By 1974. the Mauritius Kestrel Falco punctatus had declined to only four known wild birds, including one breeding pair, as a result of habitat loss and pesticide contamination. A conservation project begun in 1973 has used many management techniques including captive breeding, supplemental feeding of wild birds, provision of nestboxes, multiple clutching, egg pulling, artificial incubation, hand rearing and release of captive-bred and captive-reared birds by hacking, fostering and predator control. A total of 331 kestrels were released in the 10 years up to the end of the 1993-1994 breeding season: one-third of these were captive bred, the rest were derived from eggs harvested from the wild. About 257 (78Yo) released birds survived to independence and 61% of independent juveniles survived their first winter. Although at least 71% of ringed birds attempted to breed in their first year, only 38% of the nests of first-year females successfully fledged young, averaging 1.7 per successful nest. Older females fledged young from 64% of nests, fledging an average of 2.0 per successful nest. The breeding success of hacked birds was similar to that of parent-raised kestrels, though the clutches of hacked birds tended to be larger. Annual replacement of birds holding territories averaged 17% for both sexes. By the 1993-1994 season, an estimated 56-68 pairs had established territories in the wild with a postbreeding population, including floating birds and independent young, of 222-286. Most of the kestrels were in three sub-populations, two of which were derived entirely from released birds. Mauritius Kestrels are relatively sedentary: 89% of ringed birds found nesting were less than 5 km from their release or fledging site. Since the pesticides responsible for their decline are no longer used, the number of Mauritius Kestrels should continue to rise through natural recruitment. The distribution of suitable habitat suggests that an eventual population of 500-600 kestrels on Mauritius is possible. Due to its outstanding success, the release programme for the Mauritius Kestrel ended after the 1993-1994 breeding season, though the population will continue to be monitored carefully for at least the next 5 years.

The Southern High Plains is anticipated to experience significant changes in temperature and precipitation due to climate change. These changes may influence the lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) in positive or negative ways. We assessed the potential changes in clutch size, incubation start date, and nest survival for lesser prairie-chickens for the years 2050 and 2080 based on modeled predictions of climate change and reproductive data for lesser prairie-chickens from 2001–2011 on the Southern High Plains of Texas and New Mexico. We developed 9 a priori models to assess the relationship between reproductive parameters and biologically relevant weather conditions. We selected weather variable(s) with the most model support and then obtained future predicted values from climatewizard.org. We conducted 1,000 simulations using each reproductive parameter’s linear equation obtained from regression calculations, and the future predicted value for each weather variable to predict future reproductive parameter values for lesser prairie-chickens. There was a high degree of model uncertainty for each reproductive value. Winter temperature had the greatest effect size for all three parameters, suggesting a negative relationship between above-average winter temperature and reproductive output. The above-average winter temperatures are correlated to La Niña events, which negatively affect lesser prairie-chickens through resulting drought conditions. By 2050 and 2080, nest survival was predicted to be below levels considered viable for population persistence; however, our assessment did not consider annual survival of adults, chick survival, or the positive benefit of habitat management and conservation, which may ultimately offset the potentially negative effect of drought on nest survival.

Long-term population and range declines from habitat loss and fragmentation caused the lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) to be a species of concern throughout its range. Current lesser prairie-chicken range in New Mexico and Texas is partially restricted to sand shinnery oak (Quercus havardii; hereafter shinnery oak) prairies, on which cattle grazing is the main socioeconomic driver for private landowners. Cattle producers within shinnery oak prairies often focus land management on shrub eradication using the herbicide tebuthiuron to promote grass production for forage; however, herbicide application alone, and in combination with grazing, may affect nest site selection and nest survival of lesser prairie-chickens through the reduction of shinnery oak and native grasses. We used a controlled, paired, completely randomized design study to assess the influence of grazing and tebuthiuron application and their combined use on nest site selection and nest survival from 2001 to 2010 in Roosevelt County, New Mexico, USA at 2 spatial scales (i.e., treatment and microhabitat) in 4 treatments: tebuthiuron with grazing, tebuthiuron without grazing, no tebuthiuron with grazing, and a control of no tebuthiuron and no grazing. Grazing treatment was a short-duration system in which plots were grazed once during the dormant season and once during the growing season. Stocking rate was calculated each season based on measured forage production and applied to remove 25% of available herbaceous material per season. At the treatment scale, we compared nest site selection among treatments using 1-way x 2 tests and nest survival among treatments using a priori candidate nest survival models in Program MARK. At the microhabitat scale, we identified important habitat predictors of nest site selection and nest survival using logistic regression and a priori candidate nest survival models in Program MARK, respectively. Females typically used treatments as expected and we did not detect trends in selection. Nest survival did not differ among treatments. At the microhabitat scale, nest sites had less bare ground (P ¼ 0.001) and greater angles of obstruction (P 0.001) compared to random sites. There was a high degree of model selection uncertainty among our candidate models at the microhabitat scale and survival estimates were similar among habitat covariates. Results suggest a tebuthiuron application rate of 0.60 kg/ha, short-duration grazing, and a combination of these management techniques were not detrimental to lesser prairie-chicken nest site selection or nest survival. However, intensified management that increases bare ground or reduces overhead cover may negatively affect lesser prairie-chicken nesting habitat and nest survival. Ó 2016 The Wildlife Society.