Breeding-Season Survival, Home-Range Size, And Habitat Selection Of Female Bachman'S Sparrows

Peucaea aestivalis (Bachman's Sparrow) is a declining songbird endemic to the southeastern US, but lack of basic life-history information for females, including a description of habitat selection, limits effective management. We investigated survival, home-range size, and habitat selection of female Bachman's Sparrows during the breeding season at Fort Bragg Military Installation, NC. 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 (0.941) 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 (min-max = 1-5 ha). Females selected habitat patches with greater woody vegetation and intermediate grass densities than at random locations, suggesting 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.