Temporal and scalar variations affect resource use of northern bobwhite broods

Disparate resource use originating from phenology of biotic resources, abiotic conditions, and life cycles of exploiting organisms underscores the importance of research across time and space to guide management practices. Our goal was to evaluate resource use of northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus; bobwhite) at two spatial scales and across three age classes, from hatching through a period of the postjuvenile molt. Our study was conducted at Tall Timbers Research Station, Tallahassee, FL, USA—situated in a landscape subjected to small scale (<20 ha) prescribed fires on a 2‐year fire rotation. We predicted prescribed fire, disking, and supplemental feeding would dictate resource use, but effects would depend on time since fire, brood age, and time of day. We predicted vegetation and temperature would govern roost use by broods, but these effects would also depend on age. We radio‐tracked 62 broods 21–35 times / week during May–October 2018 and 2019. Broods were less likely to use areas with large proportions of hardwood drains but favored sites with greater proportions of burned uplands, regardless of the time of day. Broods were less likely to use areas at greater distances from supplemental feed; this relationship had no interaction with age but was stronger later in the nesting season (>July 15). Broods were more likely to use areas with greater proportions of fallow fields during the day than for roosting. Broods used roosts with more woody cover and visual obscurity than at available sites. Roosts consisted of less grass and bare ground. However, these effects interacted with age; broods used sparser cover at older ages. Neonate broods were more likely to use cooler roosts with greater thermal stability, but this effect was reversed for juveniles. Broods may alter resource use with changes in vulnerabilities to threats such as thermal risks and predation.