Summary
The Yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella) and the Ortolan Bunting (E. hortulana) are locally-sympatric on a burned forest area in Norway where we investigated whether they differed in habitat selection. Territories of Ortolan Buntings were in areas with lower vegetation density than those of Yellowhammers, and as a consequence they tended to be in areas with shorter trees and further from farmland than Yellowhammers. A previous study in the same area found that Ortolan Buntings used farmland up to 2.7 km from their territories for foraging, and here we report that Yellowhammers also used farmland outside territories. Overall, Yellowhammers settled in areas with denser vegetation, which were closer to attractive farmland feeding areas, than Ortolan Buntings. The differences in habitat choice did not result from competitive exclusion of the migratory Ortolan Buntings by the resident and heavier Yellowhammers close to farmland, for (1) interspecific territory overlap was larger than intraspecific overlap, (2) few observations of interspecific aggression were made, and (3) playback of song elicited no interspecific responses. Thus, settlement of Ortolan Buntings was not restricted by Yellowhammers, and their differences in habitat were apparently due to different preferences. The observation that both species obtained food outside territories in another habitat argues against food resource partitioning being the cause of differences in nesting habitat. Instead, we argue that nest site partitioning may play a role in nesting habitat segregation between these sympatric species.
Zusammenfassung
Goldammer und Ortolan kommen auf Brandflächen in Norwegen sympatrisch vor. Dort wurde ihre Habitatwahl untersucht. Die Reviere von Ortolanen lagen vornehmlich in Flä chen mit geringer Vegetationsdichte, niedrigeren Bäumen und sie waren weiter von Ackerland entfernt als die Reviere der Goldammern. Beide Arten nutzen zur Nahrungssuche auch Flächen außerhalb der Reviere, beim Ortolan bis zu 2,7 km entfernt. Die Unterschiede in der Habitatwahl waren nicht durch kompetitiven Ausschluss der Ortolane durch die größere und nicht-wegziehende Goldammer bestimmt. Die überlappung benachbarter Reviere war zwischen den beiden Arten nicht größer als innerhalb der jeweiligen Art, aggressives Verhalten wurde kaum beobachtet und Klangattrappen bewirkten keine interspezifischen Antworten. Es darf deshalb geschlossen werden, dass die Habitat wahl der Ortolane eine verschiedenen Präferenz entstammt. Dabei spricht die Beobachtung, dass beide Arten auch weit außerhalb der jeweiligen Reviere in anderen Habitaten nach Nahrung suchten, gegen die Annahme, dass die unterschiedlichen Bruthabitate die Folge der Nutzung ähnlicher Nahrungsressourcen sind. Vielmehr wird angenommen, dass beide Arten ähnliche Neststandorte wählen und sich dann über verschiedene Bruthabitatwahl aus dem Weg gehen.
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Dale, S., Manceau, N. Habitat selection of two locally sympatric species ofEmberiza buntings (E. citrinella and E. hortulana). J Ornithol 144, 58–68 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02465517
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02465517