Cerulean Warblers in the Ozark region: habitat selection, breeding biology, survival, and space use

Cerulean Warblers (Setophaga cerulea) are a species with declining populations that exhibit regional variation in habitat selection and demographic rates. The Ozark region of the south‐central United States likely provides important habitat for Cerulean Warblers, but little is known about their breeding biology in that region. We studied Cerulean Warblers in riparian forests of the Ozarks of Arkansas from 2018 to 2020. We assessed multi‐scale habitat selection for vegetative and topographic features, documented their breeding biology, estimated within‐season and annual apparent survival, and estimated territory sizes. We found that Cerulean Warblers selected riparian habitat characterized by large‐diameter trees across all spatial scales. Contrary to the results of previous studies, males appeared to avoid white oaks (Quercus spp., Section Quercus) at the territory scale, but this avoidance may reflect an underlying preference for riparian habitat. Our logistic‐exposure estimate of nest survival (0.32; 85% confidence interval: 0.21–0.46) was similar to the median of estimates reported in previous studies. Our results indicate that maintaining riparian forests with large trees is important to provide suitable habitat for Cerulean Warblers in the Ozark region. Because of similarities in habitat selection among regions, some management practices from other populations, including retaining large trees and promoting a heterogeneous canopy structure, may be useful for managing for Cerulean Warblers in riparian areas of the Ozarks. However, selection for topography and tree species by Cerulean Warblers in our study also suggests that region‐specific management strategies will be beneficial. Finally, our demographic rate estimates for this population should prove valuable in future full‐annual‐cycle population modeling efforts. RESUMEN El chipe Setophaga cerulea de los Ozark: selección de hábitat, biología reproductiva, sobrevivencia y uso del espacio El chipe Setophaga cerulea es una especie con poblaciones en declive que muestra variación regional en selección de hábitat y tasas demográficas. La región de los Ozark en el sur‐centro de los Estados Unidos probablemente provee hábitat importante para este chipe, aunque se sabe poco acerca de su biología reproductiva en la región. Estudiamos a S. cerulea en los bosques riparios de los Ozarks de Arkansas de 2018 a 2020. Determinamos su selección de hábitat a múltiples escalas según características de la vegetación y