Habitat selection of the sagebrush Brewer’s sparrow Spizella breweri breweri in British Columbia

When animals cluster their territories within larger patches of seemingly appropriate habitat it could mean that they have additional, finer scale habitat requirements or that non-habitat cues play a role in their selection decisions. Sagebrush Brewer’s Sparrows (Spizella breweri breweri) cluster their territories throughout their breeding range. I examined territory-scale selection by the species using two approaches: observation of individual selection for vegetation characteristics, and an experimental test of conspecific attraction. Within a suitable range of shrub cover (where clustering occurs), vegetation characteristics did not predict individual selection decisions or breeding success. However, more males established territories in response to playbacks than untreated controls, indicating that conspecific attraction may play a role in Brewer’s Sparrow habitat selection. These results suggest that traditional habitat models, which consider only resource distributions and not social factors, may be inadequate for the conservation of this and similar species.