RETURN
Camera trap monitoring of bird nests was conducted in areas where the presence of alien predatory mammal species was expected: the American mink, raccoon, and raccoon dog. The study involved creating artificial bird nests filled with quail eggs and placing an automatically triggered camera trap at each nest.
As a result of the monitoring, 79 cases of egg predation were recorded in artificial ground nests. Representatives of at least 12 mammal species (it was not possible to identify all recorded rodents and martens) and 5 bird species preyed upon the nests. The majority of nest predation events were attributed to foxes, pine martens, jays, and raccoons—together accounting for almost 50%. Among birds, only the jay was identified as a significant predator. Importantly, 22.8% of all predation was caused by invasive mammals: raccoons, raccoon dogs, and American minks.
