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Survival and growth of northern bobwhite offspring post‐translocation
Author(s) -
Lunsford Kyle D.,
Howell Paige E.,
Roberts Thomas B.,
Terhune Theron M.,
Martin James A.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
the journal of wildlife management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.94
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1937-2817
pISSN - 0022-541X
DOI - 10.1002/jwmg.21723
Subject(s) - colinus , offspring , population , wildlife , biology , chromosomal translocation , demography , habitat , ecology , zoology , pregnancy , biochemistry , quail , sociology , gene , genetics
Continual population declines in northern bobwhites ( Colinus virginianus ) have prompted the use of population restoration techniques in conjunction with habitat management to restore their populations. We tested the site familiarity hypothesis to determine if translocation to new environments affected offspring survival and growth rates of bobwhites. We used bobwhites from north Florida and translocated them to a study site in Brunswick County, North Carolina, USA, and monitored birds during April−October 2016 and April−October 2017. We used the corral capture method and modified‐suture technique to capture and radio‐tag chicks to evaluate offspring growth and survival rates of resident and translocated bobwhites. Offspring survival varied by year and age. We did not find any difference in offspring survival rates of resident and translocated individuals, lending no support to the site familiarity hypothesis with regards to survival. Offspring of resident bobwhites did not grow at a faster rate than offspring of translocated bobwhites, indicating a lack of support for the site familiarity hypothesis in terms of physiological development. Survival, however, is a more important metric for determining post‐translocation population dynamics, and our results indicated that translocated bobwhites can reproduce and raise offspring similar to resident counterparts, but both had low survival. © 2019 The Wildlife Society.