An apparent case of long-distance breeding dispersal by a Mexican spotted owl in New Mexico (original) (raw)

Abstract

ABSTRACT The Mexican spotted owl (Strix occidentalis lucida) is widely but patchily distributed throughout the southwestern United States and the Republic of Mexico (Gutiérrez and others 1995, Ward and others 1995). This owl typically occurs in either rocky canyonlands or forested mountain and canyon systems containing mixed-conifer or pine-oak (Pinus spp. -Quercus spp.) forests, and its distribution mirrors the avail-ability of such areas (Ganey and Dick 1995, Ward and others 1995, USDI FWS 2012). Gene flow is known to occur across this fragmented range (Barrowclough and others 2006), but the mechanisms facilitating gene flow are poorly understood. Natal dispersal between disjunct mountain ranges and populations has been documented for dispersing juvenile Mexican spotted owls (Gutiérrez and others 1996, Arsenault and others 1997, Ganey and others 1998, Willey and van Riper 2000, Duncan and Speich 2002). In contrast, there are no documented records of breeding dispersal (defined as movement of a non-juvenile owl between territories where it had the op-portunity to breed, regardless of whether or not breeding occurred on these territories [Daniels and Walters 2000]) by non-juvenile owls. Thus, the potential role of breed-ing dispersal in gene flow within the range of this owl is unknown. Here, we report the circumstances surrounding recovery of a banded Mexican spotted owl that may represent the first documented case of long-distance breeding dispersal in this owl. We banded this owl on 9 August 1999, in the southern Black Range, New Mexico (fig.1), in conjunction with a study evaluating methods for monitor-ing population trend in Mexican spotted owls (Ganey and others 2004). The owl was identified as a female when banded based on vocalizations (Ganey 1990), and as an adult based on appearance of the retrices (Moen and others 1991), indicating

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