Habitat use and selection by male Sharp-tailed Grouse, Tympanuchus phasianellus campestris

Abstract

We identified vegetation types that were heavily used (used greater-than-or-equal-to 20% of the time) and that were selected (percentage use > percentage availability) by male Prairie Sharp-tailed Grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus campestris) using 26 radio-tagged birds on three study areas in northwestern Wisconsin. Vegetation types that were heavily used included grass-shrub, shrub-grass, shrub, open conifer woods, sedge meadow, shrub marsh, and cropland, depending upon the season. We show that habitat selection occurred at the level of the seasonal home range during the summer (i.e., males selected summer home ranges with higher percentages of shrub-grass and cropland, and lower percentages of deciduous woods, sedge meadows, and open water than available on the study areas). However, within summer monthly home ranges, vegetation types were used by males in proportion to their availability, indicating no selection. Within monthly home ranges at other times of the year, males selected grass-shrub (fall months), deciduous woods (winter months), open coniferous woods (winter months), shrub marsh (spring months) and cropland (spring, fall, winter months). We suggest that both habitat use and selection statistics are important in determining the relative importance of particular vegetation types.