AVIS-IBIS

Birds of Indian Subcontinent

Influence of Vehicular Traffic on Time Budgets of Nesting Burrowing Owls

Publication Type:Journal Article
Year of Publication:1993
Authors:Plumpton, DL, R. Lutz, S
Journal:The Journal of Wildlife Management
Volume:57
Issue:3
Date Published:1993
ISBN Number:0022541X
Keywords:Athene, Athene cunicularia, Speotyto, Speotyto cunicularia, Strigidae
Abstract:Adult burrowing owls (Speotyto cunicularia) commonly nest near roads on the Rocky Mountain Arsenal (RMA), Colorado, and had the potential to be disturbed during environmental clean-up operations. Thus, we characterized time-budgets of adults during 1990-91 to determine potential impacts of environmental cleanup traffic on their nesting behavior. Males and females differed in time spent resting (P ≤ 0.01), alert (P = 0.002), and out-of-sight (P = 0.004) in the pre-hatch season. From pre- to post-hatch seasons, male alert behavior decreased, while time spent out-of-sight increased (P = 0.0001). Female alert behavior increased, while out-of-sight behaviors decreased (P = 0.0001). Vehicular disturbance observed in this study (0-16 vehicles/15 min) was only weakly correlated to two of 8 behaviors (locomotion and alert). Vehicular traffic, our index of cleanup disturbance, therefore had little impact on nesting burrowing owl behavior, and it had no impact on productivity even though nesting locations placed them in close proximity.
URL:http://www.jstor.org/stable/3809291
Short Title:The Journal of Wildlife Management
Scratchpads developed and conceived by (alphabetical): Ed Baker, Katherine Bouton Alice Heaton Dimitris Koureas, Laurence Livermore, Dave Roberts, Simon Rycroft, Ben Scott, Vince Smith