Microclimatic Variations in Artificial Nest Boxes on Purchase College Campus

Abstract

Secondary cavity nesting birds face increasing pressure from habitat loss, urbanization, and increasing temperatures. Artificial nest box programs attempt to address declining habitats. We test whether the proportion of impervious surface surroundings and light intensity have noticeable effects on the ambient temperature of these nest boxes. We placed temperature loggers on 10 nest boxes on the campus of SUNY Purchase from April 30th to August 23rd 2021. Shade, used as a proxy for light intensity, did significantly impact overall and maximum temperatures. We were unable to successfully draw any conclusions about impervious surfaces due to limited sample size. It is possible that further research of the impacts of urbanization on nest box microclimatic features may identify a correlation.