Meeting Abstract

P3-72  Tuesday, Jan. 6 15:30  Dear Enemies or Nasty Neighbors: Who is the bigger threat? Seasonal responses to territorial intrusions in Northern Cardinals GENTRY, K.M.*; JAWOR, J.M.; Univ. of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg; Univ. of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg kaylee.gentry@eagles.usm.edu

Several defensive theories explaining variation in territory protection exist. Two prevailing theories include the “dear enemy” and the “nasty neighbor” hypotheses where strangers or neighbors, respectively, are considered more of a territory threat. Northern Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) are a year-round territorial species that do not move between breeding and non-breeding territories, however they have not had a territorial strategy defined. This research reports on two seasons of simulated territory intrusions where territory holders were presented with song from a known neighbor (recorded from cardinals from contiguous territories) or outside population individuals (same geographic region). These intrusions were preformed in and out of the breeding season (spring and fall 2014). During the breeding season there is behavioral support for the “nasty neighbor” hypothesis. Territory holders exhibited more aggressive, longer lasting reactions to perceived neighbors than to that of strangers. At this time, data from the non-breeding season has not yet been collected. Potentially, as the structure of the population changes (e.g., more juvenile birds looking for territories in the fall) behavioral strategies may change as well in year-round territorial species that possess general use territories.