The Demography and Movements of Snail Kites in Florida
Bennetts RE and Kitchens WM. 1997. The Demography and Movements of Snail Kites in Florida. Technical Report no. 56. USGS Biological Resources Division, florida Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit
This report provides data and analyses regarding numbers and locations of endangered Snail Kites in central and south Florida, including a few found nesting in Big Cypress National Preserve. The study is examining movement and population dynamics in relation to changes in water management and other environmental influences, with a goal of providing information on which to base management decisions. Study results can be used in demographic modeling to resolve some of the controversies related to wetland planning. Weather patterns during the study were generally favorable for the kites, and the authors recommend continuing research, including study of the effects of drought on Snail Kites. The authors find the currently-designated critical habitat 'insufficient to maintain viable populations of Snail Kites over the long term' [page iii]. With a color photograph of kites in a nest and a color satellite image of south Florida, many data tables and graphs (some in appendices), and a concluding chapter on management and conservation.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Bennetts, Robert; Kitchens, Wiley
- Date of Issue
- 1997
- Publisher
- USGS Biological Resources Division, florida Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit
- Units
- BICY
- Keywords
- Animal Studies, Distribution, Habitats, Impacts, Movement (Animal), Population, snail kite (Rostrhamus sociabilis), Water Resource Management