Habitat Selection by Cock Pheasants in Spring

Lachlan, C.; Bray, R. P.

doi:10.2307/2402247

Cited by 21 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Males and females did not differ in their biases for orientation strategies. In the wild, pheasants selected for woodland over non‐woodland habitats, matching previous findings (Lachlan & Bray 1976; Hill & Ridley 1987), although individuals that had an allocentric bias also exhibited a slightly lower avoidance of non‐woodland habitats. We did not detect any obvious movement advantages to the matching of cognitive bias to habitat selection.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Is habitat selection in the wild shaped by individual‐level cognitive biases in orientation strategy?

et al. 2021

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Cognitive biases for encoding spatial information (orientation strategies) in relation to self (egocentric) or landmarks (allocentric) differ between species or populations according to the habitats they occupy. Whether biases in orientation strategy determine early habitat selection or if individuals adapt their biases following experience is unknown. We determined orientation strategies of pheasants, Phasianus colchicus, using a dual-strategy maze with an allocentric probe trial, before releasing them (n = 20) into a novel landscape, where we monitored their movement and habitat selection. In general, pheasants selected for woodland over non-woodland habitat, but allocentricbiased individuals exhibited weaker avoidance of non-woodland habitat, where we expected allocentric navigation to be more effective. Sex did not influence selection but was associated with speed and directional persistence in non-woodland habitat. Our results suggest that an individual's habitat selection is associated with inherent cognitive bias in early life, but it is not yet clear what advantages this may offer.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Is habitat selection in the wild shaped by individual‐level cognitive biases in orientation strategy?

et al. 2021

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“…Surprisingly, in our case we did not find any relationships between pheasant density and the presence and size of natural woods or hedgerows that should be the most selected habitats in male territories (Lachlan & Bray 1976, Hill & Robertson 1988, Robertson et al 1993). This is probably due to the low presence of woods and hedgerows that are concentrated in a few lots within our study areas, so pheasants had to find substitutive habitats for territory placement (Hill & Robertson 1988).…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 79%

“…Territorial male density represents a good index of habitat quality for pheasants. It is known that habitat suitability for pheasants is associated with natural bush and shrub vegetation available in the agricultural landscape (Lachlan & Bray 1976, Hill & Robertson 1988, Robertson et al 1993, Robertson 1998, Scott et al 1999, Leif 2005). In addition, reproductive success and survival of young are greatly associated with habitat quality.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of habitat improvement actions (HIAs) and reforestations on pheasantsPhasianus colchicusin northern Italy

2012

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Over the last 50 years, the modernisation and mechanisation of agricultural techniques caused important habitat alterations in agricultural ecosystems that lead to the decline of farmland wildlife populations throughout Europe. During 2008 and 2009, we investigated the effects of Habitat Improvement Actions (HIAs) and reforestations on populations of common pheasant Phasianus colchicus in order to evaluate the influence of both habitat management strategies on pheasant male density and distribution. We estimated the density of territorial males in four study areas located in the western Po Plain (northern Italy) through the method of crowing cock counts during the breeding season. We analysed the spatial distribution of territorial males in relation to the HIA and reforestation patches comparing points with crowing cocks with random ones. Moreover, we analysed the effects of habitat characteristics including HIAs and reforestations on male pheasant density by multiple regression analyses with theoretic information approach and multimodel inference. Our results showed that both HIAs and reforestations had an important role in determining male distribution. Moreover, HIAs and reforestations were good predictor variables of male pheasant density. We concluded that HIAs and reforestations provide common pheasant with suitable habitats and can represent proper solutions for enhancing habitat diversity and quality in intensive agro-ecosystems.

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“…Such segregation was observed not just in networks of association but more coarsely at a landscape scale, with males appearing to use feeders disproportionately in the south of the farm, whereas females used feeders in the north. Variation in the environment around these feeders, in terms of features likely to be of importance to Pheasants such as woodland cover and structure (see Lachlan & Bray , Hill & Ridley ), did not explain the observed differences in sex ratios. Pheasants also segregated by time, with females being more likely to visit feeders in the morning and males more likely to visit them in the afternoon.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

“…Woodland could be clearly identified from the aerial photo of the site. These measures allowed us to consider the percentage of woodland in the local area (area of woodland/area of polygon) and a measure of woodland fragmentation (length of woodland edge/area of woodland), both important factors in Pheasant habitat choice (Lachlan & Bray , Hill & Ridley ). We calculated the distance (m) of each feeder from the centre of the release pen.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Patterns of association at feeder stations for Common Pheasants released into the wild: sexual segregation by space and time

Whiteside

Horik

Langley

et al. 2018

Ibis

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Sexual segregation is common and can occur when sexes occupy different habitats, and/ or when sexes aggregate assortatively within the same habitats. However, it is rarely studied in birds, with most previous work concentrating on differential settlement by the sexes in discrete habitats, often separated by large distances. Little attention has been paid to patterns of segregation within the same site. We reared 200 Common Pheasants Phasianus colchicus and released them onto a relatively small site of 250 ha and recorded their patterns of association and differential use of artificial feeders in space and time. Particular feeders were preferred by one sex, although we found no features of the local habitat which explained such preferences. Furthermore, we found sex differences in the use of feeders throughout the day, with females preferentially visiting them in the morning and the proportion of females visiting feeders increasing as the year progressed. Social network analyses found that in the first month after release into the wild, females did not associate strongly with other females, which was surprising as, prior to release, females have been shown to associate with other females in both semi-natural conditions and when tested in isolation. However, sexual segregation was clearly seen after 1 month of being released and became more pronounced as the year progressed. Females associated with other females from November to February, whereas males avoided other males over this same period. Sexes became less likely to associate with one another in 5 of the 6 months monitored. Such avoidance observed in males suggests that they start to form territories much sooner than previously thought. Pheasants exhibit clear patterns of finescale sexual segregation based on space and time, which was observed in their social preferences at feeding sites. Such detailed fine-scale segregation is rarely observed in birds.

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Habitat Selection by Cock Pheasants in Spring

Cited by 21 publications

References 7 publications

Is habitat selection in the wild shaped by individual‐level cognitive biases in orientation strategy?

Is habitat selection in the wild shaped by individual‐level cognitive biases in orientation strategy?

Effects of habitat improvement actions (HIAs) and reforestations on pheasantsPhasianus colchicusin northern Italy

Patterns of association at feeder stations for Common Pheasants released into the wild: sexual segregation by space and time

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