Territory and territorial behavior of migrating Common Coot (Fulica atra)

Abstract

Territory and territorial behavior of the Common Coot (Fulica atra) were studied in two breeding sites, Anbanghe Nature Reserve and Daqing Longfeng wetland, in Heilongjiang Province, China from April to October in 2008 and 2009. In the breeding season, the breeding pairs occupied an area and protected it throughout the reproduction, and both interspecific and intraspecific conflicts were observed. Territory activities became severe since early May, the peak of territory behaviors appeared at late May, and then declined gradually. The territorial activities level was higher than that in the nest building period than in the laying and incubation periods. The most adopted behavioral model was expelling, which was the least energy cost. The degree of territorial behavior tended to be descended since the development of breeding phase. The territory size differed from 1 333 m² to above 5 000 m². Wintering population was observed in Poyang Lake of Jiangxi Province. The coots gathered in the open water; however, there was no territory behavior both in the interspecies and intraspecies in wintering sites. The hypotheses why there was territory behaviors for coots both in the interspecies and intraspecies were also discussed.

Keywords

The Common Coot (Fulica atra) / territoriality / territorial behavior / territory size / breeding, migrating

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