Comparison of Florida ScrubJay Juvenile Production in Different Landscapes

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Comparison of Florida Scrub-Jay Juvenile
Production in Different Landscapes

• Erin Allman, SLSTP 2004 Ecology Trainee
• Southeast Missouri State University, Cape
  Girardeau, MO
• Geoffrey Carter, Principal Investigator
• Dynamac Corporation, Kennedy Space Center, FL

The purpose of this study is to understand
habitat needs of the Florida Scrub-Jay. Habitat
loss and degradation threatens this bird with
extinction. Comparing juvenile production in
different landscapes facilitates understanding
about demographic habitat relationships. This
knowledge will help in habitat restoration
projects on Kennedy Space Center.
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Justification and Background

• The Florida Scrub-Jay is the only endemic bird to
  the state of Florida and is threatened with
  extinction.
• Their habitat is becoming fragmented and degraded
  making it hard to have nest success.
• Two study sites were selected because of the
  difference in habitat.
• The optimal habitat is dry oak scrub measuring
  between 120cm and 170cm with open sandy areas.
• This habitat is controlled by natural and
  prescribed fires.

Figure 1. The Happy Creek study site has become
dense and overgrown due to fire suppression.
Figure 2. The Tel-4 study site has an optimal
habitat for the Florida Scrub-Jay to breed and
survive.
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Methods

• Peanuts were used to bring the birds in close
  enough to see the bands on the legs.
• Juveniles were selected to count because they are
  a measure of overall demographic success.
• Counting juveniles measures the success of each
  breeding pair and gives an estimated number of
  birds that will be breeding in the upcoming
  years.
• The number of juveniles from each study site are
  compared to see if they are significantly
  different.
• Significance was determined using the
  Mann-Whitney Test.

Figure 4. The juvenile Florida Scrub-Jay has a
brown head and back and is nutritionally
independent from the parents. (Donna Oddy)
Figure 3. The adult Florida Scrub-Jay has a blue
head and back with some gray.
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Related Reading
Results and Conclusions

• Tel-4 (T4) produced more juveniles per breeding
  pair than Happy Creek (HC).
• T4 averaged 0.929 juveniles and HC only averaged
  0.231.
• The habitat at T4 had more openings possibly
  helping the birds to spot predators more
  effectively.

Breininger, D. R., V. L. Larson, D. M. Oddy, R.
B. Smith, and M. J. Barkaszi. 1996. Florida
Scrub-Jay demography in different landscapes. Auk
113(3)617- 625. Woolfenden, G. E., and J. W.
Fitzpatrick. 1984. The Florida Scrub-Jay
demography of a cooperative breeding bird.
Princeton University Press, Princeton, New
Jersey, USA. Woolfenden, G. E., and J. W.
Fitzpatrick. 1996. Florida Scrub-Jay
(Aphelocoma coerulescens). Pages 1-28 in Birds
of North America, No. 228 (A. Poole and F. Gill,
Eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences,
Philadelphia, and The American Ornithologists
Union, Washington D.C.