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USGS · 70022094

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) predation on grassland songbird nestlings

P.J. Pietz·D. A. Granfors
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Abstract

White-tailed deer ( Odocoileus virginianus ) were videotaped depredating four songbird nests in grassland habitats in southeastern and northcentral North Dakota, 1996–1999. Deer ate two Savannah sparrow ( Passerculus sandwichensis ), two grasshopper sparrow ( Ammodramus savannarum ), one clay-colored sparrow ( Spizella pallida ), one red-winged blackbird ( Agelaius phoeniceus ) and three brown-headed cowbird ( Molothrus ater ) nestlings. Deer removed nestlings quickly (5–19 sec/nest) at night (22:00 to 05:17 Central Daylight Time) and left no evidence of predation. Although probably opportunistic, deer predations clearly were deliberate and likely are more common than generally believed.

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American Midland NaturalistArticle
90° N90° S · 180° W ← longitude → 180° E
Source-reported bounding extent: 46.6293° to 49.0012° latitude; -101.8244° to -97.683° longitude. This indicates report coverage, not an exact sampling location. View area on OpenStreetMap.

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BibTeXRIS

P.J. Pietz, D. A. Granfors. 2000. White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) predation on grassland songbird nestlings. https://doi.org/10.1674/0003-0031(2000)144%5B0419%3Awtdovp%5D2.0.co%3B2

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