Fire Ants Killing Baby Song Birds At High Rates

[n2doc]

Science Daily — Red imported fire ants may be killing as many as a fifth of baby song birds before they leave the nest, according to research recently completed at Texas A&M University.

A young, white-eyed vireo lies in its nest. (Credit: Photo by Andy Campomizzi, the Texas A&M University Institute of Renewable Natural Resources)

Andy Campomizzi, graduate research assistant in the department of wildlife and fisheries sciences, studied black-capped vireos and white-eyed vireos in Coryell County over a span of two years Campomizzi kept records on a total of 72 nests of both species. Of the nests where there was no pesticide treatment, only 10 percent of the young birds fledged and were able to leave the nests. Of the nests with treatment to protect them from fire ants, 32 percent fledged. Nearly 70 percent are lost to other causes, and fire ants knocked the survival rate down an additional 22 percent.
"That was a bigger difference than we thought it would be," he said. "Fire ants were definitely a mortality factor for song birds."
The black-capped vireo – which breeds only in the Edwards Plateau of Texas, a couple of areas in Oklahoma and northern Mexico – is an endangered species. The white-eyed vireo is found more extensively throughout the southeastern U.S. and is not endangered.
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http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070912143334.htm