Spatial Overlap and Habitat Selection of Corvid Species in European Cities
Farah Abou Zeid,
Federico Morelli,
Juan Diego Ibáñez-Álamo,
Mario Díaz,
Jiří Reif,
Jukka Jokimäki,
Jukka Suhonen,
Marja-Liisa Kaisanlahti-Jokimäki,
Gábor Markó,
Raphaël Bussière,
Marko Mägi,
Piotr Tryjanowski,
Theodoros Kominos,
Antonia Galanaki,
Nikos Bukas,
Fabio Pruscini,
Leszek Jerzak,
Olaf Ciebiera,
Yanina Benedetti
Affiliations
Farah Abou Zeid
Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, 165 00 Prague, Czech Republic
Federico Morelli
Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, 165 00 Prague, Czech Republic
Juan Diego Ibáñez-Álamo
Department of Zoology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain
Mario Díaz
Department of Biogeography and Global Change, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (BGC-MNCN-CSIC), 28006 Madrid, Spain
Jiří Reif
Institute for Environmental Studies, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Benatska 2, 128 01 Praha, Czech Republic
Jukka Jokimäki
Nature Inventory and EIA-Services, Arctic Centre, University of Lapland, P.O. Box 122, 96101 Rovaniemi, Finland
Jukka Suhonen
Department of Biology, University of Turku, 20014 Turku, Finland
Marja-Liisa Kaisanlahti-Jokimäki
Nature Inventory and EIA-Services, Arctic Centre, University of Lapland, P.O. Box 122, 96101 Rovaniemi, Finland
Gábor Markó
Department of Plant Pathology, Institute of Plant Protection, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Ménesi út 44, 1118 Budapest, Hungary
Raphaël Bussière
4 Route de la Loge, 86800 Liniers, France
Marko Mägi
Department of Zoology, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, 50409 Tartu, Estonia
Piotr Tryjanowski
Institute of Zoology, Poznań University of Life Sciences, Wojska Polskiego 71C, 60-625 Poznań, Poland
Theodoros Kominos
Department of Zoology, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Antonia Galanaki
Department of Zoology, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Nikos Bukas
Plegadis, Riga Feraiou 6A, 45444 Ioannina, Greece
Fabio Pruscini
S. C. della Pantiera 23, 61029 Pantiera, Italy
Leszek Jerzak
Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Zielona Góra, Prof. Z. Szafrana St. 1, 65-516 Zielona Góra, Poland
Olaf Ciebiera
Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Zielona Góra, Prof. Z. Szafrana St. 1, 65-516 Zielona Góra, Poland
Yanina Benedetti
Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, 165 00 Prague, Czech Republic
Understanding habitat and spatial overlap in sympatric species of urban areas would aid in predicting species and community modifications in response to global change. Habitat overlap has been widely investigated for specialist species but neglected for generalists living in urban settings. Many corvid species are generalists and are adapted to urban areas. This work aimed to determine the urban habitat requirements and spatial overlap of five corvid species in sixteen European cities during the breeding season. All five studied corvid species had high overlap in their habitat selection while still having particular tendencies. We found three species, the Carrion/Hooded Crow, Rook, and Eurasian Magpie, selected open habitats. The Western Jackdaw avoided areas with bare soil cover, and the Eurasian Jay chose more forested areas. The species with similar habitat selection also had congruent spatial distributions. Our results indicate that although the corvids had some tendencies regarding habitat selection, as generalists, they still tolerated a wide range of urban habitats, which resulted in high overlap in their habitat niches and spatial distributions.