Abstract
Waterbirds can move into and exploit new areas of suitable habitat outside of their native range. One such example is the little egret (Egretta garzetta), a piscivorous bird which has colonised southern Britain within the last 30 years. Yet, habitat use by little egrets within Britain, and how such patterns of habitat exploitation compare with native piscivores, remains unknown. We examine overlap in habitat preferences within a river catchment between the little egret and two native species, the grey heron (Ardea cinerea) and great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo). All species showed strong preferences for river habitat in all seasons, with other habitat types used as auxiliary feeding areas. Seasonal use of multiple habitat types is consistent with egret habitat use within its native range. We found strong egret preference for aquatic habitats, in particular freshwaters, compared with pasture and arable agricultural habitat. Egrets showed greater shared habitat preferences with herons, the native species to which egrets are most morphologically and functionally similar. This is the first study to quantify little egret habitat preferences outside of its native range.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Arendt, W. J., 1988. Range expansion of the cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis) in the Greater Caribbean Basin. Colonial Waterbirds 11: 252–262.
Austin, G.E., W. J. Read, N. A. Calbrade, H. J. Mellan, A. J. Musgrove, W. Skellorn, R. D. Hearn, D. A. Stroud, S. R. Wotton & C. A. Holt, 2014. Waterbirds in the UK 2011/2012: the Wetland bird survey. BTO/RSPB/JNCC, Thetford.
Bettey, J., 1999. The development of water meadows in the southern counties. In Cook, H. & T. Williamson (eds), Water Management in the English Landscape: Field, Marsh and Meadow. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh: 179–195.
Burger, J., 1978. Competition between cattle egrets and native North American herons, egrets and ibises. Condor 80: 15–23.
Carney, K. M. & W. J. Sydeman, 1999. A review of human disturbance effects on nesting colonial waterbirds. Waterbirds 22: 68–79.
Chavez-Ramirez, F. & R. D. Slack, 1995. Differential use of coastal marsh habitats by non-breeding wading birds. Colonial Waterbirds 18: 166–171.
Chen, I. C., J. K. Hill, R. Ohlemüller, D. B. Roy & C. D. Thomas, 2011. Rapid range shifts of species associated with high levels of climate warming. Science 333: 1024–1026.
Combridge, P. & C. Parr, 1992. Influx of little egrets in Britain and Ireland in 1989. British Birds 85: 16–21.
Cook, A. S., 1987. Disturbance by anglers of birds at Grafham Water. In Maitland, P. S. & A. K. Turner (eds), Angling and Wildlife in Fresh Waters. Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, Cumbria: 15–22.
Cook, H., K. Stearne & T. Williamson, 2003. The origins of water meadows in England. The Agricultural History Review 51: 155–162.
Crowl, T. A., T. O. Crist, R. R. Parmenter, G. Belovsky & A. E. Lugo, 2008. The spread of invasive species and infectious disease as drivers of ecosystem change. Frontiers in Ecology & Environment 6: 238–246.
Davis, M. A., 2003. Biotic globalisation: does competition from introduced species threaten biodiversity? Bioscience 53: 481–489.
Denac, D., 2010. Population dynamics of the white stork Ciconia ciconia in Slovenia between 1999 and 2010. Acrocephalus 31: 101–114.
Dimalexis, A., M. Pyrovesti & S. Sgardelis, 1997. Foraging ecology of the grey heron (Ardea cinerea), great egret (Ardea alba) and little egret (Egretta garzetta) in response to habitat, at 2 Greek wetlands. Colonial Waterbirds 20: 261–272.
Fasola, M., 1986. Resource use of foraging herons in agricultural and nonagricultural habitats in Italy. Colonial Waterbirds 9: 139–148.
Feunteun, E. & L. Marion, 1994. Assessment of grey heron predation on fish communities: the case of the largest European colony. Hydrobiologia 279(280): 327–344.
Gee, A. S., 1978. The distribution and growth of coarse fish in gravel-pit lakes in south-east England. Freshwater Biology 8: 385–394.
Hafner, H. & R. H. Britton, 1983. Changes of foraging sites by nesting little egrets (Egretta garzetta L.) in relation to food supply. Colonial Waterbirds 6: 24–30.
Hannaford, J., E. H. Pinn & A. Diaz, 2006. The impact of sika deer grazing on the vegetation and infauna of Arne saltmarsh. Marine Pollution Bulletin 53: 56–62.
Hitch, A. T. & P. L. Leberg, 2007. Breeding distributions of North American bird species moving north as a result of climate change. Conservation Biology 21: 534–539.
Holt, C., G. Austin, N. Calbrade, H. Mellan, R. Hearn, D. Stroud, S. Wotton & A. Musgrove, 2012. Waterbirds in the UK 2010/2011: the Wetland bird survey. BTO/RSPB/JNCC, Thetford.
Ivlev, V. S., 1961. Experimental ecology of the feeding of fishes. Yale University Press, Connecticut.
Jacobs, J., 1974. Quantitative measurements of food selection. A modification of the forage ratio and Ivlev’s electivity index. Oecologia 14: 413–417.
Jensen, A., I. Carrier & N. Richardson, 2005. Marine fisheries of Poole Harbour. In Humphreys, J. & V. May (eds), The ecology of Poole Harbour. Elsevier, Amsterdam: 195–203.
Kazantzidis, S. & V. Goutner, 1996. Foraging ecology and conservation of feeding habitats of little egrets (Egretta garzetta) in the Axios River Delta, Macedonia, Greece. Colonial Waterbirds 19: 115–121.
Kennedy, G. J. A. & J. E. Greer, 1988. Predation by cormorants Phalacrocorax carbo (L) on the salmonids populations of an Irish river. Aquaculture Research 19: 159–170.
Kushlan, J. A., 1981. Resource use strategies of wading birds. Wilson Bulletin 93: 145–163.
Lane, S. J. & M. Fujioka, 1998. The impact of changes in irrigation practices on the distribution of forging egrets and herons (Ardeidae) in the rice fields of central Japan. Biological Conservation 83: 221–230.
La Sorte, F. A. & F. R. Thompson, 2007. Poleward shifts in winter ranges of North American birds. Ecology 88: 1803–1812.
Liley, D., J. Sharp & J. Baker, 2008. Wetland bird survey results for the Frome Valley: the winter 2007–2008. Footprint Ecology & Purbeck Keystone Project, Dorset.
Lock, L. & K. Cook, 1998. The little egret in Britain: a successful colonist. British Birds 95: 273–280.
Lombardini, K., R. E. Bennetts & C. Tourenq, 2001. Foraging success and foraging habitat use by cattle egrets and little egrets in the Camargue, France. Condor 103: 38–44.
Manchester, S. J. & J. M. Bullock, 2000. The impacts of non-native species on UK biodiversity and the effectiveness of control. Journal of Applied Ecology 37: 845–864.
Mann, R. H. K., 1989. Fish population dynamics in the River Frome, Dorset. Regulated Rivers: Research & Management 4: 165–177.
Masters, J. E. G., J. S. Welton, W. R. C. Beaumont, K. H. Hodder, A. C. Pinder, R. E. Gozlan & M. Ladle, 2002. Habitat utilisation by pike Esox lucius L. during winter floods in a southern English chalk river. Developments in Hydrobiology 165: 185–191.
Musgrove, A. J., 2002. The non-breeding status of the little egret in Britain. British Birds 95: 62–80.
Powell, G. V. N., 1987. Habitat use by wading birds in a subtropical estuary: implications of hydrography. Auk 104: 740–749.
R Development Core Team, 2014. R: a language and environment for statistical computing. [3.0.2]. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, New York.
Royan, A., D. M. Hannah, S. J. Reynolds, D. G. Noble & J. P. Sadler, 2013. Avian community responses to variability in river hydrology. PLoS ONE 8: e83221.
Tourenq, C., R. E. Bennetts, H. Kowalski, E. Vialet, J. L. Lucchesi, Y. Kayser & P. Isenmann, 2001. Are ricefields a good alternative to natural marshes for waterbird communities in the Camargue, southern France? Biological Conservation 100: 335–343.
Voisin, C., J. Godin & A. Fleury, 2005. Status and behaviour of little egrets wintering in western France. British Birds 98: 468–475.
Walther, G. R., 2010. Community and ecosystem responses to recent climate change. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 365: 2019–2024.
Wood, K. A., R. A. Stillman, R. T. Clarke, F. Daunt & M. T. O’Hare, 2012. Understanding plant community responses to combinations of biotic and abiotic factors in different phases of the plant growth cycle. PLoS ONE 7: e49824.
Wood, K. A., R. A. Stillman, D. Wheeler, S. Groves, C. Hambly, J. R. Speakman, F. Daunt & M. T. O’Hare, 2013a. Go with the flow: water velocity regulates herbivore foraging decisions in river catchments. Oikos 122: 1720–1729.
Wood, K. A., R. A. Stillman, T. Coombs, C. McDonald, F. Daunt & M. T. O’Hare, 2013b. The role of season and social grouping on habitat use by mute swans (Cygnus olor) in a lowland river catchment. Bird Study 60: 229–237.
Zuur, A. F., E. N. Ieno & C. S. Elphick, 2010. A protocol for data exploration to avoid common statistical problems. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 1: 3–14.
Acknowledgements
We thank Lucy Mulholland for field assistance and the riparian landowners for access to the study area. Stuart Halse and two anonymous reviewers provided valuable feedback on an earlier version of this manuscript. We are grateful to the Freshwater Biological Association and the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology for logistical support.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Handling editor: Stuart Anthony Halse
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wood, K.A., Stillman, R.A. Do birds of a feather flock together? Comparing habitat preferences of piscivorous waterbirds in a lowland river catchment. Hydrobiologia 738, 87–95 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-014-1921-6
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-014-1921-6