Territorial calls in the Little Owl (Athene noctua): Spatial dispersion and social interplay of mates and neighbours

Abstract

With the aim of quantifying spatio-temporal and social factors affecting territorial calls in LittleOwls,we collected data on the calling behaviour of radio tracked individuals froma low-density population in Northern Jutland, Denmark. There was considerable seasonal variation in calling activity.During the breeding season,males calling away fromthe nest were located in the direction of the neighbouring nesting site, andmaleswith a neighbour within hearing distance called more often than those with a longer distance to the nearest neighbour. Call posts were on average closer to the nest than telemetry observations, but did not appear to be related tomate distance.With a sound pressure level of 82 dB(A) at 1- m distance, the territorial calls were estimated to be audible to a distance of 4.4 km. Call posts were on average 4.1 mabove the ground, which probably maximizes the transmission distance.