Philopatry of Two Warblers in Jamaican Mangroves: Comparing Banding Data of a Migrant and a Resident Species

Abstract

Between September 1999 and January 2002, banding was carried out at standardized mist net locations in extensive coastal mangroves at Two Sisters near Mitchell Town in the Portland Bight Protected Area, south-central Jamaica on 25 days as part of a base-line assessment of the avifauna. Captures included 427 birds of 31 species. There were 183 local recaptures and no international recaptures. Two Parulidae warbler species dominated, the Northern Waterthrush (Parkesia noveboracensis), a North American migrant that overwinters in Jamaica with 183 individuals banded of which 45 individuals (25%) were recaptured 71 times (mean = 1.6 times), and the resident subspecies of the Yellow Warbler (Dendroica petechia) with 45 individuals banded of which 21 individuals (47%) were recaptured 64 times (mean = 3.0 times). The data on phenology and philopatry within and between years were compared for the two species, and the differences between resident and migrant species are discussed.