These results were consistent with our prediction, hypothesis and the prevailing literature which suggest that anthropogenic noise pollution has profound effects on the efficacy of vocal communication within avian species. While our data demonstrates that BCCH communication is inhibited by elevated levels of noise pollution, it is less clear if this has a direct effect on reproductive success or species density. The most recent studies suggest that reproductive success should decline and, in response, the density of individuals within areas of higher noise pollution levels will decrease accordingly. (Francis et al., 2009) Additional studies focusing on banding and tracking individuals within documented areas of various levels of noise pollution and recording their foraging patterns and nesting sites would help demonstrate this. We predict that this study would show that BCCHs likely nest in areas with lower noise pollution and actively avoid areas of atypical loud background noise while foraging so as to avoid impairing their predator-evasion strategies.
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