House SparrowsPasser domesticusand Tree SparrowsPasser montanus: Fine-Scale Distribution, Population Densities, and Habitat Selection in a Central European city

Abstract

Abstract. Populations of House and Tree Sparrows have rapidly declined in various breeding habitats throughout their European distribution range; however, the strongest decline was recorded within urban environments. In our study we investigated fine-scale distribution, population densities and habitat selection of both sparrow species within a 200 × 200 m squares in a medium sized city (Ceske Budějovice, Czech Republic) during the breeding season. The total population density of House and Tree Sparrow was 11.7 and 2.8 individuals/10 ha; however the densities of both sparrow species markedly differed among various urban units. The highest density of House Sparrow was recorded in residential areas (33.3 ind./10 ha) and Tree Sparrows were mostly found in garden colonies (10.3 ind./10 ha). After removing spatial effects, we found that numbers of both sparrows were negatively correlated with area of artificial surfaces (e.g. pavements, streets, railway networks or parking spaces) and positively correlated wit...