Nightingales Luscinia megarhynchos in scrub habitats in the southern fens of East Anglia, England: associations with soil type and vegetation structure

Abstract

The southeast corner of the East Anglian Fens supports a large concentration of Nightingale Luscinia megarhynchos territories. A total of 382 territories were located in extensive surveys in 1999 and 2000, probably representing over 5% of the English population. Transect counts revealed that the Fenland population is restricted in distribution and is associated with localized thickets of scrub. The highest densities are found on humus‐rich soils, suggesting that soil type, in addition to habitat availability, may have a strong influence on the Nightingale's distribution in this region. This paper provides the first assessment of habitat requirements of the Nightingale in scrub, which now forms a principal habitat for the species in England. Detailed studies of the attributes of over 100 Nightingale territories revealed subtle differences in the vegetation structure of these thickets when compared with paired, unoccupied, but apparently similar thickets. The Nightingale territories tended to have a higher proportion of bare ground or short vegetation in the field layer under the canopy, whereas paired sites were more likely to have low field layer vegetation beneath the canopy. The bare ground within the thickets is a feature of shading beneath very dense foliage cover. Within Nightingale territories, low field layer volume and shrub twig volume at the thicket edges was higher than in unoccupied thickets. The differences detected in vegetation structure suggest that a dense and continuous canopy forming a shell over bare ground but with dense low foliage at thicket edges provides the ideal vegetation structure for Nightingales in scrub habitats. Our study suggests that Nightingales occupy scrub of a very specific structure, and specific stage in vegetation succession. This structure probably provides an optimal combination of foraging habitat, microclimate and cover from predators. It is suggested that humus‐rich soils may be preferred because they may support a particularly rich source of invertebrate food, but this remains to be tested empirically.

Describing Habitat Occupation by Woodland Birds with Territory Mapping and Remotely Sensed Data: An Example Using the Marsh Tit (Poecile palustris)

“…The study of occupation patterns is a common approach to identify variation in habitat quality for birds (Johnson 2007) and typically involves the measurement or classification of vegetation structure or composition (e.g., Wilson et al 2005, Arriero et al 2006. Characterizing forest or woodland vegetation can be problematic, however, because of the strongly heterogeneous and three-dimensional environment (Hinsley et al 2002.…”

Relationships between patterns of habitat cover and the historical distribution of the Marsh Tit, Willow Tit and Lesser Spotted Woodpecker in Britain

“…However, the decline of some woodland bird species has also generated significant interest (R.J. Fuller et al, 2005) and site-based investigations have been undertaken for some species of conservation priority (Hinsley et al, 2007;Holt et al, 2010;Stewart, 2010). While some woodland bird studies incorporated a spatial element (Charman et al, 2010), targeted largescale analyses of the relationships between landscape composition and the distribution of declining woodland species remain rare (Wilson et al, 2005).…”

“…While some woodland bird studies incorporated a spatial element (Charman et al, 2010), targeted largescale analyses of the relationships between landscape composition and the distribution of declining woodland species remain rare (Wilson et al, 2005).…”

“…These species underwent substantial population declines (> 60%) and contractions in range from the 1970s in Britain (Gibbons et al, 1993;Baillie et al, 2010), the causes of which remain unknown (R.J. Fuller et al, 2005). The species were chosen on the basis of their territorial and non-migratory behaviour within the wider group of declining woodland birds (Cramp, 1985;Cramp and Perrins, 1993).…”

Concealed diversity : taxonomical, phytogeographical and phytosociological notes on brambles (Rubus L. subgen. Rubus) in north-west Europe

“…The suitability of bramble scrubs for nesting birds might probably be depending on the architecture or growth form of the constituting Rubus species, since this influences vegetation, a factor that has shown to influence the suitability as nesting habitat to a large extent (see e.g. Wilson et al 2005). Low growing species, like R. iuvenis, R. oreades, R. bellardii, R. picearum and R. ignoratus can form dense knee-or even only ankle-high 'blanket' scrubs in clearings of ancient forests (Haveman et al 2014b).…”