Chicks do worse in noisy nests

Human-caused racket may cut baby bluebird survival

ALBUQUERQUE — Baby bluebirds don’t survive as well near rumbling traffic and other human din as they do amid natural lullabies.

Baby eastern bluebirds (Sialia sialis) born in nests near human-made noise have lower survival rates than bluebirds born in more remote locations, a Virginia study finds.

In a Virginia study, 35 percent more chicks died in the noisiest nests than in the most remote ones.