POSTFLEDGING DISPERSAL, HABITAT USE, AND HOME-RANGE SIZE OF JUVENILE WOOD THRUSHES

Although the availability of suitable postfledging habitat potentially is pivotal to juvenile Neotropical migratory birds, data on dispersal , habitat use, and home-range size are limited. We used radio telemetr y to study the postfledging ecology of juvenile Wood Thrushes (Hylocic hla mustelina) in the Ozark Mountains of southern Missouri. Natal home ranges were in mature oak-hickory forest, and natal home-range size r anged from 2.6 to 24.8 ha. Juveniles dispersed independently from thei r natal home ranges to post-dispersal ranges, with a mean dispersal di rection of 185.2 +/- SD of 77.2 degrees and a mean distance of 2.08 +/ - 1.48 km. Habitats used after dispersal differed from natal habitats and included early successional oak-hickory and pine forests, mid-succ essional pine forest, mature riparian forest, and forest/field edges. These habitats were characterized by a dense understory and thick grou nd cover. Post-dispersal home-range size averaged 1.53 ha. Our data su ggest that in large tracts of mature deciduous forest, a mosaic of ear ly and mid-successional forest stands, along with mature riparian fore st, will accommodate both the breeding and post-dispersal habitat requ irements of Wood Thrushes and other Neotropical migratory birds.