Habitat use, survival, and migration of a little-known East Asian endemic, the yellow-throated bunting Emberiza elegans

Abstract

Basic information on the ecology of species is key for their conservation. Here we study the ecology of the little-known yellow-throated bunting Emberiza elegans based on a multi-year study on its breeding grounds in the Russian Far East. For the first time in this species, we quantified breeding habitat parameters, calculated sex-specific apparent survival, and determined individual nonbreeding locations using light-level geolocation. We found that the habitat around song posts of male yellow-throated buntings is characterized by tree and shrub layers on richly littered moist ground. Habitat use overlaps with co-occurring Tristram's Buntings Emberiza tristrami and Black-faced Buntings E. spodocephala, but territories differ especially in tree cover and litter cover. Based on 4 years of color-ringing data of 72 individuals, we calculated an apparent survival rate of 36%, with higher survival estimates for male than for female yellow-throated buntings. We found no effect of carrying a geolocator on survival. We retrieved six geolocators from males. All birds migrated south-westward during autumn and spent the nonbreeding season at locations in China 700-1700 km away from their breeding sites. At least two individuals spent the boreal winter outside of the known range in northern or central China. Birds left the breeding area between early October and early November and returned between mid-March and mid-April. Our data on habitat use, survival rate, and migratory connectivity will help to assess threats to the populations of this enigmatic species, which might include habitat loss due to forest fires on the breeding grounds, and unsustainable harvest for consumption during the nonbreeding season.