干旱区生态环境知识资源中心

Cactus wren (Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus) nests from the southern Chihuahuan Desert contained viable seeds of grasses, forbs, and shrubs. The most common plants used as construction material in these nests were Muhlenbergia porteri, Boerhavia spicata, and the alien grass Eragrostis lehmanniana. We suggest that birds are potentially important dispersers of certain types of plants in semiarid rangelands through the use of plants with seeds as nesting material. Implications of this process for rangeland plant dynamics need to be further explored.