Post-fledging behaviour of juveniles in the Little Owl (Athene noctua)

TY - JOUR

T1 - Post-fledging behaviour of juveniles in the Little Owl (Athene noctua)

AU - Pedersen, Dorthe

AU - Thorup, Kasper

AU - Sunde, Peter

AU - Jacobsen, Lars Bo

AU - Rahbek, Carsten

PY - 2013

Y1 - 2013

N2 - Before dispersal, social and spatial behaviour in owls has only been briefly studied. We used radio tracking to monitor age-influenced social and spatial behaviour in 10 juvenile Little Owls (Athene noctua) from nests in Northern Jutland, Denmark. On average, the post-fledging dependency period lasted 35 days (n = 6). Juveniles stayed on the natal territory 45 days (n = 5) from independence to dispersal.Half of the juveniles had dispersed by mid-September, and the other half remained on the natal territory until at leastmid-October. The home range size (minimum convex polygons) was 0.56 ± 0.53 ha (mean ± SD) from fledging to independence and 3.25 ± 4.15 ha from independence to dispersal.Within the first 40 days after fledging, the nightly distance from the nest and the distance between siblings increased, and the frequency and intensity of begging calls decreased. These results were consistent with the notion that food provided by the parents decreased as juvenile foraging skills increased.

AB - Before dispersal, social and spatial behaviour in owls has only been briefly studied. We used radio tracking to monitor age-influenced social and spatial behaviour in 10 juvenile Little Owls (Athene noctua) from nests in Northern Jutland, Denmark. On average, the post-fledging dependency period lasted 35 days (n = 6). Juveniles stayed on the natal territory 45 days (n = 5) from independence to dispersal.Half of the juveniles had dispersed by mid-September, and the other half remained on the natal territory until at leastmid-October. The home range size (minimum convex polygons) was 0.56 ± 0.53 ha (mean ± SD) from fledging to independence and 3.25 ± 4.15 ha from independence to dispersal.Within the first 40 days after fledging, the nightly distance from the nest and the distance between siblings increased, and the frequency and intensity of begging calls decreased. These results were consistent with the notion that food provided by the parents decreased as juvenile foraging skills increased.

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0030-5685

VL - 90

SP - 117

EP - 128

JO - Ornis Fennica

JF - Ornis Fennica

IS - 2

ER -