Wet season ecology of the Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow (Ammodramus maritimus mirabilis)
Balent KL, Fenn KH, Lockwood JL. Wet season ecology of the Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow (Ammodramus maritimus mirabilis)
Systematic surveys from June 1996 to March 1997 to determine the wet season distribution and habits of the sparrow. During the wet, or non-breeding, season the Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow (Ammodramus maritimus mirabilis) exhibit neither long-distance nor local migration within Everglades National Park. Individuals move an average of 277 m from the previous season’s breeding territory. They show a microhabitat shift from open marl prairie to stands of sawgrass (Cladium jamaicensus), small tree islands and the edges of large hammocks. As the wet season progresses, observations of birds decrease until early February when males begin to establish breeding territories for the coming spring. Because there is no migration out of its breeding habitat, the Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow depends exclusively on the marl prairies it inhabits year-round.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Balent, Karla; Fenn, Katherine; Lockwood, Julie
- Units
- EVER
- Keywords
- Distribution, Habitat, Migration, non-breeding season, Prairie, territories