Site fidelity and lifetime territorial consistency of Ovenbirds (Seiurus aurocapilla) in a contiguous forest

Abstract

ABSTRACT. We investigated territory-level habitat use patterns of 132 color-banded male Ovenbirds (Seiurus aurocapilla) over a 12-year period at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in eastern Pennsylvania. Our primary goals were to test hypotheses concerning selection behavior as well as to describe territory fidelity of an area-sensitive Neotropical migrant by quantifying year-to-year movements of individuals over a period equivalent to several generations. Furthermore, we tested whether returns and territory shifts were associated with prior reproductive success and bird age. We measured occupancy as the number of birds that occupied 60-m grid cells that covered two 18-ha study sites over the 12-year period and similarly calculated rates of reproductive success within each grid cell. Rates of reproductive success were generally high (>60%) and were not correlated with occupancy rates. Return rates also were high, and birds rarely moved far from their first territory (mean = 68 m) during their lifetimes. There was n...