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1 June 2018 Roost preference, postfledging habitat use, and breeding phenology of adult female Worm-eating Warblers (Helmitheros vermivorum) on the breeding grounds
Patrick J. Ruhl, Clayton D. Delancey, John B. Dunning
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Abstract

Many birds that breed in mature forest are known to use early successional habitat to some extent during the postfledging period, but the degree of roosting use remains unclear for most species. In fact, for Neotropical migrant passerines, roosting ecology on the breeding grounds is largely undescribed. To determine female Worm-eating Warbler (Helmitheros vermivorum) breeding status, clearcut utilization, and roosting habitat during the breeding season, we attached radio transmitters to 19 female Worm-eating Warblers with fully developed brood patches caught in 8 year old clearcuts from 1 to 15 June 2016. Of the 19 radio-tagged females, 11 were found with dependent fledglings by 17 June: 5 individuals were considered to be independent (i.e., foraging and moving through the landscape without fledglings) and 6 (3 with fledglings and 3 without) to be transitory (i.e., located <5 times before the signal was lost). Nest-searching and telemetry data suggest that the postfledging period may have started by 28 May 2016 for some Worm-eating Warblers. Overall habitat use of radio-tagged female Worm-eating Warblers differed, with 2 individuals associated with clearcut habitat, 3 associated with mature forest habitat, and 8 showing variable use of edge/both habitat classes. We recorded 116 different roost locations for 18 radio-tagged females in clearcut, mature forest, and edge habitats (55, 42, and 19 locations, respectively). Overall habitat preference differed among individuals, but our study suggests that early successional young forest habitat may serve an important role in Worm-eating Warbler roosting and postfledging ecology.

Patrick J. Ruhl, Clayton D. Delancey, and John B. Dunning "Roost preference, postfledging habitat use, and breeding phenology of adult female Worm-eating Warblers (Helmitheros vermivorum) on the breeding grounds," The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 130(2), 397-409, (1 June 2018). https://doi.org/10.1676/16-222.1
Received: 19 December 2016; Accepted: 17 April 2017; Published: 1 June 2018
KEYWORDS
Breeding season
clearcut
early successional
female
habitat-use
postfledging
roost
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