The effects of resort development and forest type on habitat use by neotropical migrant and resident landbirds wintering on Cayo Coco, Cuba

Habitat losses in the Caribbean may have important conservation implications for bird communities. I examined the impacts of coastal resort developments on overwintering migrant and resident bird communities by comparing forests near resorts to undisturbed forests. Birds were sampled in three habitat types using mistnets. Results indicated that forests adjacent to resorts often supported higher densities of migrant and resident landbirds than undisturbed forests. Migrants were most abundant in mangroves in the early winter, but habitat use in the late winter was more even across the habitats. The resident guild showed generalized habitat use in all sampling periods. Habitat segregation by age or sex was not found for any migrant species. There was some suggestion of regional female sex-biases for American Redstarts ( Setophaga ruticilla) and Black-throated Blue Warblers (Dendroica caerulescens), and male sex-biases for Cape May Warblers ( Dendroica tigrina). Overwinter migrant site persistence was higher for adults than for juveniles. Annual return rates were low for both age groups relative to other Caribbean studies.;Keywords. Habitat use; Neotropical migrant; resident; Cuba; resort; resource availability; sex segregation; persistence; fidelity.