Forage, preen or fight? A study of interspecific water bird interactions at Crișul Repede River
Analyzing the behavior of birds offers insight into the conservation of biodiversity, a heavily discussed subject in the fields of ecology as well as ornithology. As it has been previously proven (Rushton et al., 1994), slow-flowing areas of rivers represent important habitats for birds all througho...
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Cluj University Press
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Studia Universitatis Babeș-Bolyai. Biologia |
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| Online Access: | https://studiabiologia.reviste.ubbcluj.ro/index.php/studiabio/article/view/268 |
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| author | Ana-Teodora ȘTEFAN Cristina CRAIOVEANU Alexandru Nicolae STERMIN |
| author_facet | Ana-Teodora ȘTEFAN Cristina CRAIOVEANU Alexandru Nicolae STERMIN |
| author_sort | Ana-Teodora ȘTEFAN |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Analyzing the behavior of birds offers insight into the conservation of biodiversity, a heavily discussed subject in the fields of ecology as well as ornithology. As it has been previously proven (Rushton et al., 1994), slow-flowing areas of rivers represent important habitats for birds all throughout the year and the conservation of this type of habitats has been known to have a positive effect on the population of many water bird species (Rolls et al., 2012). Therefore, this study explores the dynamic of interspecific interactions between water birds in open water areas from the Afon Peța portion of the Crișul Repede River in Bihor, Romania. We collected data over 8 months, from October 2022 to May 2023 and identified 23 bird species and three types of interactions between them: cooperation for foraging, for grooming, and aggression. The frequency of various interactions was directly proportional to the number of individuals observed on the area, however, we found no connection to the month or the season. Additionally, we detected no preference regarding the interaction partner species. We found a strong correlation between the number of individuals and the number of interactions in all species. The results obtained through this study will help broaden the knowledge about common aquatic bird species in the area, as well as the dynamic of behaviours over the course of three seasons.
Article history: Received 18 March 2025; Revised 7 June 2025;
Accepted 11 June 2025; Available online 25 June 2025 |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-add4abbffddc43c9b5c7ae03b7e92ebc |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2065-9512 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Cluj University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Studia Universitatis Babeș-Bolyai. Biologia |
| spelling | doaj-art-add4abbffddc43c9b5c7ae03b7e92ebc2025-08-20T03:50:44ZengCluj University PressStudia Universitatis Babeș-Bolyai. Biologia2065-95122025-06-0128730210.24193/subbbiol.2025.1.13268Forage, preen or fight? A study of interspecific water bird interactions at Crișul Repede RiverAna-Teodora ȘTEFAN0https://orcid.org/0009-0002-1842-2992Cristina CRAIOVEANU1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3683-2015Alexandru Nicolae STERMIN2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3351-6498Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden. ✉Corresponding author, E-mail: an5837st-s@student.lu.seCentre for Systems Biology, Biodiversity and Bioresources 3B, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, RomaniaCentre for Systems Biology, Biodiversity and Bioresources 3B, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, RomaniaAnalyzing the behavior of birds offers insight into the conservation of biodiversity, a heavily discussed subject in the fields of ecology as well as ornithology. As it has been previously proven (Rushton et al., 1994), slow-flowing areas of rivers represent important habitats for birds all throughout the year and the conservation of this type of habitats has been known to have a positive effect on the population of many water bird species (Rolls et al., 2012). Therefore, this study explores the dynamic of interspecific interactions between water birds in open water areas from the Afon Peța portion of the Crișul Repede River in Bihor, Romania. We collected data over 8 months, from October 2022 to May 2023 and identified 23 bird species and three types of interactions between them: cooperation for foraging, for grooming, and aggression. The frequency of various interactions was directly proportional to the number of individuals observed on the area, however, we found no connection to the month or the season. Additionally, we detected no preference regarding the interaction partner species. We found a strong correlation between the number of individuals and the number of interactions in all species. The results obtained through this study will help broaden the knowledge about common aquatic bird species in the area, as well as the dynamic of behaviours over the course of three seasons. Article history: Received 18 March 2025; Revised 7 June 2025; Accepted 11 June 2025; Available online 25 June 2025https://studiabiologia.reviste.ubbcluj.ro/index.php/studiabio/article/view/268aggressioncooperationcrișul repede riverinterspecific behaviourwater birds |
| spellingShingle | Ana-Teodora ȘTEFAN Cristina CRAIOVEANU Alexandru Nicolae STERMIN Forage, preen or fight? A study of interspecific water bird interactions at Crișul Repede River Studia Universitatis Babeș-Bolyai. Biologia aggression cooperation crișul repede river interspecific behaviour water birds |
| title | Forage, preen or fight? A study of interspecific water bird interactions at Crișul Repede River |
| title_full | Forage, preen or fight? A study of interspecific water bird interactions at Crișul Repede River |
| title_fullStr | Forage, preen or fight? A study of interspecific water bird interactions at Crișul Repede River |
| title_full_unstemmed | Forage, preen or fight? A study of interspecific water bird interactions at Crișul Repede River |
| title_short | Forage, preen or fight? A study of interspecific water bird interactions at Crișul Repede River |
| title_sort | forage preen or fight a study of interspecific water bird interactions at crisul repede river |
| topic | aggression cooperation crișul repede river interspecific behaviour water birds |
| url | https://studiabiologia.reviste.ubbcluj.ro/index.php/studiabio/article/view/268 |
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