Bird and plant companion species predict breeding and migrant habitats of the genus Oenanthe

Abstract

Analysing companion species from unrelated taxa concentrated so far mainly on identifying biosurrogacy in terms of conservation biology. No study has investigated companion bird and plant species to predict breeding and migrant habitats of a bird genus. In this study we recorded and analysed companion bird and plant species of the breeding bird Cyprus Wheatear Oenanthe cypriaca and four migranting Oenanthe species on Cyprus. We found characteristic companion species in Cyprus Wheatear’s, Wheatear migrant’s and in control habitats where no Wheatears were present. We show that plant and bird companion species can be used as discriminating factors to predict breeding and migrant habitats of the genus Oenanthe on Cyprus. Furthermore, habitat preferences of Cyprus Wheatear’s companion species indicate bushy and vegetation rich habitats avoiding woodland on the one hand and managed farmland on the other hand. In comparison, migrant Wheatear and control habitats were characterised by companion species pointing to a high openness. These results support former habitat descriptions of Cyprus Wheatear and migrant Wheatears. In more general, this study shows that companion species from unrelated taxa can be used to predict breeding and migrant habitats of a bird genus.