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Territorial behavior of the migratory Lined Seedeater during the breeding season

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Abstract

Most bird species will defend a territory during the breeding period to assure the availability of resources for their reproductive success. Migratory birds abdicate their territory ownership during the non-breeding period, posing a challenge for the following breeding season. Here we investigated the territorial behavior of male Lined Seedeaters Sporophila lineola, an intra-tropical migrant, during the breeding season (December–May) 2018/2019 in south-eastern Brazil. The Lined Seedeater is a sexually color-dimorphic species that inhabits open areas and feeds on seeds. We followed 18 color-banded individuals, during the period in which they had an active nest. For each individual, we recorded the locations in which they exhibited any potential territorial behavior, with the aid of a handheld GPS. We then estimated the size and shape of the territories using a Kernel Density Estimator. The breeding territories had on average 0.59 ± 0.24 ha, ranging from 0.21 to 0.91 ha in area. Males exhibited agonistic behavior whenever another male intrudes on their territories, especially if in the vicinity of their nests. Our observations indicate that male Lined Seedeaters defend small territories of exclusive use during the breeding season, but forage over a wider home range shared with other conspecifics. Therefore, Lined Seedeaters and other members of Sporophila seem to exhibit home ranges that are much larger than their breeding territories. Empirical studies are needed to understand the influence of territory size and quality on reproductive fitness.

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The raw data with all localities are available at a separate file (.xlsx).

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Acknowledgements

Currently, G. M. M. is a scholarship holder (132316/2020-0) from the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) and previously received a scholarship from the same funding agency in the Programa Institucional de Bolsas de Iniciação Científica. CNPq which also awarded a research scholarship to L.E.L. (309660/2017-3). Wageningen University and Research and the Netherlands Institute of Ecology funded part of this study. Universidade Federal de Viçosa allowed us to conduct this study in the area under their care. Permits for this project were granted by Instituto Chico Mendes da Conservação da Biodiversidade (61078-1) and Comissão de Ética no Uso de Animais–Universidade Federal de Viçosa (03/2018). We thank the Lined Seedeater Project team for their help during data collection, especially Aléxa Silva, Aléxia Guimarães, Ana Maria Medeiros, Bárbara Couto, Dalila Ferreira, Gabriela Oliveira, Júlia Palhares, Lucas de Oliveira, Mayllin Lage, Melindy Dirks, Robert Benjamins, Tessa van de Bemt, Vinícius Nicolau, and Yvonne van de Weetering.

Funding

Gustavo de Melo Martins is a scholarship holder (132316/2020–0) from the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq). When the field data was collected, Gustavo was a scholarship holder for CNPq in the Programa Institucional de Bolsas de Iniciação Científica from UFV (PIBIC–UFV). Leonardo Esteves Lopes is also awarded a research scholarship from CNPq (309660/2017–3). The Lined Seedeater Project is financed by the Wageningen University and Research and the Netherlands Institute of Ecology.

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  1. Gustavo de Melo Martins

    Present address: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratório de Biologia Animal, IBF, Universidade Federal de Viçosa – Campus Florestal, Florestal, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Gustavo de Melo Martins & Leonardo Esteves Lopes

  2. Behavioural Ecology Group, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Filipe C. R. Cunha

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  1. Gustavo de Melo Martins
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  2. Filipe C. R. Cunha
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  3. Leonardo Esteves Lopes
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Correspondence to Gustavo de Melo Martins.

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Ethics approval

Permits for this project were granted by Instituto Chico Mendes da Conservação da Biodiversidade (61078–1) and animal procedures were approved by the Comissão de Ética no Uso de Animais–Universidade Federal de Viçosa (03/2018).

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The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Communicated by Cristiano Azevedo.

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Martins, G.d., Cunha, F.C.R. & Lopes, L.E. Territorial behavior of the migratory Lined Seedeater during the breeding season. Ornithol. Res. 29, 133–139 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43388-021-00065-y

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