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Migration, Home Range and Important Use Areas

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Migration, Home Range and Important Use Areas MIGRATION, HOME RANGE, AND IMPORTANT USE AREAS OF FLORIDA SUB-ADULT BALD EAGLES by ELIZABETH KYNOR MOJICA (Under the Direction of J. Michael Meyers and Steven B. Castleberry) ABSTRACT Long distance movements of Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) have prevented a thorough documentation of their migration when monitored with traditional methods of banding and radio telemetry. I used satellite telemetry to determine diurnal and nocturnal important use areas (IUAs), migration routes, stopover sites, and home ranges of 69 migratory and non-migratory Florida sub-adult Bald Eagles. I located 151 daytime IUAs in 20 states and provinces, and 50 nocturnal roosts in 8 states and provinces. There was no difference in coarse home range size of migratory eagles between sexes in winter or summer (2-way ANOVA sex x season). Coarse home ranges were larger in winter ( x = 25,218 km2, 95% CI: 13,015 – 37,421) than summer 2 ( x = 6,166 km , 95% CI: 2,696 – 9,637; F1,64 = 4.03, P = 0.01). Eagles made equal use of Coastal Plain (n = 24) and Appalachian Mountain (n = 26) migratory routes during the first migration north. I recommend conserving nocturnal roosts and undeveloped shoreline forest within IUAs for sustained recruitment of Florida Bald Eagles. INDEX WORDS: Bald Eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, migration, stopover, roost, nearest neighbor, kernel density estimation, home range, habitat, Florida, sub-adult, satellite telemetry MIGRATION, HOME RANGE, AND IMPORTANT USE AREAS OF FLORIDA SUB-ADULT BALD EAGLES by ELIZABETH KYNOR MOJICA B.S., Trinity University, 1999 A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF SCIENCE ATHENS, GEORGIA 2006 © 2006 Elizabeth K. Mojica All Rights Reserved MIGRATION, HOME RANGE, AND IMPORTANT USE AREAS OF FLORIDA SUB-ADULT BALD EAGLES by ELIZABETH KYNOR MOJICA Major Professor: J. Michael Meyers Steven B. Castleberry Committee: Gary W. Barrett Robert J. Warren Electronic Version Approved: Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia December 2006 DEDICATION To my Grandmothers Elberta and Edith, whose love of birds and research inspired me. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I thank my advisor Joe Meyers for his patience and tireless detailed revisions. He took me on as a student before I had funding for this project and I am grateful he was willing to provide me with this research opportunity. Thanks to my committee members Bob Warren, Gary Barrett, and Steven Castleberry for their comments and suggestions. Many heartfelt thanks go to my husband Gil, who was very patient with my fluctuating stress levels and the nights and weekends I spent at the office. I am deeply grateful for the initial funding for my first year of graduate school provided by my late grandparents Jim and Edith Sprouse. I give special thanks to Katherin Haley who secured the funding for this project and guided the contract through the bureaucratic maze. Brian Millsap encouraged me to work on eagles and initiated this new phase of his initial study. Both gave valuable comments on the agency final report preceding my thesis. Funding for this project was provided by the Florida Non-Game Wildlife Trust Fund, The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, The University of Georgia, Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, and the Georgia Ornithological Society. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... v LIST OF TABLES.......................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES..........................................................................................................ix CHAPTERS 1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 1 Life History .................................................................................................. 2 Status and Conservation............................................................................. 6 Study Overview ........................................................................................... 7 Literature Cited............................................................................................ 8 2 Migration of Florida Sub-adult Bald Eagles ................................................... 11 Abstract..................................................................................................... 12 Introduction ............................................................................................... 13 Methods .................................................................................................... 13 Results ...................................................................................................... 15 Discussion................................................................................................. 17 Acknowledgements ................................................................................... 19 Literature Cited.......................................................................................... 19 3 Home Range sizes of Migratory and Non-migratory Florida Sub-adult Bald Eagles ....................................................................................................... 25 Abstract..................................................................................................... 26 vi Introduction ............................................................................................... 27 Methods .................................................................................................... 28 Results ...................................................................................................... 30 Discussion................................................................................................. 31 Acknowledgements ................................................................................... 35 Literature Cited.......................................................................................... 35 4 Seasonal Important Use Areas of Florida Sub-adult Bald Eagles ................. 43 Abstract..................................................................................................... 44 Introduction ............................................................................................... 45 Methods .................................................................................................... 46 Results ...................................................................................................... 47 Discussion................................................................................................. 48 Management Implications ......................................................................... 49 Acknowledgements ................................................................................... 51 Literature Cited.......................................................................................... 51 5 Conclusions................................................................................................... 57 APPENDICES A Migration routes, distances, and times.......................................................... 59 B Migratory stopovers....................................................................................... 62 C Individual eagle tracking history .................................................................... 64 D Daytime foraging important use areas .......................................................... 72 E Conservation land within important use areas............................................... 76 F Nocturnal roosts ............................................................................................ 86 vii LIST OF TABLES Page Table 3.1: Mean coarse home ranges of migratory Florida sub-adult Bald Eagles tracked with satellite transmitters, 1997-2004. ............................................. 38 Table 3.2: Mean seasonal home ranges of non-migratory Florida sub-adult Bald Eagles tracked with satellite transmitters, 1997-2004. ............................................. 39 Table 4.1: Mean non-migratory Florida sub-adult Bald Eagle 95% kernel density home ranges by season and age. .......................................................................... 54 viii LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 2.1: Dates Florida sub-adult Bald Eagles initiated migration north and south from 1997-2004. ..................................................................................................... 22 Figure 2.2: Migration routes followed by Florida sub-adult Bald Eagles in eastern North America during 1997-2004. .......................................................................... 23 Figure 2.3: Stopover sites used by Florida sub-adult Bald Eagles ages 1-4 during northbound and southbound migration, 1997-2004. ..................................... 24 Figure 3.1: Mean first year seasonal coarse home ranges for male and female migratory Florida sub-adult Bald Eagles, 1997-2004. ................................................... 40 Figure 3.2: Nomadic coarse home ranges of female Bald Eagle 22985 during the first summer north of Florida in 2001. .................................................................. 41 Figure 3.3: Overlap of the first two winter coarse home ranges for the migratory female Bald Eagle 22985 in Florida,
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