山西平陆越冬大天鹅日间行为模式

2011年12月至2012年2月和2012年11月至2013年1月,采用瞬时扫描法,对山西平陆黄河湿地越冬的大天鹅进行了日间行为时间分配和活动节律的研究。结果表明,大天鹅在越冬期的主要行为是静息、运动和取食,分别占全部行为比例的(40.5±1.4)%、(22.8±0.9)%和(18.2±0.8)%。在日间节律方面,大天鹅的取食行为呈现早晚双高峰,静息行为的高峰则出现在早上和中午。对不同地点的大天鹅的行为时间分配研究表明,大天鹅在两地的行为时间分配存在明显差异。其中,在干扰强度较大的三湾村,运动和争斗行为更多;在干扰较小的关家窝村,静息和警戒行为更多。在行为时间分配与温度变化关系的研究中,通过Pearson相关性分析发现,大天鹅的取食、运动和理羽行为与温度成显著正相关,静息和警戒行为与温度呈现显著负相关。     

贵州草海越冬斑头雁日间行为模式及环境因素对行为的影响

2011年12月至2012年2月,在贵州省威宁县草海国家级自然保护区,采用瞬时扫描取样法对越冬斑头雁(Anser indicus)种群进行了日间行为时间分配和活动节律的研究.结果表明,斑头雁越冬期间的主要行为是取食和静息,分别占50.48％和43.79％,并呈现出早上和傍晚的双取食高峰,中午的静息高峰.各时间段的取食、静息和饮水行为存在显著差异.对不同生境中斑头雁行为的统计结果表明,在陆地生境中的主要行为是取食,在浅水沼泽生境中的主要行为是静息,推测食物丰富度和干扰水平是影响不同栖息地行为模式的主要因素.利用偏相关分析环境温度和湿度对斑头雁行为的影响表明,气温是影响斑头雁日间行为模式的主要因素.气温升高时,斑头雁增加静息行为减少取食行为;气温降低时则减少静息行为增加取食行为.     

包头南海湿地保护区大天鹅春季行为时间分配及日活动节律

2013年1月11日—3月17日,2014年2月10日—4月15日,采用焦点动物观察法和瞬时扫描法,对内蒙古包头南海湿地保护区内大天鹅Cygnus cygnus的昼间行为进行观察。结果表明:大天鹅的主要行为有取食、休息、运动、保养、警戒和其他,共计6类12种。在时间分配方面,大天鹅主要用于取食(45.8%)、休息(34.1%)、运动(11.1%)和保养(6.8%)行为,且4种行为有明显的节律性变化。另外,1—2月和3—4月取食、休息和保养行为差异有统计学意义(P<0.05),而运动行为差异无统计学意义(P>0.05)。相关分析表明:除警戒行为外,其他行为之间存在显著相关性。1—2月为越冬期,大天鹅主要时间用于休息,3—4月为迁徙期,大天鹅主要时间用于取食,为再次迁徙积累能量。     

三门峡湿地成幼大天鹅昼间越冬行为差异分析

冬季幼鸟与成鸟面临着不同的生存压力,成鸟负责照顾幼鸟使其获得最大的生存率,这使得它们的行为选择不同。2016年12月—2017年3月,在河南省三门峡湿地,采用瞬时扫描法记录了成、幼大天鹅Cygnus cygnus的行为类型,并对越冬期成、幼大天鹅昼间行为选择的差异进行了分析。结果表明,在整个越冬期,成鸟占比最高的行为是警戒(29.1%),并高于幼鸟(18.5%);幼鸟占比最高的行为是运动(22.7%),并高于成鸟(18.2%)。对不同越冬阶段的行为差异分析表明,成鸟在越冬初期占比最高的行为是警戒(27.6%),幼鸟的是觅食(26.5%)。在越冬初期,幼鸟经过长时间的迁徙,急需补充能量,因此觅食行为占比最高,此时成鸟为保护幼鸟的安全,在警戒上的时间较其他行为更多;进入越冬中期,成、幼鸟的警戒行为均有所增加(成鸟:32.3%;幼鸟:20.8%),占比最高,此时湖面结冰,大天鹅受到天敌攻击的几率增加,因此成、幼鸟警戒行为均有所增加,且此时天然食物减少,成、幼鸟的觅食行为有所下降(成鸟:8.8%;幼鸟:13.5%),并增加了休息时间,以减少能量消耗来抵御严寒;到了越冬后期,成鸟的警戒行为(27.2%)仍是占比最高的行为,但与前期、中期相比,后期有所下降,幼鸟占比最高的行为是运动(26.3%),如飞行等,此时春季迁徙即将来临,幼鸟需要增加运动来锻炼飞行能力;成鸟此时也需积累能量,因此警戒行为与其他2个时期相比有所下降。在整个越冬阶段,成鸟警戒的比例都是最高的,表明成鸟始终以减少觅食和休息时间来保证幼鸟的安全作为首要任务。     

黄河三门峡库区越冬大天鹅的种群现状

2015年初,黄河三门峡库区发生了大天鹅(Cygnus cygnus)等野鸟感染高致病性禽流感病毒的疫情,我们通过对三门峡大天鹅越冬种群的监测和环志回收的分析,了解大天鹅的越冬种群现状和活动状况,希望研究结果有助于我国对大天鹅种群的保护。调查表明,近些年来大天鹅越冬种群数量呈上升趋势,特别是三门峡天鹅湖由2010年410只增加到2014年6 317只,大天鹅种群数量在12月中旬至翌年1月达到高峰,2月下旬陆续离开,至3月下旬全部北迁。根据彩色颈环标记的回收结果,大天鹅对三门峡库区作为越冬地的选择是较为稳定的,不同个体在库区内的各地点之间还存在游荡行为,此外,还观察到带有彩色颈环的119只个体,已经被证实是由蒙古北部和中部的19个湖泊迁徙而来。三门峡湿地公园大天鹅越冬种群数量增加较快,是由于湖泊水质改善且人为大量投食玉米饲料,吸引了众多大天鹅前来越冬。蒙古环志的大天鹅连续多年在三门峡库区越冬也间接反映了这里有良好的栖息环境和丰富的食物资源。然而,初步推测,2015年这次大天鹅感染禽流感病毒可能与种群密度过高有较大的关系,建议当地政府合理投食补饲,不要盲目追求较多的种群数量;同时采取合理有效的措施促进大天鹅种群扩散,如在附近建立适宜的栖息地,这对于大天鹅种群保护具有重要意义。     

中华秋沙鸭越冬行为时间分配及日活动节律

2007年12月-2008年1月和2008年11-12月,在江西省境内4条主要河流及其支流对中华秋沙鸭(Mergus squamatus)越冬期的各种行为活动节律及时间分配进行了实地调查研究。结果表明:中华秋沙鸭越冬期的主要行为有取食、游泳、理羽、静息、睡眠、游戏、飞行和观察。其中取食、游泳、理羽、静息呈明显的节律性变化,且取食与静息呈相反的节律变化;睡眠、飞行、游戏和观察没有明显的节律性变化。取食在7:00-8:00、10:00-11:00、12:00-13:00有明显的峰值,峰值平均间隔2.3h,其它时段具相近取食频次,且上午高于下午。睡眠和静息下午发生频次明显高于上午,并呈现节律性变化,对应3个取食高峰表现为低频次。行为时间分配如下:取食(46%),游泳(23%),理羽(9%)、静息和睡眠(各占8%)、飞行(4%)、游戏(2%)和观察(0.5%)。越冬期中华秋沙鸭大量时间用于取食,意图是为了积累能量。相关分析表明:取食与睡眠的发生呈显著负相关(R=-0.73,df=8,P0.05);取食与飞行的发生呈显著正相关(R=0.70,df=8,P0.05);理羽与静息的发生呈极显著正相关(R=0.88,df=8,P0.01);其他各种行为之间无显著相关性。     

基于卫星跟踪大天鹅春季迁徙时间及其影响因素

候鸟春季迁徙时间与其能否顺利完成迁徙过程,以及对繁殖地的成功选择和繁殖成效密切相关,通过对大天鹅越冬地和停歇地的春季迁徙时间选择原因及其影响因素进行分析,有助于深入理解候鸟春季迁徙时间策略和栖息地保护状况。2015年2月和12月,在河南三门峡湿地捕捉了60只越冬大天鹅并佩戴卫星跟踪器,获取了详细的大天鹅在越冬地和停歇地的春季迁徙时间等信息,并进一步分析了春季迁徙时间与气候因子的相关性。结果表明,大天鹅主要在夜间22：00-0：00和0：00-1：59迁离越冬地。大天鹅迁离越冬地的日期与温度呈显著性正相关,迁离时多选择顺风且风速较小的天气。大天鹅迁离越冬地后主要是在夜间飞行,而迁离停歇地后主要是在日间飞行。越冬地的温度越高,越有利于植物的生长,大天鹅可以快速地积累能量,提前开始春季迁徙。野外调查表明,内蒙古黄河中上游作为迁徙的重要停歇地,春季两岸捕鱼、农耕和放牧等为活动较多,因此大天鹅多选择在夜间觅食补充能量,在日间迁离。最后,针对黄河流域大天鹅栖息地的保护现状,提出了禁止经济开发项目、建立保护区和开展宣传教育等保护建议。     

青海湖棕头鸥(Larus brunnicephalus)夏秋季活动区研究

2006年4～9月,采用无线电遥测技术对青海湖重要繁殖水鸟棕头鸥(Larus brunnicephalus)在不同繁殖阶段的活动性,以及与人和鸟的关系进行了研究.对6只棕头鸥个体的遥测结果表明,繁殖初期棕头鸥的活动区较大,进入繁殖中期,活动区明显变小;随后繁殖后期的活动区面积有所增加,到了迁徙前期,活动区面积已接近繁殖初期.不同阶段活动区核心面积(50%Fixed Kernel)与活动区变化趋势基本一致.繁殖初期、中期、后期和迁徙前期活动区面积分别为(15.48 km2±4.54 km2)、(1.61 km2±0.41 km2)、(3.53 km2±2.63 km2)和(11.61 km2±9.36 km2).棕头鸥在不同繁殖阶段的日活动区大小有显著差异.繁殖初期,棕头鸥经常活动于鸬鹚岛、蛋岛和布哈河口,它们都是棕头鸥较好的取食地,鸬鹚岛和蛋岛由于有许多游客投喂食物;在繁殖中期,棕头鸥进入孵化阶段,活动区较繁殖前期明显缩小.由于湟鱼返回布哈河口一带产卵繁殖,棕头鸥经常聚集在此地取食;在繁殖后期,棕头鸥需要寻找大量的食物进行育雏,因此活动范围再度扩大;进入迁徙前期,幼鸟已经长大并学会飞翔,其活动区进一步扩大,与繁殖初期较为接近.     

云南大山包黑颈鹤日间越冬时间分配和活动节律

2006年10月—2007年4月采用瞬时扫描取样法对云南省昭通市大山包黑颈鹤国家级自然保护区内越冬的黑颈鹤(Grus nigricollis)种群进行了越冬时间分配和日间活动节律的研究。取食是黑颈鹤越冬期间最主要的行为,占(53.05±4.93)%,其次为警戒(18.75±2.65)%、搜寻(10.38±1.34)%和休整(10.32±4.93)%,其余行为依次为:行走(4.90±1.59)%、飞行(1.70±0.38)%、其他(0.55±0.41)%、争斗(0.36±0.25)%。黑颈鹤的出飞时间与日出时间、飞回时间与日落时间分别具有显著的正相关和负相关关系。越冬期间黑颈鹤日间各时间段(1h)(09:00—18:00)和各月份间(2006.11—2007.03)行为差异极显著(P<0.05),并呈现出上午和下午取食双峰、中午休息高峰的规律性变化。气温高时黑颈鹤增加休整时间减少取食时间;气温低时则减少休整时间增加取食时间。偏相关分析说明:环境温度独立地对越冬时间分配产生影响,湿度通过温度对黑颈鹤越冬时间分配产生相反的影响。     

不同天气条件下青头潜鸭越冬期行为的响应模式

2018年11—12月在河南民权国家湿地公园,采用定点观察法、扫描取样法对越冬青头潜鸭在不同天气条件下的行为响应模式进行研究。结果表明: 在晴天,静息、飞行、运动是青头潜鸭越冬期的优势行为(65.5%),觅食、修整是次要行为(31.9%);行为节律表现为上午觅食、中午静息、下午觅食修整;飞行通常发生在觅食高峰前,运动行为多与其他行为相伴,其时间分配与觅食呈正响应,与静息呈负响应。相较于晴天,阴雨天青头潜鸭增加了对静息和觅食的时间分配,静息、觅食和运动为阴雨天的主要行为(76.5%),修整、飞行为次要行为(20.3%);觅食和静息的高峰时段后移,傍晚时达到高峰,飞行和修整时间显著减少。与晴天相比,雾霭天青头潜鸭静息、觅食、运动和修整的时间分配增加,飞行行为减少;觅食高峰后移至中午和下午,静息高峰后移至下午;静息、运动和觅食为雾霭天的优势行为(70.6%),修整和飞行为次要行为(27.5%)。研究表明,不同天气条件下,民权湿地公园青头潜鸭的越冬期行为在时间分配、行为节律、优势行为方面存在一定的响应;阴雨天和雾霭天青头潜鸭会分配更多的静息和觅食时间,并通过增加能量摄入和减少耗能行为应对恶劣天气。     

Blood lead levels in wintering and moulting Icelandic whooper swans over two decades

Lead poisoning of waterfowl through the ingestion of spent gunshot and discarded anglers' weights continues to be a problem worldwide. We took blood samples from 363 whooper swans Cygnus cygnus at wintering sites in Britain and Ireland and at moulting sites in Iceland during 2001–2005, and analysed them for total blood lead. Lead levels were generally low in swans in Iceland; 6% of samples exceeded 1.21  μ mol L⁻¹, the level indicative of elevated lead and above background levels. The proportion of swans with elevated lead was much higher in the wintering range, varying between 43 and 70% at three sites monitored over the winters 2003/2004–2005/2006, and with blood lead levels ranging up to 19.6  μ mol L⁻¹. The highest levels were in samples taken from swans in Scotland, with a mean value of 3.0  μ mol L⁻¹, but nevertheless they indicated a marked decrease compared with blood lead levels measured for whooper swans at the same site 20 years ago. There also appeared to be a significant long-term decrease in the proportion of swans with elevated blood lead in Iceland, from 60% of birds in 1984 to 8% in 2005, although this may be due to the birds being caught in different parts of Iceland. The most likely source of elevated lead in whooper swans is spent gunshot. Management measures to reduce the impact of lead in the environment on the birds are discussed.     

Wintering site fidelity and movement patterns of Western Sandpipers Calidris mauri in the San Francisco Bay estuary

Western Sandpipers Calidris mauri are the most numerous shorebird species in the San Francisco Bay estuary during winter. A sample of 106 Western Sandpipers was captured in mist nets and radio-marked with 1-g transmitters to examine their wintering site fidelity and movements. Differences in distances moved, home range extent and core area size were examined by age, sex, season, site, time of day and tide. All birds remained in the south San Francisco Bay region during winter and exhibited strong site fidelity, with a mean home range of 22.0 km² or only 8% of the study area. First-year birds had larger home ranges (26.6 ± 3.6 km²) than adults (17.2 ± 2.5 km²) in winter, but home range sizes of males and females were not significantly different in any period. Home range sizes were similar between seasons, but core areas were smaller in spring (6.3 ± 1.2 km²) than in early (9.6 ± 4.0 km²) or late (11.6 ± 1.6 km²) winter. Movements and home range size were similar for radio-marked birds located during day and night. The high degree of regional and local site fidelity demonstrated that the mixture of natural mud fiats and artificial salt ponds in southern San Francisco Bay provided sufficient resources for large wintering populations of Western Sandpipers.     

Abundance-range size relationships of breeding and wintering birds in Britain: a comparative analysis

Both breeding and wintering assemblages of birds in Britain exhibit positive interspecific relationships between population size and geographic range size, such that the average density of species is greater if they are more widely distributed Species in common to both assemblages, that is resident species, had greater population sizes, geographic range sizes, and densities in winter In contrast, whilst winter migrants had higher abundances than summer migrants, the range sizes of the former were disproportionately larger still, resulting in a lower density for species that only winter in Britain than for those that only breed Such differences aside, the overall form of the abundance-range size relationship is remarkably similar between the two assemblages and their constituent subsets of species     

Migration of Whooper Swans and Outbreaks of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1 Virus in Eastern Asia

Evaluating the potential involvement of wild avifauna in the emergence of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 (hereafter H5N1) requires detailed analyses of temporal and spatial relationships between wild bird movements and disease emergence. The death of wild swans (Cygnus spp.) has been the first indicator of the presence of H5N1 in various Asian and European countries; however their role in the geographic spread of the disease remains poorly understood. We marked 10 whooper swans (Cygnus cygnus) with GPS transmitters in northeastern Mongolia during autumn 2006 and tracked their migratory movements in relation to H5N1 outbreaks. The prevalence of H5N1 outbreaks among poultry in eastern Asia during 2003–2007 peaked during winter, concurrent with whooper swan movements into regions of high poultry density. However outbreaks involving poultry were detected year round, indicating disease perpetuation independent of migratory waterbird presence. In contrast, H5N1 outbreaks involving whooper swans, as well as other migratory waterbirds that succumbed to the disease in eastern Asia, tended to occur during seasons (late spring and summer) and in habitats (areas of natural vegetation) where their potential for contact with poultry is very low to nonexistent. Given what is known about the susceptibility of swans to H5N1, and on the basis of the chronology and rates of whooper swan migration movements, we conclude that although there is broad spatial overlap between whooper swan distributions and H5N1 outbreak locations in eastern Asia, the likelihood of direct transmission between these groups is extremely low. Thus, our data support the hypothesis that swans are best viewed as sentinel species, and moreover, that in eastern Asia, it is most likely that their infections occurred through contact with asymptomatic migratory hosts (e.g., wild ducks) at or near their breeding grounds.     

云南纳帕海湿地越冬斑头雁活动区

活动区范围反映了动物在个体水平上的空间需求,开展相关研究对物种保护以及理解动物与环境之间的关系具有重要意义。于2017、2018和2019年共3个越冬季,在云南纳帕海湿地对7只斑头雁（Anser indicus）进行了卫星遥测,运用动态布朗桥模型构建了斑头雁越冬期活动区,并结合遥感技术分析了水域面积变化对斑头雁活动区的影响。结果表明：所跟踪斑头雁的总活动区域中有54.7%位于保护区范围内,其余活动区域则分布于保护区外围的草地或沼泽中;斑头雁越冬期的平均活动区面积和核心活动区面积分别为（5.98 ± 0.63）km2和（0.55 ± 0.12）km2（n = 8,2017年越冬季1只个体数据、2018年越冬季6只个体数据和2019年越冬季1只个体数据）,核心活动区面积仅占活动区面积的9.2%;最大活动区面积为8.22 km2,最小仅为3.38 km2,最大核心活动区面积为1.21 km2,最小为0.12 km2;斑头雁活动区面积受纳帕海湿地水域面积变化影响较大,随着水域由南向北退缩,沼泽及草甸增多,斑头雁的活动范围变大,且会向着水域退减的方向移动;2639号斑头雁在2018年和2019年两年越冬季相同时间段的活动区面积和分布均存在显著差异,2018年越冬季活动区的面积（5.98 km2）小于2019年（8.22 km2）,核心活动区的面积（0.61 km2）同样也小于2019年（1.21 km2）,并且其两年越冬季活动区面积的重叠度指数IO仅为0.31。鉴于斑头雁是H5N1高致病性禽流感的重要携带者和传播者,建议保护区增加保护区管理范围,对与斑头雁活动区重合较大的村庄,包括云南省迪庆州香格里拉市建塘镇的开松、纳公和打日觉等重点管理,避免家猪与斑头雁混群觅食,倡导在冬季时对家猪进行圈养,防止可能引起的禽流感交叉传播。     

Species-range size distributions in Britain

The detailed forms of species-range size distributions in Britain are determined and contrasted for ten taxonomic assemblages (liverworts, vascular plants, molluscs [aquatic and terrestrial], dragonflies, macro-moths. butterflies, birds [breeding and wintering], mammals). All are strongly right-skewed when range sizes are untransformed. A logarithmic transformation fails to normalise the distribution for all but one group, and the distributions for several groups are not readily normalised at all. Taxa with larger median range sizes have species-range size distributions that are less strongly right-skewed. The median observed range sizes of species in each of the taxonomic groups fall, in terms of decreasing range size, in the sequence wintering birds < breeding birds < mammals < butterflies < terrestrial molluscs < dragonflies < aquatic molluscs < vascular plants < moths < liverworts. Despite the difficulties in deriving a simple and sensible mechanistic model for range size distributions, this is likely to be the most important next step towards understanding their forms.     

Population Structure of Tundra Swans Wintering in Eastern North America

ABSTRACT Our objective was to determine whether there were subpopulations within the eastern population of tundra swans (Cygnus columbianus columbianus) wintering along the mid-Atlantic coast. Movement rates between regions were substantial enough to result in continual mixing of wintering birds. Thus, we were unable to identify distinct subpopulations based on exclusive use of specific wintering areas. These birds should therefore be monitored, and their harvest managed, as if they were one population.     

Home range size of willow tits: a response to winter habitat loss

We examined the behavioral response to habitat loss and fragmentation of willow tits (Parus montanus) in winter in a mosaic forest landscape in northern Finland. We studied habitat preference, flock size and home range size of 16 flocks, half of which had their territories in forests fragmented by forestry and half in continuous forest. We predicted that birds would respond to habitat loss by enlarging their home range and/or diminishing group size. In addition, to compensate for fragmentation effects, willow tits might be expected to include more optimal habitat into their territories. Flocks included on average 3.9 birds and occupied territories of 12.6 ha. Willow tits avoided open areas (clear cuts and young sapling stands) and preferred mature forests and older sapling stands or pine bogs equally. Birds responded to habitat loss by enlarging their home ranges but not by reducing the group size. Large territories included a smaller proportion of mature forests, but the proportion of sapling and pine bog habitat did not change. Birds on territories that included a large proportion of open habitat localized their activity on several distinct habitat patches that were distributed over a wide area. We conclude that willow tits adjust territory use to compensate for the inclusion of unsuitable habitat within home ranges, and older sapling areas and pine bogs serve as surrogates for mature forests. However, birds did not enlarge the proportion of forest habitat in their territories with increasing habitat loss. Thus, our data do not suggest a strong effect of fragmentation, but imply that forestry practices reduce suitable wintering habitat and carrying capacity in the area. Thus winter habitat loss may explain the observed population decline of willow tits in Finland during recent decades.