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

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.

Coping with extremes:convergences of habitat use,territoriality,and diet in summer but divergences in winter between two sympatric snow finches on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

On the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,extreme environmental conditions have imposed intense selective pressure on the evolution of phenotypic traits of wild animals.To date,limited information is available on behavioral and ecological traits concerning niche differentiation among sympatric animals on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,especially during winter when the environments are most severe.Here,we studied the seasonal variations in habitat occurrence,territorial behavior,and diet in two sympatric snow finches(the white-rumped snow finch,Onychostruthus taczanowskii,WRSF;and the rufous-necked snow finch,Pyrgilauda ruficollis,RNSF)to determine convergence and divergence of ecological traits in such severe climatic conditions.Our results showed that:(i)WRSF occupied rural areas as a dominant species throughout the annual cycle while RNSF occupied the rural areas in summer and then shifted to human-occupied areas in winter and spring;(ii)WRSFs exhibited robust aggressive behavior and territoriality during winter relative to RNSFs;(iii)the diets of both species varied with the season but did not vary between species except that WRSF ate significantly more seeds but RNSF consumed more starchy material derived from human food waste during winter.Therefore,the separations in the spatial niche and territoriality between WRSF and RNSF,especially in winter,may contribute to alleviating the pressure of interspecific competition,and promoting the coexistence of the two sympatric snow finches in the extreme environments on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.