HUMAN ACTIVITY LEVELS NEAR MONITORED SECONDARY CAVITY NESTING FOREST BIRD BOXES BEFORE AND AFTER CONSTRUCTION OF A HOUSING COMPLEX**
Abstract
Within the past 50 years, avian populations have become alarmingly reduced throughout North America. Most of this loss is due to habitat changes associated with increased human urbanization. Urbanization results in direct avian mortality by collisions with human infrastructure such as building windows, cars, cell phone towers, wind turbines, and electric wires. Urbanization also has indirect impacts on bird population size through reduced air and water quality, noise pollution, increased human presence in remote areas, and the presence of human pets. We have the opportunity to examine changes in the presence of humans in a 77-acre forest patch adjacent to the University of North Georgia, Gainesville campus. Five acres of this forest was removed for the construction of a housing complex in 2022. We have been monitoring secondary cavity nesting birds in this forest since 2016, through incidental observations (2016-2020) and wildlife cameras (2021-2024). For the research we are presenting here, we hypothesize that we will find an increased presence of humans in the entirety of our forest patch following the construction of this housing.
Recommended Citation
Martin*, Kadan R. and Drumtra, Dawn E.W.
(2025)
"HUMAN ACTIVITY LEVELS NEAR MONITORED SECONDARY CAVITY NESTING FOREST BIRD BOXES BEFORE AND AFTER CONSTRUCTION OF A HOUSING COMPLEX**,"
Georgia Journal of Science, Vol. 83, No. 1, Article 22.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.gaacademy.org/gjs/vol83/iss1/22