Abstract
This study was conducted on January 3-4, 1970, in an area adjoining to Saga City in Kyushu to investigate the ecological segregation of five species of the Genus Emberiza, wintering in paddy fields. As the result of line transect censuses, all the five species of Emberiza: E. cioides, E. spodocephala, E. fucata, E. schoeniclus and E. rustica, were recorded along creeks running through paddy fields. The daytime dispersal and roosting activity of E. spodocephala was especially studied with 'time-mapping' method (Nakamura, 1969). Along the creeks, all the five species occurred but with the following ecological habitat segregations: E. schoeniclus, E. rustica and E. spodocephala among vegetations in the creek, E. cioides on the bank of the creek, E. fucata beyond the bank on the paddy fields where E. rustica was the only species that gathered in large flocks.
During the daytime, E. spodocephala spent principally in pairs and adhered to a home range of an area of about 10, 000m2-20, 000m2. Before sunset, 60-70% of its population wintering in the investigation area (1.8km2) flew to a communal roost in the reed bed of Ariake Bay. However, there were individuals of the population that remained by pairs or in small flocks within or near the daytime home range. Thus, we found two different roosting petterns in one wintering population of E. spodocephala.
