@article{9348f84ed80c436d8a37b1ecdd13f20c,
title = "Nest Survival of Black-Necked Stilts (Himantopus mexicanus) on the Upper Texas Coast, USA",
abstract = "The Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus) is a migratory shorebird of temperate and tropical America. Declining wetland quality and associated declines in hydrological integrity may contribute to widespread habitat loss for stilts nesting on the upper Texas Gulf of Mexico coast of the USA, as both fresh and brackish marshes are converting to open water and saline marsh. Nests (n = 356) were monitored in three wetland types on the upper Texas coast from 21 April-30 June 2011-2012. Of these 356 nests, 151 were located in managed freshwater wetlands (16 in 2011 and 135 in 2012), 128 were located in managed intermediate wetlands (75 in 2011 and 53 in 2012), and 77 were located in rice fields (all in 2012). Collectively, nest success was 0.2% (0 in rice fields and as high as 4.3% in freshwater wetlands in 2012), among the lowest ever reported for the species. The most frequent cause of nest failure was predation by mammalian and avian predators (50%). Daily nest survival rate was positively related to mudflat nesting substrates and negatively related to colony size, rice field, and brackish coastal wetland habitats. Future efforts to minimize edge effects in managed wetlands may prove valuable to improve nest success of stilts and other species that nest in similar wetland types.",
keywords = "Black-necked Stilt, Himantopus mexicanus, Texas coast, nest site selection, nest success, nest survival",
author = "Riecke, {Thomas V.} and Conway, {Warren C.} and Haukos, {David A.} and Moon, {Jena A.} and Comer, {Christopher E.}",
note = "Funding Information: The Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture at Stephen F. Austin State University, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 2, the Texas Chenier Plain Funding Information: The Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture at Stephen F. Austin State University, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 2, the Texas Chenier Plain National Wildlife Refuge Complex, the U. S. Geological Survey Kansas Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at Kansas State University, The Rumsey Research and Development Fund, and the Bricker Endowment for Wildlife Management at Texas Tech University provided financial and logistical support. The authors thank Nils Warnock and an anonymous reviewer for providing valuable comments on the manuscript. The authors thank P. Walther, T. Eddings, M. Whitson, J. Tolliver and S. McDowell for assistance with data collection, and the staff of the Anahuac NWR for their support. All applicable ethical guidelines for the use of birds in research have been followed, including the Stephen F. Austin State University Animal Care and Use Committee (Approval Number 2010_010) and those presented in the Ornithological Council{\textquoteright}s “Guidelines to the use of Wild Birds in Research” (Fair et al. 2010). Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. The findings and conclusions in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Geological Survey nor the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and thus findings are in the public domain. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2019 The Waterbird Society. All rights reserved.",
year = "2019",
month = oct,
day = "16",
doi = "10.1675/063.042.0302",
language = "English",
volume = "42",
pages = "261--271",
journal = "Waterbirds",
issn = "1524-4695",
number = "3",
}