The birds of Pasvik / E. I. Khlebosolov, O. A. Makarova, O. A. Khlebosolova [et al. ; English transl. Nikita Chernetsov]. - Ryazan : Golosgubernii, 2007. - 175 с. : ил., портр.

the crown and under the crowns (Fig. 3.8). Therefore sparse stands, no shrub and undergrowth, the presence of open ground provide good visibility and suitable conditions for food search and foraging (Shemyakina 2002). When feeding, Redstarts usually make quick flights between the branch­ es, look for prey and pick it after a rush to the substrate, or when hovering, or fater a “take-off — pick - landing” manoeuvre or manoeuvring flight in the air (Fig. 3.9). After looking for prey, a Eurasian Redstart often rushes to the branches below it or to the ground. After descent, the bird may continue to hunt there and pick the food after searching for prey and a series o f hops on the ground (Shemyakina 2002). Redstarts refrain from moving on thin twigs. To get the prey from leaves, needles, or grass, they use, apart from short flights, the hovering or the “take­ o ff — pick — landing” manoeuvre. Sometimes the bird hunts under the tree crowns. Thus, Redstarts equally often for­ age under the crowns and on the ground and in the branches in the lower parts of tree crowns (Shemyakina 2002). The data presented above show a clear ecological difference between the Willow Warbler, Brambling, and Eurasian Redstart. Their co-existence without pronounced competitive exclusion is facilitated by the specific way o f resource exploitation. All the three species forage by their specific methods and occur in their specific microhabitats. Willow Warblers forage in rather dense tree crowns where branches and leaves grow in various directions and form no horizontal or ver­ tical layers. Such conditions occur mainly in birch crowns. Willow Warblers prefer pure birch forests or mixed stands with a high proportion of birch. Bramblings select loose tree crowns and inhabit medium-aged and mature birch, pine, and mixed forests. For this species, tree age and growing conditions, rather than their specific composition, are important. Eurasian Redstarts forage in the lower part of «/ Figure 3.8. Use o f different substrates by Eurasian Redstarts in pine forest. Arrows show directions o f flights: 1 - to the air, 2 — to the ground, 3 — to the grass, 4 - to tree trunks and other vertical substrates, 5 — to boughs or other horizontal substrates, 6 - to thin twigs, 7 —to needles (Shemyakina 2002). 127