AVIS-IBIS

Birds of Indian Subcontinent

A re-evaluation of hotspot settlement in lekking sage grouse

Publication Type:Journal Article
Year of Publication:1996
Authors:Gibson, RM
Journal:Animal Behaviour
Volume:52
Issue:5
Date Published:1996
ISBN Number:0003-3472
Keywords:Centrocercus, Centrocercus urophasianus, Phasianidae
Abstract:Recent analyses of avian leks have come to conflicting conclusions concerning the role of male settlement on female traffic hotspots. This issue was re-examined in the sage grouse,Centrocercus urophasianus, using data on pre-nesting movements of radiotagged females and the dispersion of lekking males collected during a 10-year field study. As expected with hotspot settlement, leks were preferentially located in areas through which females travelled between wintering and nesting ranges before mating. In addition, the distribution of males among leks was related proximately to variation in numbers of females visiting each lek during the mating period and ultimately to numbers that nested within a 2-km radius, within which nesting hens were preferentially attracted. The results show both that hotspot settlement can explain certain coarse scale features of male dispersion, and that female behaviour during different stages of the pre-nesting period may influence particular components of male dispersion to differing extents.
URL:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000334729690247X
Short Title:Animal Behaviour
Taxonomic name: 
Scratchpads developed and conceived by (alphabetical): Ed Baker, Katherine Bouton Alice Heaton Dimitris Koureas, Laurence Livermore, Dave Roberts, Simon Rycroft, Ben Scott, Vince Smith