Nesting Ecology of the Golden Mouse: An Oikos Engineer

Most bird and small mammal species construct a single type of nest that is specific to that species’ habitat needs. For example, the old-field mouse, Peromyscus polionotus, constructs a burrow nest where more than one exit connects the nest chamber, whereas the deer mouse, P. maniculatus, constructs a simple chamber at the end of a short burrow (Dawson et al. 1988, Hoffmann 1994). The golden mouse, Ochrotomys nuttalli, however, appears to have evolved a plastic nesting behavior that has allowed it to create a diversity of nest types.