant negative impact by the common myna on other birds in our study locations, which may be partly due to the low rates of use of our nest boxes by native birds. Nevertheless, better nest box design and guidelines for setting them up are needed if we aim to provide more nesting opportunities for native birds to replace the decline in big old cavity trees. ABSTRACT: Many bird species in Australia require tree hollows for breeding. However, assessing the benefits of urban nest boxes to native birds requires frequent monitoring that allows to assess nesting success. To better understand the benefits of nest boxes for native birds, we examined the impact of local habitat characteristics, invasive species (common myna, Acridotheres tristis), and native mammalian predators on urban nest box use and nesting success of native birds. We installed 216 nest boxes across nine locations in southeastern Australia (S.E. Queensland and northern New South Wales) in both long-invaded sites (invaded before 1970) and more recently invaded sites (after 1990). We monitored all boxes weekly over two breeding seasons. We recorded seven bird species and three mammal species using the nest boxes. Weekly box occupancy by all species averaged 8% of all boxes, with the species most frequently recorded in the nest boxes being the common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula), a native cavity user and nest predator. We recorded 137 nesting attempts in the boxes across all bird species. The most frequent nesting species were the invasive alien common mynas (72 nesting attempts). We recorded an average nesting failure rate of 53.3% for all bird species. We did not record any common mynas evicting other nesting birds, and found that several native species used the same box after the common myna completed its nesting. We recorded native possums in 92% of the boxes, and possum occupancy of boxes per site was negatively correlated with bird nesting success (p = 0.021). These results suggest that when boxes are accessible to invasive species and native predators, they are unlikely to significantly improve nesting opportunities for native birds. To ensure efficient use of limited conservation resources, nest boxes should be designed to target species of high conservation importance and limit other species of both predators and competitors.