Estimating Territory and Home-range Sizes: Do Singing Locations Alone Provide an Accurate Estimate of Space Use?

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Documenting space-use patterns of animals is important for understanding their ecology and providing for their conservation. The concept of territory refers to a defended area, whereas the concept of home range refers to any area used by an animal during its normal activities. Few studies have explored quantitatively how these areas differ, and the use of these terms in the literature has, at times, been inconsistent. Many studies attempt to estimate territory size of a bird by territory mapping, which involves using locations obtained by following a singing bird. This is often assumed to be an effective measure of territory size, but few studies have examined the efficacy of this technique. Here, we used radiotelemetry to estimate breeding home-range and territory sizes of Swainson's Warbler (Limnothlypis swainsonii), a Neotropical migrant songbird. We found that territories were much larger than had been estimated by territory-mapping methods and suggest that researchers use caution when assum...