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Breeding Biology of the Black-Headed Grosbeak in Northern Utah

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Breeding Biology of the Black-Headed Grosbeak in Northern Utah See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/242733710 Breeding biology of the black-headed grosbeak in northern Utah Article in Western Birds · January 1983 CITATIONS READS 8 57 1 author: Gary Ritchison Eastern Kentucky University 125 PUBLICATIONS 1,608 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE All content following this page was uploaded by Gary Ritchison on 23 January 2014. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. BREEDING BIOLOGY OF THE BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK IN NORTHERN UTAH GARY RITCHISON, Departmentof Biology,Utah State University,UMC 53, Logan Utah 84322 (presentaddress: Department of BiologicalSciences, Eastern Kentucky University,Richmond, Kentucky 40475) Although the Black-headedGrosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalus) is a common breeding bird in many parts of western North America, little is known aboutits breeding biology. Apart from a few anecdotalreports (Bent 1968), information on the breeding biology of this speciescomes from a singlestudy performed in California(Weston 1947). The objectiveof the presentstudy was to examinethe breedingbiology of a populationof Black- headed Grosbeaks in northern Utah. STUDY AREA The study was conducted at Malibu-Guinavah Forest Camp (Cache Na- tionalForest), 10 km eastof Logan,Cache County, Utah. The area,at 1500 m elevation,is locatedon the fiat bottom of Logan Canyon, with the Logan River cuttingdiagonally across the easternsection. The vegetationis discon- tinuouswoodland, which is characterizedby a heavygrowth of grassesin the open areas and a dense understory of wild rose (Rosa woodsii), Blue Elderberry ($ambucus coerulea), hawthorn (Crataegus rivularis), Chokecherry(Prunus virginiana), and SierraWillow ($alix wolfii). The domi- nant trees in the area are Box Elder (Acer negundo), Dusky Willow ($alix melanopsis),and River Birch (BetulafontinaIls). Numerous Mountain Alder (Alnustenuifolia) can be found alongthe streambanks with occasionalNar- rowleaf Cottonwood (Populus angustifolia)and Green Ash (Fraxinus lanceolata)dispersed over the area. Becauseof recreationalimprovements by U.S. Forest Servicepersonnel, the canopy is discontinuous. METHODS I made field observationsalmost daily from 1 April through 31 Augustin 1977 and 1978 at the Malibu-GuinavahForest Camp. Approximately850 hourswere spentobserving birds or nestsand observationswere equallydis- tributedthroughout the day. Territorialboundaries were delimitedby plotting on a map thoselocations where intraspecificaggressive behavior occurred. If a part of a territorycould not be determinedby observationof boundary disputes,the outermostpoints of utilizationwere connectedby straightlines to form a polygon of maximum size. Hatching dates were obtained by inspectingthe nests.When this was impossible,these dateswere estimated within 1 or 2 days on the basisof the behavior of the adults. In all cases, eitherfiedging was observed,or young known to have been in the nestthe previousday were seen in nearby trees or shrubsa day later. Thirty-one adults (24 males and 7 females)were capturedand marked with combina- tionsof coloredleg bands, numberedaluminum bands, and felt pens. In ad- dition, 21 nestswere located, and colored and aluminum bandswere placed Western Birds: 14:159-167, 1983 159 BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK BREEDING BIOLOGY on 20 nestlings. Observations at such nests were made with 7x 35 binocularsat distancesof 4-8 m, usingnatural vegetation as a "blind." A stopwatchwas used to time the activitiesof breedingadults. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The firstbirds arrived in the studyarea duringthe first 2 weeksin May. AlthoughWeston (1947) reportedthat males arrive about 6 daysbefore the females,my observationsindicated that many of the firstbirds to arrivewere alreadypaired. Grosbeakscontinued to move into and throughthe area for the next 2 weeks or longer. Bandingreturns suggested that the firstbirds in the study area were often those that nestedin the area the previousyear. These birds, however, did not always remain in the study area. Six birds bandedin 1977 were observedin the studyarea early in the 1978 breeding season;two of thesepreviously banded birds (one male and one female) re- mained to nest in the study area. Because many birds arrived already paired, observationsof courtship behavior were limited. Weston (1947:55) stated that "the only type of displayseen was a nuptialflight," i.e., the male utteredloud songsfrom someexposed perch near a femaleand then suddenlyflew out, performinga song-flightin the air abovethe female. My observationsindicated that such song-flightswere not utilizedsolely for courtship.On severaloccasions males were observedperforming song-flights during "singing duels" with neighbor- ing males. The Pair Bond Duringthe earlypart of the breedingseason (before nesting began), paired birdsforaged together within their territories. Females usually followed as the males moved through the territory feeding and singing. Paired birds sometimesfed asclose together as several centimeters, or morecommonly in differentparts of the same tree or bush or in adjacenttrees or bushes. Vocalizationsgiven by the birdsas they moved throughtheir territoriesin- cludedchip and wheetcalls. Chip callswere givenby both sexesand ap- pearedto functionas locationcalls. Wheet calls were given only when a bird was moving, e.g., when flying a short distancefrom bush to bush or when flyingfrom the nestafter incubatingthe eggs. As statedabove, males often sang as they foraged.Such song apparently serveda territorialfunction and wasprobably used by the femalein maintain- ing contactwith the male. Femalesinfrequently sang while foragingnear the male (Weston1947; pers.obs.). Female song has also been reported in the Rose-breastedGrosbeak (Pheucticusludovicianus; Ivor 1944a, Dunham 1965). Such songmay play some role in pair-bondmaintenance. Territorial Behavior In the Black-headedGrosbeak, singing by the male appearsto be the most importantfactor in acquiringand retaininga territory.However, singingby itselfis apparentlynot sufficientto maintaina territory.Early in the breeding 160 BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK BREEDING BIOLOGY seasonagonistic encounters involving chasing and even physicalcontact oc- curred. Nearly all chasesinvolved males, although several female-female chaseswere observed.On three occasionsfemales were observedchasing males. No instancesof actualphysical contact were noted in thesefemale- female or female-male encounters. Weston (1947:56), however, describeda conflictbetween mated pairsin apparentdefense of their respectiveterritories in which the females were more aggressivethan the males. The females "repeatedlypostured and flew at eachother, and at each attack,loud songs, calls, and soundsof bodily contact could be heard." Weston reported no other instancesof female song in territorial encounters. I observedtwo in- stancesof singingby females in such situations.On one occasion,a female chaseda male and, upon landing,sang one loud song. On anotheroccasion a female appearedto engagein a briefsinging duel with a neighboringmale. Following territory establishment,Black-headed Grosbeaksbecame pro- gressivelyless aggressive.This change in behavior was quantified in two ways. First, male singingrates tended to decline as the seasonprogressed (Figure 1). A second indicator of this decline was the distributionof in- traspecificagonistic encounters (chases or actualphysical encounters). Figure 2 summarizesthis distributionfor the 1977 and 1978 breedingseasons. It is 222 16•1• I % • •Red I I --• Guinavah I .,.....,,,...,.., Riverside I % •-4•-w•, Black11978l z12O]I, \ ..-- cs28 "', ! ................h / •..... ,•,m•m,•a•,,•-•"• •' ..... T ............ T .......... T .... firming' younghatch you•the leave•st TIME IN DAYS Figure 1. Singing rates of selectedmale Black-headedGrosbeaks during the 1977 and 1978 breeding seasons. 161 BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK BREEDING BIOLOGY apparent that after egg-layingbegan there was a substantialdrop in the number of encountersand, later, such agonisticbehavior disappeared altogether.In the daysprior to and immediatelyafter the youngleft the nest, males and femalesresponded weakly, if at all, to the presenceof other grosbeaks. Similar behavior has been reported in the Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Dunham 1964). Territoriesin the studyarea averagedabout 2.7 ha (n -- 12, range: 1.9 - 3.9). Previous investigatorsof the Black-headed Grosbeak have not in- dicated territory sizes. However, Dunham (1964, 1965) found that the averagesize of 20 Rose-breastedGrosbeak territories was 0.8 ha (range:0.3 1.8). Nest site selection and nest construction Nestingusually occurred in deciduousbushes and trees, usually at a heightof 2-7 m above the ground (n = 21, • = 4.1). Weston (1947) listedheight recordsfor 163 nestsand foundthe averageto be about3 m aboveground. The nest is bulky and looselyconstructed, and composedof slendertwigs, plant stems,and rootlets. Nestswere generallybuilt by the female. Weston (1947:60) reportedthat he had "never seena male carryingnesting material nor in any way aid in the actualconstruction of the nest."However, Finley (1907) mentionedseeing a male grosbeakcarrying a twig in his beak. On severaloccasions I observed TimeCdays) Figure2. Distributionof intraspecificagonistic encounters (chases and/or actualphysical en- counters)among male and female Black-headedGrosbeaks (day 0 = firstegg laid). 162 BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK BREEDING BIOLOGY malesassisting in nestconstruction. In all pairsobserved, however, most of the constructionwas performedby
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