This dissertation studies poverty and the economics of child-headed and grandmother-headed households in Sebokeng. The study takes interest in five main areas, namely, poverty, unemployment, child and grandmother-headed households, the state of poverty and unemployment in Sebokeng as well as the living conditions of child and grandmother-headed households in Sebokeng. The approach in this dissertation was to define and measure poverty and unemployment and to determine the poor population of Sebokeng. This was done by making use of household level indicators. Poverty was measured by employing the following indicators: the Household Subsistence level (HSL) as poverty line, the head count index, the poverty gap and the dependency ratio. A comparison was done between Sebokeng and Bophelong. Sebokeng has a higher level of poverty (85%) than that of Bophelong (67%) while the unemployment rates (27%) is lower than that of Bophelong (31%). Most indicators (level of education, income, expenditure) prove that Bophelong is better off compared to Sebokeng. This dissertation takes further interest in comparing child and grandmother-headed households to “normal” households in Sebokeng. The study found that the main source of income for child-headed households is foster and child support grants (54%) while pension grants serve as the main source of income for both grandmother-headed households and “normal” households (65%).The study therefore proves that child-headed households are worse off financially and otherwise in comparison to grandmother-headed and “normal” households. If more social worker assistance was available to these orphans in the form of assistance with the application for identity documents and birth certificates at the Department of Home Affairs, these orphans would not be as worse-off as was found in this study. The dissertation concludes that the depth of poverty in child-headed households is thus greater than that of grandmother-headed and “normal” households, and it recommends that government should take further steps to reduce the unemployment rate by paying attention to the preferred skills of the population of Poverty and the economics of child and grandmother-headed households in Sebokeng. Sebokeng by offering training to enhance those skills. Food gardening projects should be organised so that the poor can sustain themselves and earn an income in the process. The dissertation also recommends that government should take more interest in improving the lives of these orphans by encouraging them to go to school and in obtaining identity documents. This can be possible through the assistance of social workers as these two elements can open many doors to a better life for these orphans. / Thesis (M.Com. (Economics))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2011

This dissertation studies poverty and the economics of child-headed and grandmother-headed households in Sebokeng. The study takes interest in five main areas, namely, poverty, unemployment, child and grandmother-headed households, the state of poverty and unemployment in Sebokeng as well as the living conditions of child and grandmother-headed households in Sebokeng. The approach in this dissertation was to define and measure poverty and unemployment and to determine the poor population of Sebokeng. This was done by making use of household level indicators. Poverty was measured by employing the following indicators: the Household Subsistence level (HSL) as poverty line, the head count index, the poverty gap and the dependency ratio. A comparison was done between Sebokeng and Bophelong. Sebokeng has a higher level of poverty (85%) than that of Bophelong (67%) while the unemployment rates (27%) is lower than that of Bophelong (31%). Most indicators (level of education, income, expenditure) prove that Bophelong is better off compared to Sebokeng. This dissertation takes further interest in comparing child and grandmother-headed households to “normal” households in Sebokeng. The study found that the main source of income for child-headed households is foster and child support grants (54%) while pension grants serve as the main source of income for both grandmother-headed households and “normal” households (65%).The study therefore proves that child-headed households are worse off financially and otherwise in comparison to grandmother-headed and “normal” households. If more social worker assistance was available to these orphans in the form of assistance with the application for identity documents and birth certificates at the Department of Home Affairs, these orphans would not be as worse-off as was found in this study. The dissertation concludes that the depth of poverty in child-headed households is thus greater than that of grandmother-headed and “normal” households, and it recommends that government should take further steps to reduce the unemployment rate by paying attention to the preferred skills of the population of Poverty and the economics of child and grandmother-headed households in Sebokeng. Sebokeng by offering training to enhance those skills. Food gardening projects should be organised so that the poor can sustain themselves and earn an income in the process. The dissertation also recommends that government should take more interest in improving the lives of these orphans by encouraging them to go to school and in obtaining identity documents. This can be possible through the assistance of social workers as these two elements can open many doors to a better life for these orphans. / Thesis (M.Com. (Economics))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2011

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of support provided to learners from child headed homes (CHH) by the Institutional Level Support Teams ILST). This was a two-phased study involving a literature study and empirical research. The study employed a qualitative research method to elicit information from participants by means of individual interviews. The literature revealed that learners from CHH are part of our school systems even though the phenomenon of CHH is not increasing. These learners experience many challenges such as role adjustment, stress and grief and school drop outs. Due to lack of various needs it would be difficult for them to reach a level of self-actualisation unless schools provide support. Poverty, HIV/AIDS and the breakdown of appropriate alternative care were revealed as contextual factors leading to CHH. There are also policies and reports guiding the support of learners in schools. There are national programmes that are provided from national level to support needy learners included, namely NSNP, school based crime prevention programmes, the child support grant, the sanitary pads project, exemption from paying school fees and the food garden project. A qualitative method was used and data was collected by means of semi-structured interviews and documents. Five sites were purposefully selected and fifteen ILST members participated. The research sites comprised of five secondary schools. Data were collected from three strata, namely the principal, ILST coordinator and the teacher with the highest number of learners from CHH in his/her class. The study revealed that national programmes were more constant than school-based which were ad-hoc and disjointed. Factors hampering the provision of support included problems with identification of learners from CHH, lack of policies guiding the provision of support to learners from CHH, lack of leadership and the ILST members not being committed enough. Factors enhancing the provision of support included good leadership, availability of programmes at national and the involvement of external stakeholders.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of support provided to learners from child headed homes (CHH) by the Institutional Level Support Teams ILST). This was a two-phased study involving a literature study and empirical research. The study employed a qualitative research method to elicit information from participants by means of individual interviews. The literature revealed that learners from CHH are part of our school systems even though the phenomenon of CHH is not increasing. These learners experience many challenges such as role adjustment, stress and grief and school drop outs. Due to lack of various needs it would be difficult for them to reach a level of self-actualisation unless schools provide support. Poverty, HIV/AIDS and the breakdown of appropriate alternative care were revealed as contextual factors leading to CHH. There are also policies and reports guiding the support of learners in schools. There are national programmes that are provided from national level to support needy learners included, namely NSNP, school based crime prevention programmes, the child support grant, the sanitary pads project, exemption from paying school fees and the food garden project. A qualitative method was used and data was collected by means of semi-structured interviews and documents. Five sites were purposefully selected and fifteen ILST members participated. The research sites comprised of five secondary schools. Data were collected from three strata, namely the principal, ILST coordinator and the teacher with the highest number of learners from CHH in his/her class. The study revealed that national programmes were more constant than school-based which were ad-hoc and disjointed. Factors hampering the provision of support included problems with identification of learners from CHH, lack of policies guiding the provision of support to learners from CHH, lack of leadership and the ILST members not being committed enough. Factors enhancing the provision of support included good leadership, availability of programmes at national and the involvement of external stakeholders.

Poverty has been a challenge for many years and continues to exist in many parts of the world, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. In many countries, poverty reduction programmes remain the main preoccupation in economic policies. Poverty is not gender neutral, as women tend to be more likely exposed to poverty because of their restricted access to labour and other markets and their general lower level of education than men. This study aimed at investigating the relationship between gender and poverty in a South African township of Kwakwatsi. The study used the Lived Poverty Index (LPI) as a measurement of poverty to analyse the extent and level of access to basic necessities among inhabitants of Kwakwatsi. The major focus of this study was on comparing the poverty status between female-headed and male-headed households. It was also important to investigate the relationship between poverty status and demographic and socio-economic variables. A literature review of poverty indicates a multidimensional concept, with a need to be untangled from different perspectives. Poverty includes lack of factors such as food, income, sanitation facilities, shelter, health care, safe drinking water, education and information. The empirical portion of the study was based on data from a survey questionnaire with a sample of 225 households selected randomly from Kwakwatsi Township in April 2013. Various quantitative methods, including Principal Component Analysis (PCA), descriptive analysis (such as means core, cross tabulation and frequency tables) and regression analysis, were used to identify the level of access to basic necessities and how this access is influenced by identified demographic and socioeconomic variables among both female-headed and male-headed households. The LPI was used to assess people’s ability to secure income, food, fuel for cooking, electricity, clean water for home use and access to medicines and medical treatment. PCA indicated that all six items of basic necessities could be loaded into one component of LPI, indicating that the measure was adequate for the study. Households headed by females seemed to be poorer (53.62%) than those headed by males (45.51%), implying that female-headed households appeared more likely to experience the lack of basic necessities than male-headed households. Access to basic necessities such as medicines or medical treatment, water, electricity and fuel. The relationship between gender and poverty in a South African township for cooking have an effect on the quality of life. Access to medicines and medical treatment remains a lingering challenge for the inhabitants of Kwakwatsi, especially in female-headed households. Regarding the employment status of the participants, the unemployment rate of the head was found to be slightly higher for male heads than female heads, but the total number of employed people within a household was found to be less in households headed by females compare to those headed by males. The average total income in female-headed households was found to be lower than that of male-headed households. To add to this, a high number of female heads work in the informal sector, with low wages and poor working conditions. This was found to be associated with a higher level of illiteracy among female household heads, thus making it difficult for them to compete in the formal labour market. Deprivation levels were seen to decrease with the number of employed persons in female-headed households, while this was the opposite in male-headed households. The number of household members was found to increase with the poverty level in female-headed households, while there was no effect among male-headed households. Married male household heads were found to have less access to basic necessities than unmarried ones, while the relationship was the opposite where female married household heads appeared to have less access to basic necessities than those who are not married. Overall, descriptive analysis revealed that female-headed households tend to be deprived from stable and sustainable access to basic necessities. The results of the regression analysis showed that the number of household members who are employed, household head’s income and other income of the household are significant predictors of poverty in Kwakwatsi. The study recommends that the gender gap in income can be alleviated by empowering women labourers through collective action and increase of vocational education and training for better skills. There is a need for using public works programmes efficiently in order to address the problem of low income in the area. Furthermore, the importance of the informal sectors of the economy, especially in low income areas, should be acknowledged because it seems to be an important source of income for the residents of Kwakwatsi. Finally, there is a need to improve primary health care provision for the township of Kwakwatsi. The relationship between gender and poverty in a South African township / MCom (Economics), North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2014

Unemployment is the most popular indicator of the country’s economy. As popular as it is, it remains difficult to define and to measure. This is the reason why different economists have different views of where South Africa really is as far as the unemployment rate is concerned. Female unemployment in South Africa is relatively high and much attention should be given on that issue. Some females are uneducated; others lack the skills while others are discouraged due to lack of vacant positions within their area. The consequences of unemployment are devastating and remain one of the most significant challenges for South Africa (Naude & Serumaga-Zake, 2001:261). These consequences range from decreased standards of living to degradation of society as a whole through crime, and community unrest (Barker, 1995:113). This study aims to investigate the factors that have an influence on the employment status of females in Bophelong Township, to determine if variables such as age, marital status, education level and income have any causal effect on the employment status of females. The results of this study will then help policy makers to create and design strategies that will help achieve the objective of unemployment reduction. / MCom (Economics) North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2014

Essa dissertação pretende esclarecer o estatuto das orações relativas do karitiana (tupi- Arikém). Orações relativas podem ser classificadas como relativas de núcleo externo (RNE) e de núcleo interno (RNI), sendo o principal critério de diferenciação a posição do núcleo em relação à relativa: relativas com o núcleo adjacente à oração subordinada são classificadas como RNEs, enquanto aquelas com o núcleo interno à subordinada são RNIs (DE VRIES, 2006, CULY, 1990). Outro critério utilizado é a marcação de caso: se o núcleo estiver marcado com o caso exigido pelo verbo da matriz, a relativa será uma RNE; se for aquele exigido pelo verbo da relativa, ela será uma RNI (COLE, 1987). Dentro desse quadro, as orações do karitiana são difíceis de classificar: por um lado, o núcleo aparece sempre deslocado para a periferia esquerda (STORTO, 1999), algo característico de RNEs; por outro, a marcação de caso no núcleo segue o padrão de RNIs. À luz do trabalho de Basilico (1996), hipotetizamos que as relativas do karitiana seriam RNIs com frontalização opcional do núcleo. Se for o caso, é esperado que relativas com núcleos não frontalizados sejam permitidas. Montamos então um experimento para verificar se as relativas poderiam ter seus núcleos não frontalizados e testamos 14 falantes com uma metodologia de produção elicitada. Os resultados mostram que, embora haja uma tendência pela frontalização, núcleos não frontalizados são permitidos na língua, pois há casos de relativas de sujeito com a ordem OSV e de relativas de objeto SOtiV, OSV e SOV. Também foram produzidas relativas de objeto sem o morfema de foco do objeto , indicando que ele não é imprescindível para a relativização. Esse quadro aproxima nossas relativas das RNIs, pois RNEs não podem ter núcleos em outras posições além da periferia da oração relativa. Também analisamos propostas de análise sintática para as diversas ordens de palavras coletadas em nosso experimento. Vemos que aquelas que assumem algum tipo de deslocamento do núcleo para Spec de uma projeção de periferia seja CP ou AspP incorrem em diversos problemas, como a impossibilidade de derivar relativas de objeto SOtiV e a incapacidade de excluir estruturas agramaticais com advérbios. Assim, propomos que a frontalização do núcleo é uma adjunção a AspP. Dados de orações relativas com advérbios nos levam ainda a postular que, em relativas de objeto, a frontalização do núcleo ocorre em duas etapas: primeiro um movimento para Spec, vP e, em seguida, a frontalização para uma posição de adjunto de AspP. Essa primeira etapa do movimento seria marcada pela presença de em v e estaria na base do sincretismo desse morfema, que também está presente em perguntas qu- de objeto e em construções de foco do objeto. Por fim, oferecemos ainda uma análise da correlação entre a presença do morfema e a frontalização do objeto a partir do modelo de fases de Chomsky (2000, 2001), admitindo que o movimento do objeto para a borda do sintagma verbal seria uma operação sintática imprescindível para a subsequente frontalização do objeto / This dissertation aims to clarify the status of relative clauses in Karitiana (Tupi-Arikém). Relative clauses are traditionally classified as externally (EHRC) or internally-headed (IHRC) and the main criterion for their differentiation is the heads position: EHRCs have their heads adjacent to the relative clause itself, whereas IHRCs have internal heads (DE VRIES, 2006, CULY, 1990). Another criterion is case-marking: if the head is marked with the case demanded by the matrix verb, the relative is an EHRC; if it is the one demanded by the embedded verb, it will be an IHRC (COLE, 1987). Within this framework, karitiana relative clauses are hard to classify: on one hand, the head always appears fronted to the left periphery (STORTO, 1999), which resembles the pattern found in EHRCS; on the other hand, the case-marking on the head is similar to IHRCs. In the light of Basilicos (1996) work, one can hypothesize that karitiana relative clauses are IHRCs with optional head frontalization. In this case, it is expected that relatives with non-fronted heads will be allowed in the language. An experiment was designed in order to verify if karitiana relatives could have non-fronted heads and 14 speakers were tested with an elicited production methodology. The results show that, although there is a preference for frontalization, non-fronted heads are possible in the language, since subject relatives OSV and object relatives SOtiV, OSV and SOV were produced. There are also cases of object relatives without the object focus morpheme , indicating that it is not indispensable in relative clause formation. These results bring karitiana relatives closer to IHRCs, because EHRCs cannot have their heads in any other positions than in the periphery of the clause. We also discuss some syntactic proposals for the word orders found in our experiment, claiming that those which assume head dislocation to Spec of CP and AspP face some problems, such as the derivation of SOtiV object relatives and ungrammatical structures with adverbs. Therefore, our proposal is that the frontalization of the head is an adjunction to AspP. Paradigms of relative clauses with adverbs also show that, in object relatives, the frontalization of the head occurs in two steps: first the head moves to Spec, vP and then it is further fronted to the position of adjunct of Spec, AspP. The first step is marked with on v and it underlies the syncretism of this morpheme, which is also present in object wh- questions and object focus constructions. Finally, the correlation between and the frontalization of the head is analyzed within the phase theory framework (CHOMSKY, 2000, 2001) and it is assumed that object movement to vPs edge is a syntactic requirement for further frontalization

In an expansive feminist literature on gender and development, scholarly research on widows and widowhood remains limited, particularly within the context of Nepal. While there are some important exceptions, existing work reinforces stereotypes of widows as old and poor victims, and widowhood as essentially a marginalised and vulnerable status. This thesis seeks to confront such homogenous views and to 'rewrite' widowhood. In particular, it explores the diverse experiences of widowhood through the adoption of an intersectional life-course lens, conceptualises well-being from the embedded perspective of widows and examines the complex ways in which widowed women assert agency. This thesis is born out of a longstanding academic engagement with Nepali widows. Based upon ethnographic qualitative research, the study involved two periods of intensive research in the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal. The research was operationalised through a triangulation of qualitative methods resulting in a rich evidence base of eighty-one semi-structured interviews, eighteen oral histories, five focus groups and ten key informant interviews. This research shows that that widowhood is more complex than much of the scholarship to date suggests. Key findings include the particular salience of age, caste and the life course in shaping experiences of widowhood. It demonstrates that while widows' understandings of well-being can be categorised as material, perceptual and relational, relationships with children, family and the wider community in which they live underpin all of these. This research also uncovered widows' complicated and contradictory enactments of agency that can be placed on a 'resisting-conforming' continuum, and are shaped by gendered cultural norms, eschatological beliefs, temporality and intersectional identities. This thesis contributes to more nuanced empirical and theoretical understandings of widows and widowhood, intersectionality well-being and agency.

Essa dissertação pretende esclarecer o estatuto das orações relativas do karitiana (tupi- Arikém). Orações relativas podem ser classificadas como relativas de núcleo externo (RNE) e de núcleo interno (RNI), sendo o principal critério de diferenciação a posição do núcleo em relação à relativa: relativas com o núcleo adjacente à oração subordinada são classificadas como RNEs, enquanto aquelas com o núcleo interno à subordinada são RNIs (DE VRIES, 2006, CULY, 1990). Outro critério utilizado é a marcação de caso: se o núcleo estiver marcado com o caso exigido pelo verbo da matriz, a relativa será uma RNE; se for aquele exigido pelo verbo da relativa, ela será uma RNI (COLE, 1987). Dentro desse quadro, as orações do karitiana são difíceis de classificar: por um lado, o núcleo aparece sempre deslocado para a periferia esquerda (STORTO, 1999), algo característico de RNEs; por outro, a marcação de caso no núcleo segue o padrão de RNIs. À luz do trabalho de Basilico (1996), hipotetizamos que as relativas do karitiana seriam RNIs com frontalização opcional do núcleo. Se for o caso, é esperado que relativas com núcleos não frontalizados sejam permitidas. Montamos então um experimento para verificar se as relativas poderiam ter seus núcleos não frontalizados e testamos 14 falantes com uma metodologia de produção elicitada. Os resultados mostram que, embora haja uma tendência pela frontalização, núcleos não frontalizados são permitidos na língua, pois há casos de relativas de sujeito com a ordem OSV e de relativas de objeto SOtiV, OSV e SOV. Também foram produzidas relativas de objeto sem o morfema de foco do objeto , indicando que ele não é imprescindível para a relativização. Esse quadro aproxima nossas relativas das RNIs, pois RNEs não podem ter núcleos em outras posições além da periferia da oração relativa. Também analisamos propostas de análise sintática para as diversas ordens de palavras coletadas em nosso experimento. Vemos que aquelas que assumem algum tipo de deslocamento do núcleo para Spec de uma projeção de periferia seja CP ou AspP incorrem em diversos problemas, como a impossibilidade de derivar relativas de objeto SOtiV e a incapacidade de excluir estruturas agramaticais com advérbios. Assim, propomos que a frontalização do núcleo é uma adjunção a AspP. Dados de orações relativas com advérbios nos levam ainda a postular que, em relativas de objeto, a frontalização do núcleo ocorre em duas etapas: primeiro um movimento para Spec, vP e, em seguida, a frontalização para uma posição de adjunto de AspP. Essa primeira etapa do movimento seria marcada pela presença de em v e estaria na base do sincretismo desse morfema, que também está presente em perguntas qu- de objeto e em construções de foco do objeto. Por fim, oferecemos ainda uma análise da correlação entre a presença do morfema e a frontalização do objeto a partir do modelo de fases de Chomsky (2000, 2001), admitindo que o movimento do objeto para a borda do sintagma verbal seria uma operação sintática imprescindível para a subsequente frontalização do objeto / This dissertation aims to clarify the status of relative clauses in Karitiana (Tupi-Arikém). Relative clauses are traditionally classified as externally (EHRC) or internally-headed (IHRC) and the main criterion for their differentiation is the heads position: EHRCs have their heads adjacent to the relative clause itself, whereas IHRCs have internal heads (DE VRIES, 2006, CULY, 1990). Another criterion is case-marking: if the head is marked with the case demanded by the matrix verb, the relative is an EHRC; if it is the one demanded by the embedded verb, it will be an IHRC (COLE, 1987). Within this framework, karitiana relative clauses are hard to classify: on one hand, the head always appears fronted to the left periphery (STORTO, 1999), which resembles the pattern found in EHRCS; on the other hand, the case-marking on the head is similar to IHRCs. In the light of Basilicos (1996) work, one can hypothesize that karitiana relative clauses are IHRCs with optional head frontalization. In this case, it is expected that relatives with non-fronted heads will be allowed in the language. An experiment was designed in order to verify if karitiana relatives could have non-fronted heads and 14 speakers were tested with an elicited production methodology. The results show that, although there is a preference for frontalization, non-fronted heads are possible in the language, since subject relatives OSV and object relatives SOtiV, OSV and SOV were produced. There are also cases of object relatives without the object focus morpheme , indicating that it is not indispensable in relative clause formation. These results bring karitiana relatives closer to IHRCs, because EHRCs cannot have their heads in any other positions than in the periphery of the clause. We also discuss some syntactic proposals for the word orders found in our experiment, claiming that those which assume head dislocation to Spec of CP and AspP face some problems, such as the derivation of SOtiV object relatives and ungrammatical structures with adverbs. Therefore, our proposal is that the frontalization of the head is an adjunction to AspP. Paradigms of relative clauses with adverbs also show that, in object relatives, the frontalization of the head occurs in two steps: first the head moves to Spec, vP and then it is further fronted to the position of adjunct of Spec, AspP. The first step is marked with on v and it underlies the syncretism of this morpheme, which is also present in object wh- questions and object focus constructions. Finally, the correlation between and the frontalization of the head is analyzed within the phase theory framework (CHOMSKY, 2000, 2001) and it is assumed that object movement to vPs edge is a syntactic requirement for further frontalization

The red-headed woodpecker is a primary cavity excavator found throughout the Eastern Deciduous Forest and parts of the Great Plains. Although widespread, the red-headed woodpecker is generally considered uncommon, with patchily distributed populations. Over the past 50 years, this species has experienced precipitous, range-wide declines. The red-headed woodpecker uses a variety of cover types to meet resource needs across the annual cycle, ranging from oak savannas and wetlands, to mature beech forests and urban parks. Given their apparent adaptability to such a wide range of habitats, causes of declines are perplexing. To understand and stem declines, recent studies have focused on quantifying this species’ habitat requirements. Most of these studies have focused on a single cover type, often open forests, during the breeding season. However, effective management requires comprehensive knowledge of red-headed woodpecker habitat needs in a variety of cover types across the annual cycle. My thesis seeks to address this knowledge gap. I studied red-headed woodpecker habitat selection during both the breeding and non-breeding seasons at Fort A.P. Hill (FAPH) in Caroline County, Virginia. FAPH contains a variety of cover types that red-headed woodpeckers are known to use for breeding and overwintering, including: wetlands, open forests and closed forests. In Chapter 1, I investigated winter roost-site selection of red-headed woodpeckers in a burned forest stand. My study was the first to quantify winter habitat selection for this species. My aim was to identify variables driving winter roost-site selection at two relevant spatial scales, and estimate their parameter weights using logistic regression. I found that red-headed woodpeckers preferred habitat around the roost tree that contained a higher basal area of snags and mast-producing trees. They differentially selected roost trees based on taxon and decay state. My results indicate that managers should adopt practices that promote snag generation and retention, and mature oak recruitment. In chapter 2, I focused on red-headed woodpecker breeding season habitat requirements, as many other studies have done. However, unlike other studies that investigated habitat selection within a single cover type, I found and characterized nest-sites in three distinct cover types (wetlands, closed forests, open forests). I used a comparative approach to identify cover-type specific nest-habitat thresholds at the landscape, patch and tree scales using boosted regression trees (BRT). Although models at the landscape scale inadequately discriminated between nest and available sites, models at the patch and tree scales achieved excellent discrimination ability. I found that red-headed woodpeckers are consistent in their preference for a number of habitat features at the patch (high medium/large snag density, open canopy) and tree (large diameter tree with less bark) scales, irrespective of cover type context. However, I also found cover-type specific habitat preferences at the patch scale, indicating red-headed woodpeckers are flexible in their selection of features surrounding the nest and responsive to the broader habitat context. My findings suggest that there are a number of habitat features that facilitate breeding for red-headed woodpeckers generally, and management that promotes these features will be effective in a variety of habitat contexts. They also indicate that management can be tailored to provide the most suitable habitat for each of these three commonly used cover types. Together, Chapters 1 and Chapter 2 expand our knowledge of this declining keystone species’ habitat needs across the full annual cycle. But there is still much to know. The choices of habitat selection have consequences. Determining the conditions under which habitat features function to either help or harm populations is a necessary next step. While not a part of this thesis, I am currently investigating the factors that drive nest success among cover types, linking breeding-site selection to population dynamics. I also have behavioral data that will help reveal the mechanisms that either facilitate or constrain the exploitation of food resources across cover types. Finally, the red-headed woodpecker is a facultative migrant that often shifts habitat associations to take advantage of seasonally available resources. Data from my point count surveys—conducted over two successive winter and summer seasons—allow for development of dynamic occupancy models. Modeling shifts in occupancy across seasons will show the habitat factors underlying seasonal shifts. Site-specific differences in colonization, extinction and frequency of occupancy, within seasons but across years, will further our understanding of what constitutes habitat quality for this species, in both the breeding and non-breeding seasons.