We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Winter Microhabitat Foraging Preferences of Sympatric Boreal and Black-capped chickadees in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
- Authors
Gayk, Zach G.; Lindsay, Alec R.
- Abstract
We examined differences in microhabitat use between Boreal (Poecile hudsonicus) and Black-capped chickadees (P. atricapillus) where they co-occur near Marquette, Michigan, USA. Twenty-four Boreal and 37 Black-capped chickadees were followed during 60 hrs of field observation. Boreal Chickadees foraged only in three conifer species, 76% of which were black spruce (Picea mariana), while Black-capped Chickadees foraged widely across six coniferous and three deciduous tree species. Analysis of foraging data categorized by zones within conifer trees indicated high niche overlap (0.676) between Boreal and Black-capped chickadees across all foraging zones. Individual comparisons on a zone-by-zone basis revealed a significant difference in foraging occupancy in the medial portion of the crowns of conifer trees (P = 0.0002). Our results indicate exclusive use by Boreal Chickadees of dense medial foliage within the top 3 m of conifer crowns.
- Subjects
MICHIGAN; BLACK-capped chickadee; ECOLOGICAL niche; BIOTIC communities; FORAGING behavior; BLACK spruce; CONIFERS
- Publication
Wilson Journal of Ornithology, 2012, Vol 124, Issue 4, p820
- ISSN
1559-4491
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1676/1559-4491-124.4.820