Nest Attentiveness in North America’s Largest Grouse (Poster)

Abstract

Understanding nest attentiveness (i.e., amount of time spent incubating) of North America’s largest grouse, greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus, hereafter “sage-grouse”), can be important for conserving populations, as reproductive costs can reduce survival of parents and nest attentiveness can influence nest success. When nesting, parents must allocate their time between incubating and maintenance activities, such as foraging to meet their nutritional demands. Previous research has shown female sagegrouse sustain long stretches of incubation interrupted by relatively short recesses from their nests, but incubation patterns likely differ among females. We initiated our study in 2018 with two objectives: 1) to evaluate what factors influence nest attentiveness, and 2) how nest attentiveness influences nest success by examining duration, number, and timing of recesses, and time spent incubating for successful and unsuccessful nests. We monitored female sage-grouse with GPS transmitters collecting locations every 5 minutes from 0300-2300 MST in Carbon County, Montana in 2018 and 2019 and in Carbon County, Wyoming in 2019. In Montana, we monitored 40 sage-grouse nests (17 hatched, 23 failed) in 2018, and 46 nests (21 hatched, 25 failed) in 2019. In Wyoming, we monitored 50 nests (12 hatched, 38 failed) in 2019. We measured microhabitat vegetation at 81 nests in Montana and 50 nests in Wyoming to determine habitat influences on nest attentiveness. Understanding factors that influence nest attentiveness throughout the incubation period and therefore nest success will add important and novel information to basic sage-grouse nesting ecology.