Space use by Swainson's Hawk (Buteo swainsoni) in the Natomas Basin, California

Citation
Fleishman E, Anderson J, Dickson BG, Krolick D, Estep JA, Anderson RL, Elphick CS, Dobkin DS, Bell DA. 2017. Space use by Swainson's Hawk (Buteo swainsoni) in the Natomas Basin, California. Movebank Data Repository. https://doi.org/10.5441/001/1.6p427t2f/1
Abstract
We used satellite-based remote sensing to estimate home ranges for Swainson’s Hawk, a species listed as threatened in California (USA), on its breeding grounds in the Natomas Basin (northern Central Valley, California) and to evaluate whether the species’ space-use intensity (statistically derived density of telemetry locations) was associated with land cover, sex, reproductive success, or life stage of offspring. We differentiated seven classes of land cover—alfalfa, annually rotated irrigated crops, developed, grassland, orchard / vineyard, rice, and water. From 2011–2013, we fitted transmitters with global positioning systems to 23 adult Swainson’s Hawks. We recorded a minimum of six locations per day per bird from spring through early autumn of each year. We used a fixed, bivariate-normal kernel estimator to calculate a utilization distribution at 30-m resolution for each life stage of each individual within each year. We used a linear mixed model to estimate the associations between intensity of space use and land cover, sex, and reproductive status. The majority of adult Swainson’s Hawks traveled distances up to 8–10 km from the nest throughout the breeding season. Median seasonal home-range sizes in a given year ranged from 87–172 km2. The association between intensity of space use and grassland was 50–139% stronger, and the association between intensity of space use and alfalfa 23–59% stronger, than the associations between intensity of space use and any other land-cover type. Intensity of space use did not vary as a function of sex, reproductive status, or life stage. Given our results and additional knowledge of the species’ ecology, we suggest that reproductive success and, in turn, population-level recruitment may be associated equally if not more closely with availability of nesting sites than with the current distribution of land cover.
Keywords
animal movement, animal tracking, avian migration, Buteo swainsoni, California, home range, Natomas Basin, satellite telemetry, Swainson's hawk
Taxa
Sensors
Related Workflows
DOIs of related Publications
BibTex
@misc{001/1_6p427t2f/1,
  title = {Space use by Swainson's Hawk (Buteo swainsoni) in the Natomas Basin, California},
  author = {Fleishman, E and Anderson, J and Dickson, BG and Krolick, D and Estep, JA and Anderson, RL and Elphick, CS and Dobkin, DS and Bell, DA},
  year = {2017},
  URL = {http://dx.doi.org/10.5441/001/1.6p427t2f/1},
  doi = {doi:10.5441/001/1.6p427t2f/1},
  publisher = {Movebank data repository}
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
ID  - doi:10.5441/001/1.6p427t2f/1
T1  - Space use by Swainson's Hawk (Buteo swainsoni) in the Natomas Basin, California
AU  - Fleishman, Erica
AU  - Anderson, Jesse
AU  - Dickson, Brett G.
AU  - Krolick, David
AU  - Estep, Jim A.
AU  - Anderson, Richard L.
AU  - Elphick, Chris S.
AU  - Dobkin, David S.
AU  - Bell, Doug A.
Y1  - 2017/05/05
KW  - animal movement
KW  - animal tracking
KW  - avian migration
KW  - Buteo swainsoni
KW  - California
KW  - home range
KW  - Natomas Basin
KW  - satellite telemetry
KW  - Swainson's hawk
KW  - Buteo swainsoni
PB  - Movebank data repository
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.5441/001/1.6p427t2f/1
DO  - doi:10.5441/001/1.6p427t2f/1
ER  - 
Collections