Patterns of space and habitat use by northern bobwhites in South Florida, USA

Abstract

The manner by which animals use space and select resources can have important management consequences. We studied patterns of habitat selection by northern bobwhites (Colinus virginianus) on Babcock-Webb Wildlife Management Area, Charlotte County, Florida and evaluated factors influencing the sizes of their home ranges. A total of 1,245 radio-tagged bobwhites were monitored for 19,467 radio days during 2002-2007. The mean (±1 SE) annual home range size, estimated using the Kernel density method, was 88.43 (±6.16) ha and did not differ between genders. Winter home ranges of bobwhites (69.27±4.92 ha) were generally larger than summer home ranges (53.90±4.93 ha). Annual and winter home ranges were smaller for bobwhites whose ranges contained food plots compared to those that did not; however, the presence of food plots did not influence summer home ranges. We used distance-based methods to investigate habitat selection by bobwhites at two scales: selection of home ranges within the study site (second-order selection) and selection of habitats within home ranges (third-order selection). Across both scales, bobwhites generally preferred food plots and dry prairie habitat and avoided wet prairies and roads. This pattern was generally consistent between genders and across years. Our data indicate that management practices aimed at increasing and maintaining a matrix of food plots and dry prairie habitat would provide the most favorable environment for bobwhites.

Differences in space use and habitat selection between captive‐bred and wild‐born houbara bustards in Saudi Arabia: results from a long‐term reintroduction program

“…In all comparisons, as multiple observations of the same bird could be temporally autocorrelated, we fitted generalized linear mixed models (Zuur et al ., ) with Gaussian‐distributed random errors to partition variation attributable to individual birds. Then, to test for the combined effect of all variables, we tested simultaneously for all main and two‐way interaction effects (Slade, Russell & Doonan, ; Moyer, McCown & Oli, ; Singh et al ., ). We removed nonsignificant ( α = 0.05) interaction terms sequentially such that the least significant interaction term was removed at each step.…”

“…We removed nonsignificant ( α = 0.05) interaction terms sequentially such that the least significant interaction term was removed at each step. We sequentially refit models until only significant interaction effects and all main effects remained in the model (Slade et al ., ; Moyer et al ., ; Singh et al ., ). Significant interaction effects were further explored using least squares means (i.e.…”

Factors influencing reproductive performance of northern bobwhite in South Florida

“…Indeed, the primary goal of planting food strips was to provide bobwhites with a supplemental food source during winter, season during which they do not reproduce. In addition, food strips affect positively home-range size and habitat (including nest site) selection by bobwhites in the BW area (Singh et al 2010), which justifies the continued use of those food strips.…”

“…The most significant plant communities included dry prairie (9,737 ha), pine-palmetto (9,145 ha), and wet prairie (7,047 ha). A detailed description of the native vegetation on our study site can be found in Frye (1954) and Singh et al (2010). The area is subject to periodic short-duration flooding and prolonged drought that likely affect bobwhite habitat selection and demography.…”

Aspects of northern bobwhite ecology on south Florida US pastureland

“…Bobwhite habitat use and demographic parameters are well documented in most agroecosystems, but information is lacking for subtropical pasturelands in the Southeastern USA (Singh et al 2011). However, Flanders et al (2006) and Kuvlesky et al (2002) described the negative impacts of exotic grasses on bobwhites in the Southwest.…”