Research Objectives:
- Determine nesting ecology
and nest success of black-capped
vireos in the Devil’s
River area.
- Identify the causes
of nest failure of black-capped
vireos in the Devil’s
River area.
- Quantify nest habitat selection of black-capped vireos in the Devil’s River area at the nest and territory scales.
Management Implications:
- Better understanding
of black-capped vireo
habitat selection in
southwest Texas will
allow better land management
in that region.
- Identifying causes
of nest failure will
illuminate the specific
threats to black-capped
vireos in the southwest
Texas region.
- Better understanding
of black-capped vireo
ecology across their
range will assent to
a more comprehensive
recovery plan.
Project Summary:
The black-capped vireo (Vireo atricapilla) is an endangered songbird with a current known breeding range from central Oklahoma south through Texas and into the Mexican states of Nuevo Leon and southwestern Tamaulipas. Most of the intensive studies on black-capped vireos have been in central Texas and Oklahoma, a region characterized primarily by oak-juniper woodlands and live oak savannahs. However, there is little information about black-capped vireo habitat selection and limiting factors in the southern and western region of their breeding range, which is characterized by xeric thornscrub and patchy low-growing vegetation.
I am studying black-capped vireo nest survival, causes of nest failures, and habitat selection on the nest-site and territory scales in the Devil’s River area of southwest Texas. I will locate and monitor nests in order to determine daily nest survival. I will use nest cameras to categorize causes of nest failure as parasitized, predated, or abandoned. Finally, I will sample vegetation to describe habitat selection by black-capped vireo at the nest-site and territory scales. The result of this study will be a better understanding of the limiting factors and habitat preferences of black-capped vireos in the Devil’s River area, which will allow for more informed management decisions for the species in southwest Texas.
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