NEST-SITE SELECTION AND NEST SURVIVAL OF NORTHERN BOBWHITE IN SOUTHERN TEXAS

Abstract

We examined abiotic and biotic variables potentially associated with Northern Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) nest-site selection and nest success in southern Texas, USA during 2002–2005. These data were used to characterize bobwhite nest-site selection, and to develop and evaluate models of daily nest survival in Program MARK. Nest sites (n = 123) had greater visual obscurity (3.50 vs. 2.60 dm) and vegetation height (64 vs. 47 cm), and less bare ground (11 vs. 25%) compared to random locations (n = 123). The two best models indicated daily nest survival increased with increasing mean maximum temperature and increasing cumulative precipitation. The model-averaged (± SE) estimate for bobwhite daily nest survival was 0.9593 ± 0.0060. These results suggest that bobwhites selected for a specific range of nest-site microhabitat attributes, but that nest predation was largely random. Bobwhite nest survival and productivity in semiarid, subtropical, southern Texas may be largely dependent on weather factors (e.g., temperature and precipitation).