Meeting Abstract
Urbanization causes habitat fragmentation that can impact many species of wildlife. Urban habitats present animals with different types and degrees of environmental stressors, including but not limited to, light pollution, noise, resource competition, and predation risk. Eastern bluebirds (Sialia sialis) breed in both of these habitat types, and these stressors may impact nestlings being reared in these different settings. Here we studied whether bluebird nestling quality, as measured by body condition and heat shock protein levels, varied by habitat type. Heat shock proteins are produced when organisms are exposed to stressors such as inclement weather or physical injury, and serve to stabilize proteins during folding. We measured 11-day old nestling’s size and weight, and collected blood samples to measure the heat shock protein content. Data were collected from 6 nests in a rural setting and 8 nests in an urban setting. Data analysis is ongoing. We expect to find urban nestlings to have higher heat shock protein levels and lower body condition than rural ones. These findings would suggest that urbanization is having a negative impact on eastern bluebird nestling health, potentially impacting the continuance of these populations.
