Bibliothèque Tour du Valat

Se connecter

Mot de passe oublié ?
Pas encore inscrit ?

La Tour du Valat

Institut de recherche pour la conservation des zones humides méditerranéennes

Détail

Notice ajoutée !

Notice ajoutée !

Lien vers la notice

Titre :	The importance of ecotones as feeding habitats for grassland-breeding Whinchats Saxicola rubetra in Western Lower Saxony (Germany).
Auteurs :	Markus Richter, Auteur ; Heinz Duettmann, Auteur
Type de document :	Article
Dans :	Vogelwelt (Die) (125(2) 2004)
Article en page(s) :	89-98
Résumé :	In the present study we investigated spatial aspects of the foraging behaviour of Whinchats; in fallows and grasslands of different intensity, in agricultural management near Lake Dummer (Lower Saxony, Germany). In particular, we observed territorial pairs (n = 14) from which we continuously registrated the techniques and locations of food collecting. The statistical analyses of the feeding locations revealed that pairs breeding in grasslands significantly preferred edges along the fences, ditches and field-paths. These ecotones were used much more compared to availability, whereas grasslands themselves were used less for foraging activities. Whinchats which set up territories in young fallows almost exclusively restricted their foraging behaviour to this type of habitat. The present findings on habitat preferences of the Whinchat might be due to local differences in food supply and/or hunting perches. We found numerous natural and artificial perches in the fallows and the different ecotones while perches in grasslands were scarce. In the grasslands just a few plant species, e.g. Cirsium arvense, Rumex obtusifolius and R. crispus, were used as hunting perches. According to the agricultural practice these plants are classified as pests which have to be kept under control. The low density of perches in the grasslands caused the Whinchats to start most foraging activities on grassland-living arthropods from perches in the neighbouring ecotones. In grasslands and along the fences and field-paths foraging on the ground was the most common technique to collect prey organisms while flights for insects in the vegetation or in the air occurred to a minor extent. Along the ditches the situation was vice versa. This difference in the frequency of occurrence of the different foraging techniques is probably due to differences in habitat characteristics. The edges along the ditches W ere the only areas with dense and tall grass vegetation, which in addition were not mown in contrast to grasslands and the edges along the field-paths and fences.

FAQ

Infos pratiques

Heures d'ouverture et contact

Lundi , mardi et jeudi de 9h à 12h et de 13h à 17h00 : ouverture au public ...

Liens utiles

A-
A
A+