Nest boxes are widely used for habitat restoration. Unfortunately, competitors of the target species may exploit nest boxes, creating perverse outcomes. Avoiding habitats preferred by nontarget species, while favoring those of the target species, requires an adaptive management approach if limited information about species preferences is available when deploying boxes. Using nest boxes intended for Swift Parrots Lathamus discolor, we identify factors associated with nontarget species occupancy (Common Starling Sturnus vulgaris and Tree Martin Petrochelidon nigricans) in newly deployed boxes in 2016, and then again after 3 years had elapsed in 2019. Box occupancy by different species depended on the interaction between distance of individual boxes to the forest edge and year. Although the target species exploited similar numbers of nest boxes in both years, competitors were the main beneficiaries of established boxes. A subordinate native nest competitor increased box occupancy likelihood at greater distances from forest edges in both years, but the relationship was stronger in 2019. Introduced Common Starlings S. vulgaris were most likely to occupy boxes close to forest edges, but the magnitude of this relationship was much greater for established than newly deployed boxes. We suggest that permanent box deployments for Swift Parrots may produce perverse outcomes by increasing nesting habitat for Common Starlings. We suggest that for species that only use cavities for part of their life cycle, managers should limit access to boxes outside of critical times to reduce the likelihood that pest populations can exploit restoration efforts and create new problems.

中文翻译：

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巢箱会繁殖目标物种还是它的竞争者？一只极度濒危鸟类的案例研究

巢箱被广泛用于栖息地恢复。不幸的是，目标物种的竞争者可能利用巢箱，造成不良结果。避免非目标物种偏爱的栖息地，同时偏爱目标物种的栖息地，如果在部署箱子时可获得有关物种偏好的有限信息，则需要采取自适应管理方法。使用产蛋箱用于雨燕鹦鹉Lathamus变色，我们确定与非目标物种占用相关的因素（紫翅椋鸟椋寻常和树马丁Petrochelidon皮症）在2016年部署到新部署的盒子中，然后在2019年经过3年后再次出现。不同物种的盒子占用率取决于每个盒子到森林边缘的距离与年份之间的相互作用。尽管目标物种在这两年中利用了相似数量的巢箱，但竞争对手是既有巢箱的主要受益者。在这两个年份中，下属原生巢竞争者在距森林边缘较远的距离处增加了盒子的占用率，但这种关系在2019年更强。引入了普通Star鸟S. vulgaris最有可能占据靠近森林边缘的盒子，但这种关系的强度要比新部署的盒子大得多。我们建议，通过增加普通Star鸟的筑巢栖息地，将永久鹦鹉部署到“迅捷鹦鹉”上可能会产生不良后果。我们建议，对于仅在其生命周期的一部分内使用腔体的物种，管理人员应限制在关键时刻之外进入盒子，以减少有害生物种群利用恢复努力并造成新问题的可能性。