Winter Microhabitat Foraging Preferences of Sympatric Boreal and Black-capped chickadees in Michigan's Upper Peninsula

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 forag...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Wilson journal of ornithology 2012-12, Vol.124 (4), p.820-824
Main Authors: Gayk, Zach G., Lindsay, Alec R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal behavior
Animal ecology
Behavior
Boreal forests
Chickadees
Conifers
Conservation biology
Data processing
Deciduous trees
Ecological competition
Environmental aspects
Foliage
Foraging
Foraging (Animal feeding behavior)
Forest habitats
Forests
Habitat utilization
Habitats
Microenvironments
Microhabitats
Niche (Ecology)
Niche overlap
Niches (Ecology)
Observations
Paridae
Picea mariana
Poecile
Population ecology
SHORT COMMUNICATIONS
Small mammals
Sympatric populations
Trees
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Summary: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.
ISSN:1559-4491
1938-5447
DOI:10.1676/1559-4491-124.4.820