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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 33(2)

Fine-scale habitat use by the southern emu-wren (Stipiturus malachurus)

Grainne S. Maguire
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Department of Zoology, The University of Melbourne, Vic. 3010, Australia. Email: s.maguire@pgrad.unimelb.edu.au

Wildlife Research 33(2) 137-148 https://doi.org/10.1071/WR05040
Submitted: 22 April 2005  Accepted: 13 February 2006   Published: 12 April 2006

Abstract

Fine-scale variation in habitat structure and composition is likely to influence habitat use by avian species with limited flight capabilities. I investigated proportional use of available habitat and microhabitat by the southern emu-wren (Stipiturus malachurus), a threatened, flight-limited passerine, at three sites in Victoria, in relation to vegetation structure and composition. Emu-wrens appeared to discriminate between habitats with regard to structural rather than floristic characteristics. Habitats with dense vertical foliage of shrubs, grasses and sedges/rushes between ground level and 100 cm, and dense horizontal cover of medium to tall shrubs, were used most frequently. However, when availability of habitat was taken into account, habitat use was negatively correlated with the vertical density of low shrub foliage and species richness. Within habitats, emu-wrens more frequently used plant species that had a dense canopy cover (26 ± 2% of total cover, crown diameter 93 ± 5 cm), high foliage density between 50 and 100 cm, and average heights of ~1 m. Plant species in which the birds nested comprised ~14% of total canopy cover and were densest between ground level and 50 cm. Canopy cover, vegetation height and vertical foliage density were consistently important variables correlated with emu-wren habitat use at multiple fine-scales. This study provides valuable information for conservation management of the species; in particular, the restoration of degraded habitats.


Acknowledgments

I thank Graham Hepworth and Julian Di Stefano for statistical advice, and Gary Luck, David Morgan, Raoul Mulder and David Watson for comments on the manuscript. Thanks to Michael Rosier, Megan Hill, David Morton, Dylan Salamon, Ellen Mitchell, Sophy Allen and Richard Parker for assistance in the field. Special thanks to John Hill for help using ArcView. This research was supported by grants from Portland Aluminium, Stuart Leslie Bird Research Award (Birds Australia), Norman Wettenhall Foundation, Bird Observers Club of Australia (BOCA) and The Australian Geographic Society, and carried out under permit from the University of Melbourne’s Animal Experimentation Ethics Committee (Register No. 00055), Parks Victoria and the Department of Sustainability and Environment (Permit No. 10001755) and the Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme.


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