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1 April 2013 Habitat use by Female Peregrine Falcons (Falco peregrinus) in an Agricultural Landscape
Jean Lapointe, Louis Imbeau, Junior A. Tremblay, Charles Maisonneuve, Marc J. Mazerolle
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Abstract

Intensive agriculture, as is typical of corn and soybean production, may be responsible for declines in the abundance and diversity of farmland birds. In Quebec, the transition to intensive crops is evidenced by marked increases of corn and soybean fields. From 2008 to 2010, we used satellite telemetry to study use of corn (Zea mays) and soybean (Glycine max) fields, other farmlands, wetlands, urban areas, and other habitats by 10 female Peregrine Falcons (Falco peregrinus) of the anatumtundrius complex, a taxon of “special concern” in Canada. We monitored females during the nesting season, from hatching of eggs to independence of young, but before the young dispersed away from the nest site. Adult females were less likely to use corn and soybean fields than the “other farmlands” and “other habitats” categories during the nestling stage and the first month after young fledged. Once young fledged, other farmlands and urban areas were more likely to be used than the “other habitats” category when females were hunting in the areas that were farthest from the nest. The expansion of corn and soybean fields in the Quebec agricultural landscape has occurred to the detriment of other crops and may contribute to the decline in quality of hunting habitat of Peregrine Falcons and other avian top predators.

© The American Ornithologists’ Union, 2013.
Jean Lapointe, Louis Imbeau, Junior A. Tremblay, Charles Maisonneuve, and Marc J. Mazerolle "Habitat use by Female Peregrine Falcons (Falco peregrinus) in an Agricultural Landscape," The Auk 130(2), 381-391, (1 April 2013). https://doi.org/10.1525/auk.2013.12150
Received: 14 August 2012; Accepted: 1 February 2013; Published: 1 April 2013
KEYWORDS
corn
Falco peregrinus
habitat use
intensive crop
Peregrine Falcon
reproductive success
satellite telemetry
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