Home ranges and survival of Nahan's Francolin Francolinus nahani in Budongo Forest, Uganda

Abstract

We studied home ranges, habitat use and survival of radio-tagged Nahan's Francolin in Budongo Forest Reserve, Uganda during July 1998-December 1999. We studied Nahan's Francolin in an unlogged nature reserve, in a compartment logged in 1947-1952 and in a compartment logged twice, in 1963-1964 and 1996-1997. Mean home range was 14.22 ± 1.35 ha (n = 17). The home range was significantly larger in the nature reserve than in the recently logged compartment. Birds spent more time during the day in areas with high understorey vegetation density but preferred to roost and nest between buttresses of large trees. Understorey vegetation density and canopy openness were significantly greater in the logged forest than in the nature reserve. Annual survival of adult Nahan's Francolins was 20.09 ± 7.33% (n = 23). Our results suggest that the maintenance of large trees and areas with high understorey vegetation density are both important for Nahan's Francolin. © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.