Survey of the Golden-Cheeked Warbler on Fort Hood in Support of NEPA Requirements

Abstract

This research on the golden-cheeked warbler (GCW) was conducted on Fort Hood, Texas, during April and June 2006. Subject matter experts on Fort Hood were consulted and helped determine which areas of the installation contained suitable GCW habitat but were not already included in The Nature Conservancy's intensive study program. Researchers then surveyed one of these areas, documenting the presence of GCW. This research was conducted to determine if data collected in the intensive study area has been successfully extrapolated to other areas of habitat on the installation.The collected data showed that the territory density was lower than those found on TNC's intensive study areas, but pairing success was very similar to the TNC data, and the number of territorial males producing ≥ 1 fledgling was considerably higher than TNC's estimates.This study supports the possibility of extrapolating TNC's data to areas on Fort Hood that have not been intensively sampled. However, the small scope of this project and relatively low sample size make it necessary to preface the results with one caveat: additional years of data collection on this study site would equate to a higher measure of confidence in the results.