Life Sciences Commons^™

Density Dependent Refueling Of Migratory Songbirds During Stopover Within An Urbanizing Coastal Landscape, Emily B. Cohen, Jill M. Lafleur, Frank R. Moore

Faculty Publications

Refueling performance is the primary currency of a successful migration as birds must maintain energy stores to achieve an optimal travel schedule. Migrating birds can anticipate heightened energy demand, not to mention increased uncertainty that energy demands will be satisfied, especially within an urbanizing landscape following long-distance flights. We tested the expectation that refueling performance of songbirds is reduced as densities increase at stopover sites in an urbanizing coastline of the Gulf of Mexico. We measured the density of migrating birds, their refueling performance, and arthropod abundance in two large tracts of contiguous forest paired with two small isolated patches …

Temporal Migration Patterns Between Natal Locations Of Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds (Archilochus Colubris) And Their Gulf Coast Stopover Site, Theodore J. Zenzal Jr., Andrea J. Contina, Jeffrey F. Kelly, Frank R. Moore

Faculty Publications

Background

Autumn latitudinal migrations generally exhibit one of two different temporal migration patterns: type 1 where southern populations migrate south before northern populations, or type 2 where northern populations overtake southern populations en route. The ruby-throated hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) is a species with an expansive breeding range, which allows opportunities to examine variation in the timing of migration. Our objective was to determine a relationship between natal origin of ruby-throated hummingbirds and arrival at a Gulf coast stopover site; and if so, what factors, such as differences in body size across the range as well as the …

A Multi-Scale Examination Of Stopover Habitat Use By Birds, Jeffrey J. Buler, Frank R. Moore, Stefan Woltmann

Faculty Publications

Most of our understanding of habitat use by migrating land birds comes from studies conducted at single, small spatial scales, which may overemphasize the importance of intrinsic habitat factors, such as food availability, in shaping migrant distributions. We believe that a multi-scale approach is essential to assess the influence of factors that control en route habitat use. We determined the relative importance of eight variables, each operating at a habitat-patch, landscape, or regional spatial scale, in explaining the differential use of hardwood forests by Nearctic-Neotropical land birds during migration. We estimated bird densities through transect surveys at sites near the …