Territoriality and habitat selection of female snowy owls ( Nyctea scandiaca ) in winter
Territoriality of snowy owls (Nyctea scandiaca) was investigated near Calgary, Alberta, in the winters of 1976–1977 and 1977–1978. Males appeared to be nomadic, although some individuals remained in small areas for periods of up to 17 days. Many females defended territories of 150–450 ha for periods...
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Canadian Science Publishing
1982
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/z82-302 2023-12-17T10:47:46+01:00 Territoriality and habitat selection of female snowy owls ( Nyctea scandiaca ) in winter Boxall, Peter C. Lein, M. Ross 1982 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z82-302 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z82-302 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 60, issue 10, page 2344-2350 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics journal-article 1982 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/z82-302 2023-11-19T13:39:15Z Territoriality of snowy owls (Nyctea scandiaca) was investigated near Calgary, Alberta, in the winters of 1976–1977 and 1977–1978. Males appeared to be nomadic, although some individuals remained in small areas for periods of up to 17 days. Many females defended territories of 150–450 ha for periods of up to 80 days. Territories of females contained some habitats in excess of their proportion on the study area. This represents selection of habitats with high prey availability. Owls spent more time in such habitats than in resource-poor habitats within their territories. Territory size was inversely related to the proportion of stubble field and the amount of "edge" habitat bordering stubble fields, on the territories. These findings are consistent with an earlier hypothesis that the size of feeding territories is regulated to provide the territory holder with a constant level of food. Juvenile females defended larger territories than did adult females, with higher proportions of nonpreferred habitats. We suggest that these differences result from the inexperience of juveniles in selecting and defending optimal winter territories. Article in Journal/Newspaper Nyctea scandiaca Canadian Science Publishing (via Crossref) Canadian Journal of Zoology 60 10 2344 2350 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Canadian Science Publishing (via Crossref) |
op_collection_id |
crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
topic |
Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
spellingShingle |
Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Boxall, Peter C. Lein, M. Ross Territoriality and habitat selection of female snowy owls ( Nyctea scandiaca ) in winter |
topic_facet |
Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
description |
Territoriality of snowy owls (Nyctea scandiaca) was investigated near Calgary, Alberta, in the winters of 1976–1977 and 1977–1978. Males appeared to be nomadic, although some individuals remained in small areas for periods of up to 17 days. Many females defended territories of 150–450 ha for periods of up to 80 days. Territories of females contained some habitats in excess of their proportion on the study area. This represents selection of habitats with high prey availability. Owls spent more time in such habitats than in resource-poor habitats within their territories. Territory size was inversely related to the proportion of stubble field and the amount of "edge" habitat bordering stubble fields, on the territories. These findings are consistent with an earlier hypothesis that the size of feeding territories is regulated to provide the territory holder with a constant level of food. Juvenile females defended larger territories than did adult females, with higher proportions of nonpreferred habitats. We suggest that these differences result from the inexperience of juveniles in selecting and defending optimal winter territories. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Boxall, Peter C. Lein, M. Ross |
author_facet |
Boxall, Peter C. Lein, M. Ross |
author_sort |
Boxall, Peter C. |
title |
Territoriality and habitat selection of female snowy owls ( Nyctea scandiaca ) in winter |
title_short |
Territoriality and habitat selection of female snowy owls ( Nyctea scandiaca ) in winter |
title_full |
Territoriality and habitat selection of female snowy owls ( Nyctea scandiaca ) in winter |
title_fullStr |
Territoriality and habitat selection of female snowy owls ( Nyctea scandiaca ) in winter |
title_full_unstemmed |
Territoriality and habitat selection of female snowy owls ( Nyctea scandiaca ) in winter |
title_sort |
territoriality and habitat selection of female snowy owls ( nyctea scandiaca ) in winter |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
1982 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z82-302 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z82-302 |
genre |
Nyctea scandiaca |
genre_facet |
Nyctea scandiaca |
op_source |
Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 60, issue 10, page 2344-2350 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/z82-302 |
container_title |
Canadian Journal of Zoology |
container_volume |
60 |
container_issue |
10 |
container_start_page |
2344 |
op_container_end_page |
2350 |
_version_ |
1785571724063932416 |