Anti-predatory behavior of northern bobwhite in the rolling plains of Texas
Northern bobwhites (Colinus virginianus; hereafter bobwhites) are a species of great economic importance but have declining populations range-wide. As a result, bobwhites are a highly researched species. Flight behavior and cover use patterns of northern bobwhites have been examined in several studi...
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fttexastechuniv:oai:ttu-ir.tdl.org:2346/86812 2023-05-15T13:00:53+02:00 Anti-predatory behavior of northern bobwhite in the rolling plains of Texas Perkins, Rebecca Boal, Clint W. Rollins, Dale McIntyre, Nancy E. 2021-01-26T23:49:47Z application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/2346/86812 unknown https://hdl.handle.net/2346/86812 Birds of North America Birds of Prey Falconry Northern Bobwhite Thesis text 2021 fttexastechuniv 2023-02-11T23:06:44Z Northern bobwhites (Colinus virginianus; hereafter bobwhites) are a species of great economic importance but have declining populations range-wide. As a result, bobwhites are a highly researched species. Flight behavior and cover use patterns of northern bobwhites have been examined in several studies, all of which have contributed to a large set of habitat management recommendations for the species. However, the existing data lack quantitative measures of how bobwhites respond to natural threat, not solely direct human disturbance. I examined aspects of bobwhite behavior in response to four threat categories: researcher, hunter, raptor, and mammalian. I found that bobwhite flight distance is best predicted by threat type, covey size, and wind speed. I found that bobwhites flushed by the hunter threat (P = 0.034) and the raptor threat (P < 0.0001) selected for significantly higher visual obstruction at landing sites compared to availability. Raptor-flushed bobwhites also selected for significantly higher shrub density (P < 0.0001) and lower angle of obstruction (P <0.0001) at landing points than what were randomly available. In the process of data collection I also observed bobwhite roost locations (n=24) to have lower visual height obstruction (P = 0.03), lower shrub density (P = 0.02), and higher angles of obstruction (P = 0.005) than bobwhite diurnal locations. My results verify that bobwhite escape strategies and cover use vary among threat types. These results support current management recommendations of creating a patchwork of vegetation covers for bobwhite, but also indicate the importance of understanding of bobwhite behavior to improve management and conservation strategies. To examine how bobwhites respond to a raptor threat, we used a trained northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis), a bird often used for falconry. The practice of falconry is over 2000 years old. It is a form of hunting wild quarry in its natural state and habitat by means of a trained raptor. Researchers, specifically when ... Thesis Accipiter gentilis Northern Goshawk Texas Tech University: TTU DSpace Repository Covey ENVELOPE(-67.667,-67.667,-67.550,-67.550) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Texas Tech University: TTU DSpace Repository |
op_collection_id |
fttexastechuniv |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Birds of North America Birds of Prey Falconry Northern Bobwhite |
spellingShingle |
Birds of North America Birds of Prey Falconry Northern Bobwhite Perkins, Rebecca Anti-predatory behavior of northern bobwhite in the rolling plains of Texas |
topic_facet |
Birds of North America Birds of Prey Falconry Northern Bobwhite |
description |
Northern bobwhites (Colinus virginianus; hereafter bobwhites) are a species of great economic importance but have declining populations range-wide. As a result, bobwhites are a highly researched species. Flight behavior and cover use patterns of northern bobwhites have been examined in several studies, all of which have contributed to a large set of habitat management recommendations for the species. However, the existing data lack quantitative measures of how bobwhites respond to natural threat, not solely direct human disturbance. I examined aspects of bobwhite behavior in response to four threat categories: researcher, hunter, raptor, and mammalian. I found that bobwhite flight distance is best predicted by threat type, covey size, and wind speed. I found that bobwhites flushed by the hunter threat (P = 0.034) and the raptor threat (P < 0.0001) selected for significantly higher visual obstruction at landing sites compared to availability. Raptor-flushed bobwhites also selected for significantly higher shrub density (P < 0.0001) and lower angle of obstruction (P <0.0001) at landing points than what were randomly available. In the process of data collection I also observed bobwhite roost locations (n=24) to have lower visual height obstruction (P = 0.03), lower shrub density (P = 0.02), and higher angles of obstruction (P = 0.005) than bobwhite diurnal locations. My results verify that bobwhite escape strategies and cover use vary among threat types. These results support current management recommendations of creating a patchwork of vegetation covers for bobwhite, but also indicate the importance of understanding of bobwhite behavior to improve management and conservation strategies. To examine how bobwhites respond to a raptor threat, we used a trained northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis), a bird often used for falconry. The practice of falconry is over 2000 years old. It is a form of hunting wild quarry in its natural state and habitat by means of a trained raptor. Researchers, specifically when ... |
author2 |
Boal, Clint W. Rollins, Dale McIntyre, Nancy E. |
format |
Thesis |
author |
Perkins, Rebecca |
author_facet |
Perkins, Rebecca |
author_sort |
Perkins, Rebecca |
title |
Anti-predatory behavior of northern bobwhite in the rolling plains of Texas |
title_short |
Anti-predatory behavior of northern bobwhite in the rolling plains of Texas |
title_full |
Anti-predatory behavior of northern bobwhite in the rolling plains of Texas |
title_fullStr |
Anti-predatory behavior of northern bobwhite in the rolling plains of Texas |
title_full_unstemmed |
Anti-predatory behavior of northern bobwhite in the rolling plains of Texas |
title_sort |
anti-predatory behavior of northern bobwhite in the rolling plains of texas |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/2346/86812 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-67.667,-67.667,-67.550,-67.550) |
geographic |
Covey |
geographic_facet |
Covey |
genre |
Accipiter gentilis Northern Goshawk |
genre_facet |
Accipiter gentilis Northern Goshawk |
op_relation |
https://hdl.handle.net/2346/86812 |
_version_ |
1766262815760318464 |