SHORT COMMUNICATIONS 
367 
passerine at a single stopover site. Our results provide 
evidence that passerine stopover site hdelity may occur 
at considerable distances from both breeding and 
wintering areas, and differ between geographically 
similar stopover sites. Received 19 May 2011. Accepted 
12 November 2011. 
Stopover site fidelity, or return of an individual 
to a location >160 kin from breeding or wintering 
areas isensu Nisbet 1969). has been well docu¬ 
mented among several groups of migratory birds, 
including waterfowl (Fox et al. 2002) and 
shorcbirds (Gudmundsson and Lindstrdm 1992. 
Mimas et al. 2010). However, low return rates to 
stopover sites within several groups also suggest 
this behavior varies among species. For example, 
the fidelity of shorebirds to stopover sites has 
been reported to be as high as 54% (Sanderling, 
Catidris alba ) (Gudmundsson and Lindstrom 
1992), hut remains minimally documented among 
other species (Gavrilov et al. 1998, Taylor and 
Bishop 2008). Stopover site fidelity by passerines 
has been reported, but accounts are largely from 
Palearctic-Ethiopian migrants (Nisbet 1969. Calry 
etal. 2004) w ith few reports of site fidelity among 
Nearctic-neotropical migrants (Nisbet 1969. 
Winker 1991. Somershoe and Chandler 2000, 
Somershoe et al. 2009). 
fidelity to specific stopover sites may provide 
advantages similar to those gained from breeding 
or overwintering sites, including increased famil¬ 
iarity with the physical and biological attributes ot 
local resources, and predator avoidance (Evans 
andTownshend 1988, Catty ct al. 2004. Minias 
el al. 2010). However, migrating passerines arc 
often flexible in habitat selection, obtaining 
critical resources in a variety of habitats (Cantos 
and Telleria 1994. Schaub and Jcnni 2001, Catry 
et al. 2004). Additionally, songbird movements 
during migration can be influenced by wind con¬ 
ditions. making the need to reorient to a specific 
stopover area energetically expensive (Calry et al. 
2004). 
Flexibility in habitat selection and movements 
among stopover sites has been posited as explana¬ 
tions for the low incidence of stopover site fidelity 
By passerines (Catry et al. 2004, Bachler and 
Schaub 2007). For example. Nisbet (1969) reported 
eight cases where birds had been recaptured at 
various stopover sites in subsequent years, and 
Winker et al. (1991) cited records of 21 individuals 
exhibiting stopover site lidelity. More recently. 
Somershoe et al. (2009) reviewed the literature and 
documented stopover site fidelity by 25 individuals 
representing nine species. These examples gener¬ 
ally reflect only a few individuals captured over 
periods typically spanning a single year. 
Our objective is to report the highest incidence 
of stopover site fidelity by a Nearctic-neotropical 
migratory passerine', the return of 14 Tennessee 
Warblers (Oreothlypis peregtina) to a migratory 
stopover site in the southern Appalachian Moun¬ 
tains. We also compare inter-year recaptures of 
Tennessee Warblers at this study site with another 
geographically similar site, drawing comparisons 
between the two locations. 
METHODS 
Study Area .—Tennessee Warblers were studied 
at two fall migration banding stations in eastern 
Tennessee: (1) Whigg Meadow Banding Station 
(35 18’ N, 84 02' W; elevation: 1,490 m: Monroe 
County), and (2) Big Bald Banding Station (36 01' 
N. 82 42' W; elevation: 1,640 m: Unicoi County; 
Fig. I). Both stations are on high-elevation grass¬ 
lands or ‘balds’ (Whigg Meadow: 3 ha; Big Bald: 
22 ha), and are -140 km apart (Fig. I). The 
dominant habitat type at both sites was torest-edge 
ecotone transitioning between open grassland and 
northern hardwood forest. The forest community 
consisted primarily of young (<50 yrs of age), 
second growth or stunted American beech (bogus 
grundifolia). yellow birch (Retula ulleghuniensis), 
sugar maple (Acer saccluinon), northern red oak 
(Quercus rubra), and hawthorn (Crataegus spp.). 
The margins of meadows were surrounded by a 
dense thicket of smooth blackberry (Ruhus cana¬ 
densis) with scattered highbush blueberry (Vaccin- 
iunt corymbosum). 
Field Procedures .—Tennessee Warblers mi¬ 
grate through our study sites from late August 
through early October and represent the most 
numerous captured species at both banding 
stations (Table 1). We evaluated capture data 
collected from 1 to 30 September 1999-2008 at 
Whigg Meadow and from 1 to 30 September 
2003-2008 at Big Bald. Mist-netting and banding 
were conducted following Ralph et al. (1993). 
Mist nets used at both Whigg Meadow (n = 9) 
and Big Bald (n = 16) were primarily 12-m long 
with 30-mm mesh and spaced —15 to 20 m apart. 
Mist nets were usually opened tor at least 6 hrs 
per day. typically from sunrise until early 
afternoon. All captured birds were banded with 
