Bachman's Sparrow

Introduction

Understanding the natural history of declining species is imperative to find vulnerable life history stages and behavioral specificities that can prevent the slippery slope which leads to a threatened and endangered status. Species specific behavior is often overlooked, but has been a major cause leading to the extinction of species across taxa (Reed 1999). Incorporating behavior specifics into management plans and population models is imperative to species success. Important breeding behavior involved in critical life history stages can influence population dynamics (Reed 1999). Few studies encompass breeding behavior because off the required investment in funding and resources.

Birds that nest on

Preferred habitat includes mature pine woodlands with an open mid-story, and a dense understory of forbs and grasses (Dunning and Watts 1990). Bachamans sparrows untilize the dense understory for cover and for nests which are placed at the base of vegetation in a cup-shape often covered with a dome (Dunning 2006, Haggerty 1995). The understory is best maintained by fire and results in higher occupancy and nest success within 3 years of the area being burned (Jones et al 2013). Since the 1930’s, this species has been in decline, becoming more rare and only locally distributed (Plentovich et al. 1998). Declines have been cuased by the harvest of mature longleaf pine forests, conversion to pine plantations, and fire suppression (Dunning

Our study presents 24-hour video monitoring of the nesting development and parental activity. Provisioning from both parents is documented in this species, but it has not been related back to nest survival (Dunning 2006). Early fire succession stages can influence important breeding parameters such as the insect community, cover for nests, and alter the vegetation. Areas that have been burned within the past 3 years are selected for, so provisioning rate may be related to nesting area’s burn history.

Nest behavior has been briefly documented, but our study looks at behaviors that have not been described such as recess length, recess times, number of recess, and the times of day associated with each behavior. Incubation behavior is important because increased activity on the nest, and longer time spent away from the nest has been linked to higher predation (Smith et al. 2012, Skutch 1949). Observing incubation behavior can help understand depredation and nest survival. This information can be applied to future nest search efforts if patterns are clear in provisioning activity of the