Comparison of the Survival Rates between Migratory and Resident Birds
Loading...
Date
2019-08
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The Ohio State University
Abstract
Knowledge of survival rates is critical for understanding population change for any species. Migratory species may have lower survival rates than resident species due to the physiological stress of migration and movement through unfamiliar habitat. In this study, we compared the apparent annual survival rate of migrant Gray Catbirds (Dumetella carolinesis) and resident Northern Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis). We analyzed eight years (2010-2017) of bird banding data in west-central Ohio using robust design mark-recapture analyses. We caught 51 individual Northern Cardinals and 146 individual Gray Catbirds. Survival varied from year to year, and Gray Catbirds had a marginally higher survival rate as compared to Northern Cardinals. Lastly, we saw differences in species regarding to emigration, immigration, and capture probability, with Northern Cardinals having higher values than Gray Catbirds. Contrary to other studies, our study found that migrants had a higher annual survival rate compared to residents, but the relationship was weak. Future studies should seek to determine what environmental variation may lead to yearly differences in survival.
Description
Keywords
Survival rates, Cardinalis cardinalis, Dumetella carolinensis, Migratory, Resident, Birds