Abundance And Distribution Of Overwintering Red-Tailed Hawks And American Kestrels In An Agricultural Landscape In Northeastern Arkansas

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

JOURNAL OF RAPTOR RESEARCH

Abstract

Although Red-tailed Hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) and American Kestrels (Falco sparverius) are common raptors in the U.S.A., their wintering population abundance and distribution has not been studied recently in Arkansas. We assessed the temporal and spatial variation in population abundance of Red-tailed Hawks and American Kestrels over the winter in northeastern Arkansas. We conducted weekly surveys from an automobile in Craighead and Poinsett counties, Arkansas, October 2012-March 2013. Abundance of Red-tailed Hawks (n = 854 total observations) and American Kestrels (n = 165 total observations) along the transect increased during winter months. The overall abundance indices were 7.05 Red-tailed Hawks per 10 km (highest ever recorded) and 1.36 American Kestrels per 10 km. We found no significant differences in the utilization of the various cover types (i.e., short rice stubble, soybean stubble, and fallow areas/roadsides) for either species. However, both species differed in their use of perch types (i.e., utility poles, utility crossbeams, utility wires, trees, and other [such as ground, signs, or farming equipment]). Red-tailed Hawks perched on trees and crossbeams significantly more than on other perches. American Kestrels used utility wires as perches significantly more than any of the other perch types. We concluded that northeastern Arkansas is an important wintering area for migrating Red-tailed Hawks and American Kestrels, despite the large-scale agricultural fields present year-round in the landscape.

First Page

273

Last Page

279

DOI

10.3356/JRR-13-54.1

Publication Date

2014

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