Response of golden-cheeked warblers to road construction noise in Austin, Texas

Background/Question/Methods:

As the human population grows, conserving habitat for threatened and endangered species becomes increasingly challenging.  Expanding urban areas and the infrastructure necessary for this expansion, such as new roads and transmission corridors, can impact avian movement patterns and productivity.  Protecting endangered species in urban environments requires an understanding of the impact on birds from noise and construction that a growing metropolitan area creates.  We monitored the golden-cheeked warbler at a study site near the proposed road construction, a study site with extensive road-noise but no road construction scheduled, and a control study site with no road noise in southwest Austin, Texas.  We monitored territories, determined productivity, and examined behavioral responses to road construction noise to determine a baseline for productivity prior to the start of road construction. 

Results/Conclusions:  

We found no differences in pairing success, fledging success, or territory density between the three study sites.  We found no differences between study sites attributed to minimum territory distance to the road or average territory distance to the road.  We did find a significant difference in ambient audio levels between the two study sites with road noise, and a significant difference in audio levels of songs between the two study sites with road noise.  This difference between the road-construction site and the road-noise only site is likely due to a difference in vehicle loading between the two study sites.  We will use this baseline study to compare between results during road construction, to determine any impacts on golden-cheeked warblers from road construction noise.