Divorce in the Canary Islands Stonechat (Saxicola Dacotiae)

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Divorce in the Canary Islands Stonechat (Saxicola Dacotiae) SHORT COMMUNICATIONS 317 Wilson Bulletin 117(3):317±319, 2005 Divorce in the Canary Islands Stonechat (Saxicola dacotiae) Juan Carlos Illera1 ABSTRACT.ÐI report the ®rst case of divorce for stricted to slopes of stony ®elds and ravines the Canary Islands Stonechat (Saxicola dacotiae), an covered by medium to large shrubs and large endemic bird species of the semiarid island of Fuer- boulders; they avoid lava and sandy habitats teventura (Canary Islands, Spain). I studied 72 pairs during three breeding seasons (2000±2001, 2001± (Illera 2001). Stonechats are thought to be 2002, and 2002±2003). In 2001±2002, a female di- monogamous, sedentary, and territorial (Mar- vorced after a successful ®rst nesting. This female set- tõÂn and Lorenzo 2001, Urquhart 2002, Illera tled in a neighboring territory where the owner was 2004b). Territory boundaries usually abut unpaired, built a new nest, and laid four eggs. The low those of neighboring pairs (JCI pers. obs.). rate of divorce (1.4%) suggests that unforced mate After settling, individual birds are extremely changes by Canary Islands Stonechats are rare. Re- ceived 22 July 2004, accepted 31 May 2005. faithful to their sites all year long, i.e., they do not move after the breeding season, al- though territory boundaries may shift between successive breeding seasons (Illera 2004b; JCI The Canary Islands Stonechat (Saxicola unpubl. data). The breeding period extends dacotiae) is an island endemic restricted to from December to April (MartõÂn and Lorenzo Fuerteventura Island, Canary Islands, Spain. Bibby and Hill (1987) estimated the popula- 2001, Urquhart 2002, Illera 2004b; JCI un- tion size of the species as 650±850 pairs. Al- publ. data). Reproductive effort and the du- though there are no recent estimates of the ration of the breeding period depend proxi- abundance of the species, its status has been mately on rainfall and ultimately on food (ar- modi®ed recently by the Spanish Ornitholog- thropod) availability (Illera 2004b; JCI un- ical Society (SEO/BirdLife) from ``Near publ. data). Pairs breed over more extended Threatened'' to ``Endangered'' on the basis of periods and lay two clutches in wet years, increasing destruction and alteration of its whereas in dry years they breed only once or habitats (Illera 2004a). In spite of its critical not at all. Clutches are also larger in wet than status, very little is known about the biology in dry years (Illera 2004b; JCI unpubl. data). of this species. Here, I describe the ®rst case Results presented here were obtained dur- of divorce in the Canary Islands Stonechat. ing studies of stonechat breeding success and The Canary Islands archipelago is located site ®delity. Birds were trapped, banded, and in the Atlantic Ocean, 100±460 km off the monitored (Illera 2004b; JCI unpubl. data). I northwest coast of Africa, and comprises sev- monitored 72 pairs over three breeding sea- en main volcanic islands and several islets. sons (2000±2001, 2001±2002, and 2002± Fuerteventura is the easternmost (288 469 N, 2003) at 12 study sites in which 1±10 pairs 148 319 W), second largest (1,660 km2), and bred at least once in the 3 years. Of 72 pairs, oldest island (approximately 22 million years I color-banded 114 individuals: 32/42 (2000± old; Carracedo and Day 2002). The climate is 2001), 39/47 (2001±2002), and 43/54 (2002± semiarid with dry summers and scarce rainfall 2003). Due to sexual dimorphism and individ- in autumn and winter (mean annual precipi- ual variability in phenotypic traits, I was also tation 5 117 mm; Marzol-JaeÂn 1984). The able to identify unbanded individuals. How- vegetation is mainly sparse xerophytic shrub- ever, because sexual dimorphism traits shift land. Canary Islands Stonechats are largely re- after the molt period (Illera and Atienza 2002), they were only used to identify indi- viduals within each breeding season. The 1 Depto. de BiologõÂa Animal (ZoologõÂa), Facultad de BiologõÂa, Univ. de La Laguna, E-38206 La Laguna number of banded pairs studied during two or (Tenerife), Canary Islands, Spain; e-mail: jcillera@ more breeding periods was seven. I monitored ull.es pairs at least weekly from late October to ear- 318 THE WILSON BULLETIN x Vol. 117, No. 3, September 2005 ly November (pre-breeding period) until a mate loss while feeding ¯edglings. Bibby and month after the last ¯edgling left the nest Hill (1987) reported that some unpaired male (post-breeding period). The time spent moni- Canary Islands Stonechats assist with feeding toring each pair during each visit varied be- young of established pairs. However, during tween 30 min and 2 hr. Stonechats nested once 238.5 hr of observation of feeding (23 pairs), or not at all in the dry (27.3 mm rainfall) I did not record males or females assisting breeding season of 2000±2001, and laid two with feeding young. clutches in the two wet years (124.5 and 125.1 The low rate of within-season divorce mm rainfall in 2002 and 2003, respectively; (1.4%, n 5 72 pairs; three breeding seasons) Illera 2004b; JCI unpubl. data). and the lack of between-season divorce (0/7) Of 72 pairs monitored, only one divorced suggests that unforced mate changes by Ca- within a breeding season (2001±2002). Di- nary Islands Stonechats are rare. Strong site vorce was not recorded for pairs monitored (n ®delity reported for this species (Illera 2004b; 5 7) in successive breeding seasons. The case JCI unpubl. data.) also suggests that occur- of divorce reported here was the result of de- rences of between-season divorce are rare. Di- sertion by a female that subsequently settled vorce did not appear to have been triggered in a neighboring territory where the owner by poor breeding success, as mean fecundity was unpaired. Desertion occurred after the of all pairs monitored over 3 years was 2.25 original pair successfully reared a brood (three 6 0.15 SE (n 5 68). The biotic and abiotic ¯edglings). In the ®rst brood (about 15 days homogeneity of Fuerteventura and the likely previous to divorce), during 90 min of obser- costs associated with territory switching (e.g., vation, 9 and 10 feeding visits were performed increased probability of predation after a by the female and the male, respectively. In move, aggression of adjacent territory holders, six visits to this territory, I did not observe and less ef®cient foraging in unfamiliar terri- the second male assisting with feeding young tories; Jakob et al. 2001, Yoder et al. 2004) or encounters between the female and the sec- probably makes divorce maladaptive in this ond male. All three adults were color-banded. species. Fifteen days after the ®rst brood ¯edged, the female built a new nest and laid four eggs. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Both members of the new pair fed nestlings The Regional Government of the Canary Islands of the second brood, with no assistance from gave the of®cial permit to band this threatened bird the divorced male. The nest was depredated, species. D. Santana and N. HernaÂndez provided worms but the new pair did not attempt to breed used in trapping birds. A. Moreno and J. C. Atienza helped during banding sessions. M. Nogales reviewed again, and 2 weeks later the female disap- an early draft. M. DõÂaz encouraged me to write this peared from the territory. The female's origi- note and provided useful suggestions that improved nal mate continued singing and feeding its this paper a great deal. K. Koivula, E. D. Urquhart, three chicks alone during the 4 weeks after and an anonymous referee provided useful comments ¯edging. The divorced female never returned during revision. to her former territory even though the terri- LITERATURE CITED tories were adjacent. The deserted male did not mate with another female during the re- BIBBY,C.J.AND D. A. HILL. 1987. Status of the Fuer- mainder of the 2001±2002 breeding period, teventura Stonechat Saxicola dacotiae. Ibis 129: 491±498. and he ®nally moved to a new territory 5 CARRACEDO,J.C.AND S. DAY. 2002. Canary Islands. months later. Classic geology in Europe series. Terra Publish- Limited information is available on divorce ing, Hertfordshire, London, United Kingdom. in the genus Saxicola (Urquhart 2002). John- ILLERA, J. C. 2001. Habitat selection by the Canary son (1961, 1971) recorded several cases of Islands Stonechat (Saxicola dacotiae) (Meade- mate exchanges, polygyny, and polyandry in Waldo, 1889) in Fuerteventura Island: a two-tier a population of Common Stonechat (S. tor- habitat approach with implications for its conser- vation. Biological Conservation 97:339±345. quata), both within a given breeding season ILLERA, J. C. 2004a. Tarabilla Canaria (Saxicola daco- and between successive breeding seasons. H. tiae). Pages 327±328 in Libro rojo de las aves de Flinks (in Urquhart 2002) reported that male EspanÄa (A. MadronÄo, C. GonzaÂlez, and J. C. Common Stonechats might be vulnerable to Atienza, Eds.). SEO/BirdLife-DireccioÂn General SHORT COMMUNICATIONS 319 de Biodiversidad/Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, JOHNSON, E. D. H. 1971. Observations on a resident Madrid, Spain. population of Stonechats in Jersey. British Birds ILLERA, J. C. 2004b. BiogeografõÂa y ecologõÂa de la Ta- 64:201±213, 267±279. rabilla Canaria (Saxicola dacotiae) con implica- MARTÂõN,A.AND J. A. LORENZO. 2001. Aves del Ar- ciones para su conservacioÂn. Ph.D. dissertation, chipieÂlago Canario. Francisco Lemus Editor, La University of La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain. Laguna, Tenerife, Spain. ILLERA,J.C.AND J. C. ATIENZA. 2002. DeterminacioÂn MARZOL-JAEÂ N, M. V. 1984. El clima. Pages 157±202 del sexo y edad en la Tarabilla Canaria Saxicola in GeografõÂa de Canarias (L. Afonso, Dir.). Inter- dacotiae mediante el estudio de la muda. Ardeola insular Canaria, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain.
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