Does nest-site selection influence bobwhite nesting success in south Florida?

Context. Nest-site selection can influence nesting success, and thus population dynamics, of many species of groundnesting birds. Despite the economic importance as a game species, populations of northern bobwhites have been declining throughoutthesouthernUnitedStates.Thispaperreportsthenestingecologyofnorthernbobwhites(Colinusvirginianus)on Babcock-Webb Wildlife Management Area, Florida, USA, and illustrates the influence of landscape composition and structure on bobwhite nest-site selection and nest fate. Aim.Toinvestigatenest-siteselectionbybobwhites,toevaluatetheinfluenceoflandscapecompositionandstructureon nest-site selection, and to identify factors influencing nesting success. Methods. We used distance-based habitat-selection methods and logistic regression to test for nest-site selection and to investigate the influence of landscape characteristics on nesting success. Keyresults.Bobwhitespreferredtoestablishnestsclosertofoodplotsandfartherawayfromwaterbodiesthanexpected; otherhabitatswereneither preferrednoravoided.Nesting successdidnotvaryacrossyears,differ amonghabitatsoramong burn treatments, and none of the habitat and landscape variables we measured significantly influenced the probability that a nest would be successful. Conclusions. Bobwhites preferred to place nests closer to food plots. However, habitat features of nest sites did not influence bobwhite nesting success. These results may indicate that random nest predation by meso-mammalian predators may currently determine fates of bobwhite nests in south Florida, or that population density is lowenoughthat only suitable nesting sites are occupied. Implications. Our results suggest that increasing the density of linear food plots, and maintaining a structurally diverse pine–palmettoanddryprairiehabitatthatprovidesadequatenestingcovercouldcontributetoaugmentingbobwhitenesting habitat.