TERRITORY AND INDIVIDUAL DISTANCE IN THE CHAFFINCH FRINGILLA COELEBS

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Abstract
Summary.: Male and female Chaffinches defend two types of area, territory, and “individual distance.” Territories are held mainly in the breeding season and are defended from birds of the same sex. The mean size of seventeen territories was 6,700 sq. m. The smallest, in open marginal habitats, were defended more fiercely than larger ones. The territory does not provide much food for young or adults, except perhaps in times of emergency. It may help in concealment from predators.Individual distance is a small measurable area around the bird carried wherever it goes. Throughout the year intruders within it are rarely tolerated. Both colours and behaviour affect how close an intruder may come. Individual‐distance behaviour is probably most important in competition for food in winter, but it is significant in other contexts. It is developmentally related to territorialism, and may be an evolutionary precursor of the passerine territory.