Breeding dispersal of sedge wren (Cistothorus platensis) in the Uspallata valley, Mendoza, Argentina

LLAMBIAS, PAULO; FERNÁNDEZ, GUSTAVO J; ZARCO, AGUSTÍN

Puerto Iguazú

Congreso; Ornithological Congress of the Americas; 2017

AFO-Aves Argentinas-Sociedad Brasilera de Ornitología

Breeding dispersal is the movement of an individual between breeding attempts. Southern and northern temperate passerines differ in demography, life-history traits and environmental conditions that are thought to affect breeding dispersal. However, most our knowledge on breeding dispersal is based on north temperate populations. For a better understanding of breeding dispersal behavior, detailed studies from southern populations are needed. During 2010-2016 we studied breeding dispersal of a color-banded population of Sedge Wrens (Cistothorus platensis platensis) in the Uspallata Valley (Mendoza, Argentina). Most dispersal events occurred when individuals dispersed within clusters of neighboring territories. We did not find significant differences in male and female breeding dispersal both within (males: 21 %, n = 92; females: 22 %, n = 65) and between (males: 44 %, n = 42; females: 43 %, n = 18) breeding seasons. However, males dispersed shorter distances than females both within (males: 444 ± 565; females: 673 ± 857 m) and between (males: 321 ± 478 m; females: 404 ± 783 m) breeding seasons. As expected, within breeding season dispersal was less frequent than between breeding season dispersal. Contrary to previous published results in other species, males were not more philopatric than females. Future work should try to identify the variables that affect breeding dispersal in the study species.