Post-Fledging Dispersal Timing and Natal Range Size of Two Songbird Species in an Urbanizing Landscape

[摘要] Abstract. Little is known about juvenile birds' movements during the post-fledging stage of development, especially in urbanizing landscapes where novel ecological factors such as invasive plants and altered densities of conspecifics might influence fledglings' use of space. In 2008 and 2009 we used radio telemetry to track movements of fledgling Northern Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis; n = 45) and Acadian Flycatchers (Empidonax virescens; n = 31) in a network of riparian forests embedded within a rural-to-urban gradient of landscapes in central Ohio. A subset of 20 cardinals and 11 flycatchers survived sufficiently long for subsequent analyses of their movement. Natal ranges of juvenile cardinals decreased in size with proximity to fragment edge, and fledglings moved less from nests surrounded by extensive cover of the Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii). Conversely, the size of natal ranges of juvenile flycatchers was positively related to honeysuckle cover. During the study period, 70% of the cardina...

[学科分类] 动物科学

[关键词] Acadian Flycatcher;dispersal;fledgling;invasive plants;natal range;Northern Cardinal;urbanization