Territorial Clustering in the Blue-black Grassquit: Reproductive Strategy in Response to Habitat and Food Requirements?

Abstract

Abstract. A phenomenon currently not well understood is the reproduction of some species in clustered territories. We evaluated two ecological hypotheses (material-resources and predation hypotheses) that could explain cluster formation during reproduction of the Blue-black Grassquit (Volatinia jacarina), a socially monogamous bird with a high rate of extra-pair fertilization. Additionally, we considered the breeding synchrony of females, since synchronization may serve as a means of diluting predation. To this end, we compared the breeding synchrony of females in clusters to that of those in solitary territories. We found support for the material-resources hypothesis in terms of vegetation structure and food availability: territories were clustered in habitat with more food and a more complex vegetation structure. Breeding synchrony of females in clusters was higher than that of females in solitary territories, but probably not as a mechanism to dilute predation: pairs within clusters suffered lower repr...