Use of space, foraging behaviour and strategies of survival among three coexisting species of fairy-wrens (Malurus)

Abstract

Superb, Malurus cyaneus, White-winged, M. leucopterus, and Variegated, M. lamberti, Fairy-wrens coexisting in a semi-arid environment at Booligal, New South Wales, partitioned their use of space. During drought, territories overlapped more than in good years. White-winged Fairy-wrens spent the most time sitting, showed the highest preference for sitting in bushes and allopreened the most. Superb Fairy-wrens foraged the most on the ground, moved up and down to different foraging stations the most rapidly and had the widest variety of foraging stations. White-winged Fairy-wrens foraged mostly on the outer parts of bushes; Variegated Fairy-wrens foraged on the innermost parts of bushes and spent the longest at a foraging station. White-winged Fairy-wrens flew the furthest to a new foraging site. When niche breadths for macrohabitat, foraging heights and foraging stations were represented on orthogonal axes, Variegated Fairy-wrens and White-winged Fairy-wrens are more alike in their use of space than either is to Superb Fairy-wrens and the greatest distance is between Superb and Variegated Fairy-wrens. In terms of survival strategies, Superb Fairy-wrens are ‘opportunists’, White-winged Fairy-wrens are ‘coasters’ and Variegated Fairy-wrens are ‘stayers’.