Comparative Fecundity and Survival of Bald Eagles Fledged From Suburban and Rural Natal Areas. Final Performance Report. Millsap, B., Breen, T., McConnell, E., Steffer, T., Phillips, L., Douglass, N., & Taylor, S. Technical Report Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Tallahassee, Florida, USA, 2002.
Comparative Fecundity and Survival of Bald Eagles Fledged From Suburban and Rural Natal Areas. Final Performance Report. [link]Website  abstract   bibtex   
We conducted a study to compare the reproductive biology, dispersal, and subadult survival of bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) from nest sites in suburban and rural landscapes in west central Florida from 1997 through 2001. Cumulatively over this period, we documented the reproductive outcome of 60 randomly selected suburban and 60 randomly selected rural bald eagle nest attempts, and we deployed satellite tracking packages on 35 randomly selected rural and 35 randomly selected suburban bald eagle fledglings. Nest site occupancy varied among years, but averaged 90% for nests in both land-use categories. The onset of nesting varied inversely between suburban and rural bald eagle nests across years, but the overall mean start date was similar for both groups (11 December for suburban nests and 13 December for rural nests). Occupied nest sites in both land-use categories raised an average of 1.3 young to 8 weeks of age, and nests that fledged ≥1 young raised an average of 1.7 young to 8 weeks of age. Bald eagle fledglings from our study area migrated northward after dispersing from natal areas, with about 50% summering on the Chesapeake Bay and the remainder summering north of the Chesapeake Bay as far as Nova Scotia. Successful fledglings started northward migration earlier, on average, at rural nest sites (124 days of age) than at suburban nest sites (132 days of age). Survival of both groups was similar (about 91%) until dispersal, but during the first northward migration, mortality of suburban fledglings increased disproportionately. At the end of 1 year, survival of rural fledglings was 89% compared to 65%–72% for suburban fledglings (depending upon how transmitters of uncertain fate are treated in the analyses). Survival of the 2 groups equalized at 84%–90% thereafter. Six of 7 suburban bald eagles for which the cause of death could be determined died from anthropogenic factors, primarily electrocution and vehicle collisions. None of the 4 rural bald eagles for which a cause of death could be determined died of anthropogenic causes. We suggest that suburban bald eagle fledglings were more acclimated to dangerous anthropogenic landscape features than were rural eagles, and as such did not regard them with the same degree of caution once independent. Despite the difference in first-year mortality, population models suggest that both groups are experiencing positive population growth rates. Suggested citation: Millsap, B., T. Breen, E. McConnell, T. Steffer, L. Phillips, N. Douglass, and S. Taylor. 2002. Comparative fecundity and survival of bald eagles fledged from suburban and rural natal areas. Final Performance Report. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Tallahassee, Florida, USA.
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 title = {Comparative Fecundity and Survival of Bald Eagles Fledged From Suburban and Rural Natal Areas. Final Performance Report.},
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 year = {2002},
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 keywords = {bald eagle,demographics,florida,haliaeetus leucocephalus,mortality,productivity,satellite telemetry},
 pages = {1018-},
 websites = {http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.2193/0022-541X(2004)068[1018:CFASOB]2.0.CO;2},
 institution = {Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Tallahassee, Florida, USA},
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 abstract = {We conducted a study to compare the reproductive biology, dispersal, and subadult survival of bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) from nest sites in suburban and rural landscapes in west central Florida from 1997 through 2001. Cumulatively over this period, we documented the reproductive outcome of 60 randomly selected suburban and 60 randomly selected rural bald eagle nest attempts, and we deployed satellite tracking packages on 35 randomly selected rural and 35 randomly selected suburban bald eagle fledglings. Nest site occupancy varied among years, but averaged 90% for nests in both land-use categories. The onset of nesting varied inversely between suburban and rural bald eagle nests across years, but the overall mean start date was similar for both groups (11 December for suburban nests and 13 December for rural nests). Occupied nest sites in both land-use categories raised an average of 1.3 young to 8 weeks of age, and nests that fledged ≥1 young raised an average of 1.7 young to 8 weeks of age. Bald eagle fledglings from our study area migrated northward after dispersing from natal areas, with about 50% summering on the Chesapeake Bay and the remainder summering north of the Chesapeake Bay as far as Nova Scotia. Successful fledglings started northward migration earlier, on average, at rural nest sites (124 days of age) than at suburban nest sites (132 days of age). Survival of both groups was similar (about 91%) until dispersal, but during the first northward migration, mortality of suburban fledglings increased disproportionately. At the end of 1 year, survival of rural fledglings was 89% compared to 65%–72% for suburban fledglings (depending upon how transmitters of uncertain fate are treated in the analyses). Survival of the 2 groups equalized at 84%–90% thereafter. Six of 7 suburban bald eagles for which the cause of death could be determined died from anthropogenic factors, primarily electrocution and vehicle collisions. None of the 4 rural bald eagles for which a cause of death could be determined died of anthropogenic causes. We suggest that suburban bald eagle fledglings were more acclimated to dangerous anthropogenic landscape features than were rural eagles, and as such did not regard them with the same degree of caution once independent. Despite the difference in first-year mortality, population models suggest that both groups are experiencing positive population growth rates. Suggested citation: Millsap, B., T. Breen, E. McConnell, T. Steffer, L. Phillips, N. Douglass, and S. Taylor. 2002. Comparative fecundity and survival of bald eagles fledged from suburban and rural natal areas. Final Performance Report. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Tallahassee, Florida, USA.},
 bibtype = {techreport},
 author = {Millsap, Brian and Breen, Tim and McConnell, Elizabeth and Steffer, Tony and Phillips, Laura and Douglass, Nancy and Taylor, Sharon}
}

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