Breeding season demography and movements of Eastern Towhees at the Savannah River Site, South Carolina

The Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus) has undergone population decli nes across much of its range, especially in New England. Despite being a wi despread and, at one time, a common species, relatively little is known abo ut its natural history, ecology, or demographics. We conducted baseline res earch on Eastern Towhees at the Savannah River Sire, South Carolina, in 199 5 and 1996 to estimate breeding season survival rates, nest success rates, breeding densities, and daily movements. We also were interested in whether towhees had differences in survival and movement rates between young and m ature managed pine stands. We found that survival rates during the breeding season of radio-marked towhees did not vary by sex or stand type. Daily ne st success rates were very low [0.629 +/- 0.088 (SE)] as a result of high p redation levels. Abundance estimates adjusted for sampling effort differed between years. In 1995, the abundance estimate was significantly lower in m ature stands (7.1 +/- 0.47) than in young stands (9.6 +/- 0.60) while in 19 96, there was no different between mature stands (26.2 +/- 5.67) and young stands (16.5 +/- 3.39). Average daily movements by radio-marked towhees did not vary by sex or stand type. Movements among adjacent stands were common , and sometimes great distances.