Bison hair reduces predation on artificial bird nests

Abstract

The use of bison hair by birds nesting at the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve (TGPP) in Osage County led me to hypothesize that bison hair might function as nest camouflage via scent-masking. I conducted 2 artificial nest experiments from late April to early July 2007 in which one-half of the nests were lined with bison hair collected from the residential herd at the TGPP; remaining nests served as controls. Nest predation was significantly higher on unlined control nests than hair-lined nests when located on the ground. There was no difference in predation rates between nest types when located in shrubs and trees. Use of materials such as bison hair may mask nest odors and thus be a novel and indirect method of predator avoidance by birds nesting at the TGPP.