Declining bird populations, especially those that breed in North American grasslands, have stimulated extensive research on factors that affect nest failure and reduced reproductive success. Until now, this research has been hampered by the difficulties inherent in observing nest activities. Video Surveillance of Nesting Birds highlights the use of miniature video cameras and recording equipment yielding new important and some unanticipated insights into breeding bird biology, including previously undocumented observations of hatching, incubation, fledging, diurnal and nocturnal activity patterns, predator identification, predator-prey interactions, and cause-specific rates of nest loss. This seminal contribution to bird reproductive biology uses tools capable of generating astonishing results with the potential for fresh insights into bird conservation, management, and theory.

PrefaceForewordPart 1. Synthesis/OverviewChapter 1: Knowledge gained from video-monitoring grassland passerine nestsPamela J. Pietz, Diane A. Granfors and Christine A. RibicChapter 2: Conservation implications when the nest predators are knownFrank R. Thompson, III and Christine A. RibicChapter 3: Gamebirds and nest cameras: present and futureSusan N. Ellis-Felege and John P. CarrollPart 2: Breeding BehaviorChapter 4: Hatching and fledging information from grassland passerine nestsPamela J. Pietz, Diane A. Granfors and Todd A. Grant Chapter 5: Attendance patterns and survival of Western Meadowlark nestsLarkin A. Powell, Matthew D. Giovanni, Scott Groepper, Mitchell L. Reineke and Walter H. SchachtChapter 6: Sprague's Pipit incubation behaviorStephen K. Davis and Teslin G. HolmesChapter 7: Patterns of incubation behavior in Northern BobwhitesJonathan S. Burnam, Gretchen Turner, Susan N. Ellis-Felege, William E. Palmer, D. Clay Sisson and John P. CarrollChapter 8: The influence of weather on shorebird incubationPaul A. Smith, Sarah A. Dauncey, H. Grant Gilchrist and Mark R. ForbesChapter 9: Nocturnal activity of nesting shrubland and grassland passerinesChristy M. Slay, Kevin S. Ellison, Christine A. Ribic, Kimberly G. Smith and Carolyn M. SchmitzPart 3: Behavioral Responses to Predation/Predator IdentificationChapter 10: Bird productivity and nest predation in agricultural grasslandsChristine A. Ribic, Michael J. Guzy, Travis J. Anderson, David W. Sample and Jamie L. NackChapter 11: Predator identity can explain nest predation patternsJennifer L. Reidy and Frank Thompson, IIIChapter 12: Nest defense: grassland bird responses to snakesKevin Ellison and Christine A. RibicChapter 13: Partial depredations on Northern Bobwhite nestsSusan N. Ellis-Felege, Anne Miller, Jonathan S. Burnam, Shane D. Wellendorf, D. Clay Sisson, William E. Palmer and John P. CarrollChapter 14: Identification of Spragues's Pipit nest predatorsStephen K. Davis, Stephanie L. Jones, Kimberly M. Dohms and Teslin G. HolmesPart 4: TechnologyChapter 15: Development of camera technology for monitoring nestsW. Andrew Cox, M. Shane Pruett, Thomas J. Benson, Scott J. Chiavacci and Frank R. Thompson III