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Environmental predictors of nestling condition, postfledging movement, and postfledging survival in a migratory songbird, the Wood Thrush (<i>Hylocichla mustelina</i>)

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dc.contributor.author Vernasco, Ben J. en
dc.contributor.author Sillett, T. Scott en
dc.contributor.author Marra, Peter P. en
dc.contributor.author Ryder, T. Brandt en
dc.date.accessioned 2018-02-02T10:07:19Z
dc.date.available 2018-02-02T10:07:19Z
dc.date.issued 2018
dc.identifier.citation Vernasco, Ben J., Sillett, T. Scott, Marra, Peter P., and Ryder, T. Brandt. 2018. "<a href="https://repository.si.edu/handle/10088/34974">Environmental predictors of nestling condition, postfledging movement, and postfledging survival in a migratory songbird, the Wood Thrush (<i>Hylocichla mustelina</i>)</a>." <em>The Auk</em>, 135, (1) 15–24. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1642/AUK-17-105.1">https://doi.org/10.1642/AUK-17-105.1</a>. en
dc.identifier.issn 0004-8038
dc.identifier.uri https://hdl.handle.net/10088/34974
dc.description.abstract Given that population dynamics of birds are known to be sensitive to high fledgling mortality, a comprehensive understanding of the environmental factors that drive variation in fledgling survival is essential to avian conservation. We quantified multiple aspects of the Wood Thrush postfledging period using breeding and radio-telemetry data collected over the course of 4 breeding seasons in southern Indiana, USA. First, we examined how drought, forest cover, and brood parasitism affected nestling body condition and brood size. Second, after controlling for the age-specific increase in survival, we used multimodel inference to examine how brood parasitism, drought, forest cover, nestling body condition, and nest vegetation structure influenced postfledging survival. Finally, we measured the relationship between these covariates and fledgling movements. Drought decreased cumulative survival probabilities, with the youngest age group (<4 days postfledging) being most affected; however, this relationship was dependent on the amount of mature forest cover. During non-drought years, fledgling survival was lower in study plots with a high proportion of mature forest cover. By contrast, postfledging survival during a drought year was higher in study plots with a high proportion of forest cover. This drought year was also associated with lower nestling body condition and brood size, and with delayed postfledging dispersal from natal territories. Our results suggest that while Wood Thrush postfledging survival is relatively insensitive to both nest vegetation structure and brood parasitism, forest cover and breeding-season precipitation interact to affect multiple aspects of the species' postfledging period. en
dc.relation.ispartof The Auk en
dc.title Environmental predictors of nestling condition, postfledging movement, and postfledging survival in a migratory songbird, the Wood Thrush (<i>Hylocichla mustelina</i>) en
dc.type Journal Article en
dc.identifier.srbnumber 145293
dc.identifier.doi 10.1642/AUK-17-105.1
rft.jtitle The Auk
rft.volume 135
rft.issue 1
rft.spage 15
rft.epage 24
dc.description.SIUnit nzp en
dc.citation.spage 15
dc.citation.epage 24


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