2.1 Study Area
Our study was conducted on the East Foundation’s ~61,000
ha San Antonio Viejo (SAV) ranch located in Jim Hogg and Starr counties,
~25 km south of Hebbronville, south Texas. This area is
representative of the Tamaulipan/Mezquital Thornscrub ecological region
containing unique plants and animal communities within brush covered
dunes, grasslands punctuated with clusters of trees, and open woods of
mesquite (Prosopsis glandulosa ). Annual rainfall during the study
year (2019) for this region was ~30 cm and the mean
temperature during the breeding season (March - July) was
~27.8° C (PRISM Climate Group 2019), similar to the 30
year norm for this region (PRISM Climate Group 2019). The SAV supports
approximately 70 residential bird species and 45 migratory species
(Baumgardt et al., 2019).