| | Accession Number | 5003438 |
| | Title | Annual survival in the southeastern coastal breeding population of the Painted Bunting |
| | Project Description | Survival rate of the southeastern coastal population of the Painted Bunting is unknown. This |
| | information is essential in determining the demographics for the species. The breeding range of |
| | the southeastern coastal population does not overlap that of the species along the northern Gulf |
| | Coast and south central part of North America, nor do the winter ranges of the two populations |
| | overlap, so the population to be studied is unique. Painted Buntings declined an average of 2.8% |
| | annually in the southeastern United States since 1966. Our objective in this study is to determine |
| | annual survival of the Painted Bunting population by age class and sex within the southeastern |
| | United States. Twenty study areas are in the four-state area of North Carolina, South Carolina, |
| | Georgia and Florida on federal, state, and private lands. Each locality consists of two sites, |
| | minimum of 4 km apart. Buntings are being trapped using mist nets at baiting stations (bird |
| | feeders) established in advance. Baiting is with white proso millet and is begun on or about the |
| | middle of April each year. Observations for color marked birds are conducted during May and |
| | June. Trapping is for one-half day at each site in late June through August or September of each |
| | year for six years. Localities are systematically sampled to prevent any effect of time of year, as |
| | much as possible. Birds are uniquely color leg-banded, three color bands and a BRD numbered |
| | band, two bands on each leg. Birds are released at the net sites after banding, aging, and sexing |
| | has been completed. Annual survival rates will be calculated based on recaptures the following |
| | year and on resightings. A model will be developed and Program SURVIVAL will be used to |
| | calculate survival of the buntings. These data will provide insight into the decline of the bunting |
| | population in the region and complement other research in coastal Georgia recently completed |
| | and other work proposed. |
| | Keywords | banding, painted bunting, passerina ciris, population survival, southeastern coastal plain, |
| | Principal | Paul W Sykes, USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center: paul_sykes@usgs.gov; William L |
| | Investigators | Kendall, USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center: william_kendall@usgs.gov; Joseph M Meyers, |
| | USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center: joe_meyers@usgs.gov; |
Return to SIS Projects Listing
