Few songbirds were found up high where soils are poor and winters are long. While that sounds good for the birds, these low-lying hot spots tend to occur on or near private lands. Rural residential development and other land uses can reduce nesting success in these hot spots. Bird reproduction in these areas can be too low to outweigh the number of deaths, especially for species like the yellow warbler that are vulnerable to nest raiders. That's sort of a shock in a way and maybe not as big of a surprise in another way.
Birds likely choose breeding sites based on vegetation characteristics.
This likely worked well over evolutionary time. But nesting success now seems also to relate to the density of homes in the area, with impacts reaching as far as three to five miles of home sites, Rotella said. That's because predators, such as magpies, cow birds, skunks and raccoons, increase with agricultural and residential land uses. The study also asked, in turn, how the ecosystem affects human behavior, such as the desire to live near beautiful scenery. However, we may be harming wildlife by where we place our homes.