Abstract
Competition for nesting territory has been shown to act as a density-dependent feedback mechanism influencing population growth rate. However, little is known about the nature of territorial interactions between established breeders and floaters. We examined territorial intrusion rates and associated behaviours at active Bald Eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus nests in the lower Chesapeake Bay in 2012 and 2013. The average intrusion rate experienced at study nests during the reproductive period was 0.28 ± 0.32 intrusions/h. Variance in intrusion rate was high and there was no apparent predictive pattern to these events. Juvenile intrusions occurred closer to the nest than adult intrusions, and breeders showed higher response rates toward adults, with 78% of adult intruders eliciting a response compared to 47% of juveniles. Breeding adults responded to intruders significantly more often and more aggressively when in the presence of their mate. Further research is necessary to broadly describe the relationship ...
Highlights
BioOne sees sustainable scholarly publishing as an inherently collaborative enterprise connecting authors, nonprofit publishers, academic institutions, research libraries, and research funders in the common goal of maximizing access to critical research
We examined territorial intrusion rates and associated behaviours at active Bald Eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus nests in the lower Chesapeake Bay in 2012 and 2013
Adult intruders did not target the period of highest nest failure, as intrusions by adults occurred at a rate of 0.12 ± 0.14 intrusions/h during this period and 0.15 ± 0.15 intrusions/h during the other study time
Summary
BioOne sees sustainable scholarly publishing as an inherently collaborative enterprise connecting authors, nonprofit publishers, academic institutions, research libraries, and research funders in the common goal of maximizing access to critical research. For territorial species like the Bald Eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus, competition for breeding sites often provides the ultimate limit to population size (Newton 1979; Hunt 1998). Contests for breeding space may act as a density-dependent regulator of population growth by increasing adult mortality (Newton 1979, 1998) and reduce reproductive rates by impairing breeding pairs’ ability to provide for or protect broods (Bretagnolle et al 2008, Penteriani et al 2011). Data from tracked birds in the Chesapeake Bay population (Watts & Mojica 2012) indicate that these individuals have not established nesting territories at the expected breeding age Studies addressing intraspecific territorial conflicts have described interactions with juvenile Bald
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