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Does niche-overlap facilitate mixed-species flocking in birds?

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Abstract

Foraging niche overlap between attendant species and the nuclear species of mixed-species flocks may induce competition as well as facilitation. In this study, we hypothesized that canopy species would appear more frequently in flocks where nuclear species foraged in the canopy and that species with greater niche overlap with nuclear species would have lower departure rates. Flocking and foraging behaviors of flocks led by the Grey-cheeked Fulvetta Alcippe morrisonia were studied in northeastern Taiwan for two consecutive non-breeding seasons from 1998 to 2000. The foraging height spectrum increased with increasing group size of fulvettas because more fulvettas were found foraging across different strata. The number of species and number of individuals of canopy attendants in a flock increased more rapidly than understory attendants as the group size of fulvettas increased. The more the foraging height of an attendant species overlapped with that of the nuclear species, the lower its departure rate. Specifically, canopy attendant species that usually had a lower niche overlap with the nuclear species dropped out of the flock more frequently than understory attendant species. These observations indicate that foraging niche overlap between attendant species and the nuclear species may facilitate the formation of mixed-species bird flocks. It is therefore important to incorporate the role of positive interactions when trying to understand the formation and maintenance of biological communities.

Zusammenfassung

Die Überlappung von Nahrungsnischen zwischen vereinzelt anwesenden Arten und den Hauptarten in gemischten Schwärmen könnte sowohl zu Konkurrenz als auch zu Begünstigung führen. In dieser Untersuchung stellen wir die Hypothese auf, dass Arten der Kronenbereiche häufiger in Schwärmen vorkommen, in denen die Hauptarten in der im Kronenbereich Nahrung suchen und dass Arten mit größerer Nischenüberschneidung mit der Hauptart des Schwarms geringere Abflugraten zeigen. Zwischen 1998 und 2000 wurde in Nordosttaiwan schwarmbildendes und Nahrungsverhalten in Trupps von Grauwangenalcippen Alcippe morrisonia außerhalb der Brutzeit untersucht. Mit zunehmender Gruppengröße an Alcippen stieg das Höhenspektrum zur Nahrungssuche an, da mehr Alcippen in verschiedenen Baumstraten nach Nahrung suchten. Die Anzahl der Arten und Individuen der Begleitarten im Kronenbereich in einem Schwarm stieg mit zunehmender Gruppengröße der Alcippen mehr an als die der Unterholzarten. Je mehr die Höhe der Nahrungssuche der Begleitarten sich mit der der Hauptart überschnitt, desto geringer waren deren Abflugsraten. Insbesondere die Begleitarten im Kronenbereich, die im Allgemeinen eine geringere Nischenüberlappung mit der Hauptart zeigen, verlassen den Schwarm häufiger als die Begleitarten des Unterholzes. Diese Beobachtungen zeigen, dass Nischenüberschneidungen bei der Nahrungssuche zwischen vereinzelt anwesenden Begleitarten und der Hauptart die Formierung von gemischten Vogelschwärmen begünstigen können. Zum Verständnis von Bildung und Erhaltung von Artengemeinschaften ist es daher wichtig, die Rolle positiver Interaktionen mit einzubeziehen.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported in part by grants from the National Science Council of Taiwan under postdoctoral fellowship NSC88-2811-001-0052 and NSC89-2811-001-0047 to C.-C. Chen, and projects NSC88-2118-002-002 and NSC89-2118-001-012 to F. Hsieh. We thank the Fushan Experimental Forest for their tremendous support during this study. We are also grateful to S.-S. Hsieh, P.-J. Chiang, and several volunteers from the I-Lan Wild Bird Society for assistance in fieldwork. Editorial comments from C.-F. Tsai and A. Warneke greatly improved the presentation of this paper. We would also like to thank several anonymous reviewers for helpful comments on an earlier version of this manuscript. All field work conducted complied with the laws of Taiwan.

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  1. Fushing Hsieh

    Present address: Department of Statistics, University of California, 4232 Mathematical Sciences Building, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA, USA

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  1. Institute of Statistical Science, Academia Sinica, Taipei, 11541, Taiwan

    Fushing Hsieh

  2. Department of Biomedical Science and Environmental Biology, Kaohsiung Medical University, 100 Shih-Chuan 1st Road, Kaohsiung, 80708, Taiwan

    Chao-Chieh Chen

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  1. Fushing Hsieh
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Correspondence to Chao-Chieh Chen.

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Hsieh, F., Chen, CC. Does niche-overlap facilitate mixed-species flocking in birds?. J Ornithol 152, 955–963 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-011-0678-1

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