ABSTRACT
Abstract. Postedging habitat use and edgling survival remain unstudied for most songbirds, but this period is critical for understanding breeding habitat associations and full-season productivity. We used radiotelemetry to study movements, cover-type selection, and survival of edgling Golden-winged Warblers (Vermivora chrysoptera) during the dependent postedging period in managed forest landscapes of the western Great Lakes region. We used logistic exposure models to determine the relative importance of various habitat characteristics for explaining edgling survival. In addition, we used compositional analysis, corrected for age-specic edgling movement capabilities, to test for resource selection, as use versus availability, among cover types. We estimated that 48% of edglings were depredated before independence from adult care at 25 days after edging. Fledgling survival was lowest immediately after edging, and 86% of predation occurred in the rst 8 days following edging. Distance from the nest to forestshrubland edge was the strongest predictor of young edgling survival, as survival decreased with nest distance into shrubland cover types
and increased with nest distance into forest cover types. Fledglings from nests in shrubland cover types moved toward the nearest forest-shrubland edge, whereas edglings from nests in forest cover types did not move toward edge. Fledglings selected mature forest and sapling-dominated clear-cuts over all other cover types during the early postedging period, and edgling survival in mature forest and sapling-dominated clearcuts was greater than in shrub-dominated clearcuts or wetland shrublands. Fledglings that were 9-25 days postedging experienced high survival (daily survival >0.99) that was independent of any habitat variables we measured, and birds selected mature forest and shrub-dominated clear-cuts over all other cover types during that period. We conclude that sapling-dominated clear-cuts or mature forest with dense understory and shrub layers, cover types traditionally not associated with breeding, are important for edgling survival, and therefore full-seasonal productivity in Golden-winged Warblers.
