Spatial Overlap and Habitat Selection of Corvid Species in European Cities

Abou Zeid, Farah and Morelli, Federico and Ibáñez-Álamo, Juan Diego and Díaz, Mario and Reif, Jiří and Jokimäki, Jukka and Suhonen, Jukka and Kaisanlahti-Jokimäki, Marja-Liisa and Markó, Gábor and Bussière, Raphaël and Mägi, Marko and Tryjanowski, Piotr and Kominos, Theodoros and Galanaki, Antonia and Bukas, Nikos and Pruscini, Fabio and Jerzak, Leszek and Ciebiera, Olaf and Benedetti, Yanina (2023) Spatial Overlap and Habitat Selection of Corvid Species in European Cities. ANIMALS, 13 (7). no.-1192. ISSN 2076-2615

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Abstract

Understanding habitat and spatial overlap in sympatric species of urban areas would aid in predicting species and community modifications in response to global change. Habitat overlap has been widely investigated for specialist species but neglected for generalists living in urban settings. Many corvid species are generalists and are adapted to urban areas. This work aimed to determine the urban habitat requirements and spatial overlap of five corvid species in sixteen European cities during the breeding season. All five studied corvid species had high overlap in their habitat selection while still having particular tendencies. We found three species, the Carrion/Hooded Crow, Rook, and Eurasian Magpie, selected open habitats. The Western Jackdaw avoided areas with bare soil cover, and the Eurasian Jay chose more forested areas. The species with similar habitat selection also had congruent spatial distributions. Our results indicate that although the corvids had some tendencies regarding habitat selection, as generalists, they still tolerated a wide range of urban habitats, which resulted in high overlap in their habitat niches and spatial distributions.

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