Bird and plant companion species predict breeding and migrant habitats of the genus Oenanthe

Analysing companion species from unrelated taxa concentrated so far mainly on identifying biosurrogacy in terms ofconservation biology. No study has investigated companion bird and plant species to predict breeding and migranthabitats of a bird genus. In this study we recorded and analysed companion bird and plant species of the breeding birdCyprus Wheatear Oenanthe cypriaca and four migranting Oenanthe species on Cyprus. We found characteristic companionspecies in Cyprus Wheatear’s, Wheatear migrant’s and in control habitats where no Wheatears were present.We show that plant and bird companion species can be used as discriminating factors to predict breeding and migranthabitats of the genus Oenanthe on Cyprus. Furthermore, habitat preferences of Cyprus Wheatear’s companion speciesindicate bushy and vegetation rich habitats avoiding woodland on the one hand and managed farmland on the otherhand. In comparison, migrant Wheatear and control habitats were characterised by companion species pointing to ahigh openness. These results support former habitat descriptions of Cyprus Wheatear and migrant Wheatears. In moregeneral, this study shows that companion species from unrelated taxa can be used to predict breeding and migranthabitats of a bird genus.