Dispersal of seeds as nest material by the cactus wren

Cactus wren (Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus) nests from the southern Chihu ahuan Desert contained viable seeds of grasses, forbs, and shrubs. The most common plants used as construction material in these nests were Muhlenberg ia 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 n esting material. Implications of this process for rangeland plant dynamics need to be further explored.