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Hermit Thrush (Catharus Guttatus) And Veery (C. Fuscescens) Breeding Habitat Associations In Southern Appalachian High-Elevation Forests., Andrew J. Laughlin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Hermit Thrush is a new breeding bird in the Southern Appalachian high-elevation mountains, having expanded its range southward over the last few decades. Here it is sympatric with the Veery, a congeneric breeding resident. In order to more fully understand why the range expansion took place and to understand more about the local ecology of the newly arrived bird, I measured several habitat variables in 30 Hermit Thrush and 24 Veery territories. Principal Components Analysis and Cluster Analysis brought to light several patterns of habitat preferences for these 2 species. Hermit Thrushes prefer territories with more leaf litter on …