Winter site fidelity of nearctic migrants in shade coffee plantations of different sizes in the Dominican Republic

We studied three Nearctic migrant species (American Redstart [Setophaga rut icilla], AMRE; Black-and-white Warbler [Mniotilta varia], BAWW; Black-throa ted Blue Warbler [Dendroica caerulescens ], BTBW) wintering in 14 isolated shade coffee plantations (0.1 to 8.7 ha) in the Dominican Republic to deter mine if site fidelity was comparable to that in tropical forests and if it decreased with plantation size. Site fidelity was measured as the percentag e or wandering birds captured in mist nets, as overwinter site persistence of uniquely marked birds observed on the same sites (November to March), an d as annual return of marked individuals to previously occupied sites (Janu ary to January). The percentages of wanderers in net captures were mostly l ower than values reported for natural forests (AMRE 21%, BAWW 12%, BTBW 41% ) and did not vary with plantation size. Overwinter site persistence (AMRE 65%, BAWW 65%, BTBW 76%) and annual return (AMRE 34%, BAWW 40%, BTBW 31%) i n the plantations fell within the range of values reported for natural fore sts. Overwinter site persistence decreased with plantation size only in AMR E, although BAWW showed lower persistence in small plantations from early t o midwinter. Annual return decreased with plantation size only in AMRE. Des pite diminished site fidelity in small plantations, these birds showed some fidelity to small plantations, many of which were smaller than the mean si ze of winter home ranges.