BREEDING BEHAVIOR OF THE CALIFORNIA GNATCATCHER IN SOUTHWESTERN SAN DIEGO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA

Abstract

We intensively studied various aspects of habitat use, breeding biology, home-range requirements, and dispersal patterns of a population of the California Gnatcatcher (Polioptila californica) in southwestern San Diego County from 1989 to 1992. When this field effort was initiated, few quantitative demographic studies of the species were available to aid in making informed decisions regarding the conservation and management of this species (Atwood 1993).