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REPRODUCTION BY NORTHERN BOBWHITES IN WESTERN OKLAHOMA
Author(s) -
COX SCOTT A.,
GUTHERY FRED S.,
LUSK JEFFREY J.,
PEOPLES ALAN D.,
DeMaso STEPHEN J.,
SAMS MIKE
Publication year - 2005
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 - 10.2193/0022-541x(2005)069<0133:rbnbiw>2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - nest (protein structural motif) , colinus , avian clutch size , incubation , reproduction , nesting season , seasonal breeder , juvenile , zoology , biology , nesting (process) , phenology , ecology , predation , quail , biochemistry , materials science , metallurgy
We studied northern bobwhites ( Colinus virginianus ) in western Oklahoma, USA, during the nesting seasons of 1992–2001. We obtained latitude‐specific information on nesting biology and tested hypotheses on the cause of declines in clutch size with progression of the nesting season and on the phenological relation of first, second, and third nesting attempts. For pooled data on bobwhites alive during 15 April‐15 September, 64 ± 6.5% of juvenile females ( n = 56), 90 ± 10.0% of adult females ( n = 9), 13 ± 4.1% of juveniles males ( n = 68), and 41 ± 10.7% of adult males ( n = 22) incubated ≥ 1 nest. Bobwhites that entered the reproduction period starting on 15 April ( n = 229) accumulated 203 nesting attempts (male and female incubations), which translated to 1.7 attempts/hen for all hens that entered ( n = 117) and 3.1 attempts/hen for hens that survived to 15 September ( n = 65). Overall success for incubated nests (48 ± 2.8%, n = 331) was independent of sex‐age class and nesting attempt (1, 2, 3), but it declined at a rate of 2.37%/year (95% CL = 1.10–3.64%/year) during the study. Clutch size declined by 1 egg for every 14–20 elapsed days in the nesting season and the rate of decline was independent of incubation attempt (1 or 2); this result suggests that lower clutch sizes later in the nest season were not necessarily a function of re‐nesting. Ending of nest‐incubation attempts (1, 2, 3) occurred within an 8‐day period from 26 August‐2 September. Our results implied that early‐season nesting cover is a management concern and that high nest success is possible in the absence of nest predator suppression where abundant nest sites occur across the landscape.