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Restricted movements and high site fidelity in three East African cloud-forest birds

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 October 2015

Jan Christian Habel ,
Jessica Hillen ,
Thomas Schmitt  and
Christina Fischer
Jan Christian Habel*
Affiliation:
Terrestrial Ecology Research Group, Department of Ecology and Ecosystem Management, Technische Universität München, School of Life Sciences Weihenstephan, D-85354 Freising, Germany
Jessica Hillen
Affiliation:
Stiftstr. 26, D-55437 Ober-Hilbersheim, Germany
Thomas Schmitt
Affiliation:
Department of Biogeography, Trier University, Universitätsring 15, D-54285 Trier, Germany Senckenberg German Entomological Institut, D-15374 Müncheberg, Germany
Christina Fischer
Affiliation:
Restoration Ecology, Department of Ecology and Ecosystem Management, Technische Universität München, School of Life Sciences Weihenstephan, D-85354 Freising, Germany
*
1Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract:

Species with specific habitat requirements often remain within their habitat and are characterized by a very sedentary behaviour. We used radio-tracking during a 3-wk campaign to investigate the home ranges and movements of three East African passerine bird species, all adapted to cloud-forest habitats: montane white-eye Zosterops poliogaster mbuluensis, stripe-cheeked greenbul Andropadus milanjensis and white-starred robin Pogonocichla stellata macarthuri. Individuals were observed in a forest-grassland mosaic on top of Chyulu Hills, south Kenya. Based on 15 individuals with a total of 1041 fixes, we found (1) that all three species show a sedentary behaviour restricted to their home forest patch; (2) least activity during the afternoon; and (3) re-colonization into its home patch after translocation into a nearby forest patch. Our findings underline that forest-specialist bird species of the tropics show high site fidelity despite their potential movement ability.

Keywords

birdscloud-forest fragmentshome rangekernel density estimationradio-trackingsite fidelity
Type
Short Communication
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 32 , Issue 1 , January 2016 , pp. 83 - 87
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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