PRIOR BREEDING SUCCESS AFFECTS RETURN RATES OF TERRITORIAL MALE OVENBIRDS

Abstract

Abstract I examined the hypothesis that male Ovenbirds (Seiurus aurocapillus) make breeding dispersal decisions based on prior breeding experience at a site. I determined the reproductive success of color-banded male Ovenbirds at sites in fragmented and unfragmented landscapes in Missouri from 1992–1995. I documented which individuals returned and I recorded their reproductive success upon return as well as the success of birds new to each plot. I obtained similar results in both landscapes. Males with different histories of reproductive success returned at different rates. Only 2 of 22 males that were paired but failed to raise young returned in the following year, whereas the return rates of unpaired males (41%, n = 37) and males that successfully raised young (54%, n = 57) did not differ significantly (P = 0.19). The patterns were more consistent with the hypothesis that return rates were due to decisions about dispersal rather than difference in survival of individuals in these groups. El Exito Reprod...