Choi, D. Y., Fish, A. C., Moorman, C. E., DePerno, C. S., and Schillaci, J. M. 2020. Breeding-season survival, home range size, and habitat selection of female Bachman's sparrows. Southeastern Naturalist. Submitted August 2020
ABSTRACT. Information on the life history of female Peucaea aestivalis (Bachman’s sparrow), a declining songbird endemic to the southeastern US, is limited. Therefore, we investigated female Bachman’s sparrow survival, home range size, and habitat selection during the breeding season at Fort Bragg Military Installation, North Carolina. We attached radio-transmitters to female sparrows between April and June in 2014-2016 and recorded locations of females every 2-4 days. We estimated seasonal survival and home range size and, in 2016, we modeled habitat selection of female sparrows within their home range. Estimated breeding-season (90 days) survival (0.942) was greater than a published estimate from South Carolina (0.794), and home range size (1.48 ha, SE = 0.16) was similar to a published estimate for females and multiple published estimates for male sparrows (ranging 1-5 ha). Females selected habitat patches with greater woody vegetation and intermediate grass densities compared to random locations, indicating that woody vegetation provides escape and nesting cover for female sparrows. Survival, home range size, and habitat selection of female Bachman’s sparrows did not differ substantially from males in other studies. Therefore, management focused on male sparrows may concurrently conserve habitat requirements for females.
ABSTRACT. Information on the life history of female Peucaea aestivalis (Bachman’s sparrow), a declining songbird endemic to the southeastern US, is limited. Therefore, we investigated female Bachman’s sparrow survival, home range size, and habitat selection during the breeding season at Fort Bragg Military Installation, North Carolina. We attached radio-transmitters to female sparrows between April and June in 2014-2016 and recorded locations of females every 2-4 days. We estimated seasonal survival and home range size and, in 2016, we modeled habitat selection of female sparrows within their home range. Estimated breeding-season (90 days) survival (0.942) was greater than a published estimate from South Carolina (0.794), and home range size (1.48 ha, SE = 0.16) was similar to a published estimate for females and multiple published estimates for male sparrows (ranging 1-5 ha). Females selected habitat patches with greater woody vegetation and intermediate grass densities compared to random locations, indicating that woody vegetation provides escape and nesting cover for female sparrows. Survival, home range size, and habitat selection of female Bachman’s sparrows did not differ substantially from males in other studies. Therefore, management focused on male sparrows may concurrently conserve habitat requirements for females.
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BACKGROUND. This project began as an avian technician job studying Bachman's sparrows at Fort Bragg, NC in 2016. This opportunity was possible through the Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program. I worked under MS student Alex Fish (now PhD at University of Maine) and presented a research poster at Ecological Society of America (2017). Later, I revisited this data to develop a former manuscript.
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