The 1999 Breeding Season Report for the Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow

Lockwood, Julie; Jacobson, Robin; Caudill, Jeffery; Paxson, Kristine

The following three sections describe results from the 1999 breeding season study of the Cape Sable seaside sparrow (Ammodramus miritamusmirabilis). The first section reviews the year in terms of nesting success. Our efforts this year extended beyond early June. Although this is not the first year we have followed late-season nests, this is the first year we have kept -10 individuals working 6 days a week well into the summer months. We found several late-season nests allowing a comparison in success rates between nests that hatched before and after the onset of summer rains. Most late-season nests failed which is consistent with sporadic data on late-season nests gathered in previous years. The inclusion of these late-season nests in an overall 1999 breeding success calculation pulls the resultant value down. We attribute this low nesting success rate to the unusually dry conditions at the beginning of the breeding season and heavier late-season predation pressure. The remainder of this report details research efforts initiated this year. This year we began fixed-radius point count censusing within intensive study plots in order to test assumptions of the extensive helicopter survey. We also set-up study units to test the effects of fire on Cape Sable seaside sparrow demographic parameters. We continued collecting microhabitat information around nests and within territories in an effort to pinpoint habitat correlations with breeding success. We have not updated these results as they do not vary from those reported in the 1998 Annual Report. These results are being prepared for submission in a peer-reviewed journal; the manuscript will be posted on this web site for public viewing after submission.

The 1999 Breeding Season Report for the Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow

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