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Abstract
Least Bell's vireos (
Vireo bellii pusillus) exhibit a high degree of between-year fidelity to breeding area. Use of many sites in an isolated population in Santa Barbara, California, spans at least 10 years. Males and females show different types and degrees of tenacity to territories, as well as to some nest-sites. More than 60 percent male and nearly 30 percent female returning birds utilized the previous year's territories. While pair bonds remain strong throughout the breeding season for most birds, mate fidelity may be determined by such factors as population size and its sex ratio. Dimorphic behavioral traits such as these which are difficult to ascertain present researchers and managers with profound problems when studying the vireos and designing habitat alteration projects around the species' requirements.
Parent Publication
Citation
Greaves, James M. 1989. Maintaining Site Integrity for Breeding Least Bell''s Vireos. In: Abell, Dana L., Technical Coordinator. 1989. Proceedings of the California Riparian Systems Conference: protection, management, and restoration for the 1990s; 1988 September 22-24; Davis, CA. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-110. Berkeley, CA: Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture; p. 293-298
