两种山鹪莺的春季换羽及尾羽变化

换羽是鸟类为保证持续生存的重要过程。换羽策略与鸟类进化及对环境的适应紧密相关,研究鸟类换羽特征,对于了解鸟类的分类、系统发育、进化历史及其对环境的适应性等方面都有重要意义。2007年3月至9月,在广东肇庆市江溪村对黄腹山鹪莺(Prinia flaviventris)和纯色山鹪莺(P.inornata)的春季换羽进行了研究。通过设置雾网捕捉2种山鹪莺,对捕捉到的成体进行体重及身体量度的测量;对飞羽及尾羽进行标记:初级飞羽以翅尖的第一枚羽毛标记为"P1",次级飞羽以翅中部最外一枚标记为"S1",向内依次递增标记;尾羽以中央两根最长尾羽为"T1",分别向两侧递增标记为"T2~T5"。采用单因素方差分析(One way ANOVA)对不同月份山鹪莺的体重值进行差异性检验,对体重与月份进行Pearson相关分析,对尾羽的长度和宽度进行Pearson偏相关分析(控制变量:体长)。研究结果表明:1)两种山鹪莺换羽期为3至5月,持续时间约为60 d;2)两种山鹪莺春季换羽仅更换尾羽,换羽模式均为离心型,即中央一对尾羽最先开始替换,然后向两侧由内到外逐次更替;3)两种山鹪莺的尾羽长度和宽度同步变化,但绝大部分山鹪莺非繁殖期尾羽长度与繁殖期尾羽长度之比大于非繁殖期尾羽宽度与繁殖期尾羽宽度之比,即繁殖期尾羽相对较宽;4)两种山鹪莺换羽期间体重大致呈现下降趋势,但变化不显著(P0.05)。推测两种山鹪莺通过增加食物的摄入来抵抗换羽期和繁殖期重叠而导致的能量消耗,这可能与该地区丰富的食物资源有关,并在一定程度上体现了两种山鹪莺换羽策略对环境的适应性。

Spring Moulting and Tail Changes of Two Wren Warbler Species

Moulting is an essential process for the survival of birds. Moulting strategy is related to bird evolution, and adaption. The moulting strategy of two wren warbler species (Prinia flaviventris) and Plain Prinia (P. inornata) was studied. Samples were collected by mist net at Jiangxi village, Zhaoqing, Guangdong, China, from March to September, 2007.The measurements of body mass and feather characteristics were taken. The primary feathers were numbered one by one from the outermost (P1) to the innermost (P10), secondary feathers were numbered from the middle (S1) to the innermost (S9), and the tail feathers were numbered from the middle (T1) to each side (T5). The body mass difference between months was performed by one way ANOVA, Pearson correlation was employed to analyze the partial correlation between tail length and tail width (body length as the control variable). Our study found out 1) the two species of wren warbler started to partially change their body feather in March and ended in May within 60 days; 2) their tail feather was completely replaced in spring from the inner pair to the outward one (Fig. 1); 3) the tail length and tail width of the two wren warbler species changed synchronously (Table 1), and the ratio of tail length in the non-breeding season to that in breeding season was larger than the ratio of tail width in the non-breeding season to that in breeding season (Table 2), indicating the tail was broader in breeding season; 4) there was a trend that the two species reduced their body mass during mounting period although with no significant difference (P > 0.05). We presumed that the two wren warbler species would increase their food intake to compensate the energy requirement in the period of breeding and moulting simultaneously occurred. This behavior may indicated that the moult strategy is an adaption to their habitat in which can provide rich food resource.