Fidelity to non-breeding site in some species of birds in Senegal

Abstract

The authors report the results of observations and experiments on the site fidelity, home range and homing success in some species of birds captured and banded at the ORSTOM Ornithological Station of Mbour (Senegal) during the non-breeding season (November-December 1988 and 1989). While some bird species range over a wide area or are found in our study area only during migratory movements, most of the species investigated, which include both local birds and palaearctic migrants, display a tendency to spend the winter in a home plot of very limited size. In addition, homing experiments were carried out by displacing and releasing the birds at sites 5 km from the capture station. Globally, our results are in agreement with the reports on similar investigations in the Mediterranean area: among the species investigated, strong site fidelity, as revealed by high recapture percentages in non-displaced birds, does not necessarily lead to good homing performances after passive displacement. On the whole, the commonest species of small birds which spend the winter in our study plot show different kinds of relationship between individual birds and their habitat with respect to home range, site attachment and homing success.