江苏省发现雪鹀

正雪鹀(Plectrophenax nivalis)属雀形目鹀科(Emberizidae)。分布于北半球北部的广大区域,繁殖地位于北极区苔原冻土及海岸陡崖,越冬南迁。我国境内雪鹀分布范围较小,为北方亚种(P.n.vlasowae)。夏季在俄罗斯乌拉尔山系以西东北部向东沿至白令海峡一带繁殖(BirdLife International 2012),冬季则迁徙至俄罗斯远东地区、日本北海道(Brazil 2009),我国境内越冬见于新疆天山、阿尔泰山、内蒙古东部(常家传等1985)、黑龙江省及吉林省,也有迷鸟偶见于河北。主要栖息于低山丘陵和山脚平原地带,多在河边岩石和荒山小树林中的光裸地面活动。2012年11月11日在江苏如东小洋口曾发现两只雪鹀在堤岸上短暂停留,未拍摄到照片。2013年12月26日,在江苏省盐城珍禽国家级自然保护区境内的射阳县新洋港镇沿海湿地水产养殖塘附近(33°41'23.35″N,     

白冠带鹀发现记

<正>2011～2012年冬季,位于内蒙古呼伦贝尔市牙克石的乌尔旗汗林场成为一处新兴的冬季鸟类摄影热点区域。那片林场位于大兴安岭中段西坡,属寒温带大陆性季风半湿润森林气候,又有库都尔河和大雁河环东西两侧绕林区而过。当年,很多人去到乌尔旗汗的摄影目标都以当地鸟类中的“四大金刚”为主,它们分别为:黑嘴松鸡、乌林鸮、猛鸮、再加花尾榛鸡或黑琴鸡。其他一些中文名称以“北”字打头的北方区域性和代表性鸟种,并没有列入摄影人的目标清单。     

湖南省发现红颈苇鹀

正在湖南省长沙市望城区大泽湖湿地(28°19′14″N,112°53′54″E,海拔40 m)的稻田和草丛中先后3次(2014年3月11日,2015年3月12日和11月9日)分别记录到1只雌性红颈苇鹀(Emberiza yessoensis)(图1)。形态特征如下:头顶具细皮黄色纹,耳羽色深,颈背沙皮黄,下体黄白,胸侧和两胁沾棕色细条纹;虹膜深色,嘴峰直,下嘴厚,嘴及脚均为肉色。     

贵州草海发现苇鹀

<正>2014年4月19日,在贵州草海国家级自然保护区老祖坟附近(26°51′N,104°15′E,海拔2 175 m)湖边枯萎的香蒲(Typha orientalis)丛中观察并拍摄到1雄2雌共3只苇鹀(Emberiza pallasi)。该鸟的识别特征:雄鸟头顶、颊、耳羽、喉及上胸均黑色,下髭纹白色,后颈具较宽的白色横带;背、肩深褐色,羽缘灰白,腰及尾上覆羽浅灰色,小覆羽灰色;下体灰白色。雌鸟头顶和枕部皮黄色,耳羽褐色,眉纹和喉部白色,其余同雄鸟。苇鹀与近似种芦鹀(E.schoeniclus)的区别如下:苇鹀小覆羽灰色,而芦鹀为棕色;苇鹀上喙较直,而芦鹀上喙稍     

甘肃碌曲发现黄眉鹀

我国分布的宽耳蝠包括北京宽耳蝠(Barbastella beijingensis)和东方宽耳蝠(B. darjelingensis)2个物种。东方宽耳蝠在我国分布于内蒙古、新疆、青海、陕西、甘肃、河南、湖南、江西、四川、重庆、云南、贵州、台湾等省(自治区、直辖市),但北京宽耳蝠仅记录于北京。2022年7月于山西省祁县昌源河湿地公园林道中(37°19′15″ N,112°26′18″ E,海拔812 m),采集到1只雄性宽耳蝠。该蝠体型中等,前臂长43.7 mm。双耳在额部相连,外耳廓近方形,横嵴明显,耳廓中部外缘具有较小的耳突,其第三掌骨长大于第四掌骨长大于第五掌骨长。颅全长为14.6 mm,具有强壮的上前臼齿和下前臼齿。以上特征均与北京宽耳蝠相符。头骨特征中,与北京宽耳蝠相比其具有较小的颅基长和颅宽,其余头骨测量参数值均与北京宽耳蝠相近。基于Cyt b和ND1基因序列的系统发育学证据亦支持形态鉴定结果。结合外部形态、头骨参数及分子数据,将山西样本鉴定为北京宽耳蝠,为山西省翼手目分布新记录种。     

青海果洛发现稀树草鹀

2017年4月13日9:52时左右,在青海省果洛藏族自治州玛沁县大武镇大武河北岸(34°27 ′17″N,100°15′03″E,海拔3735 m)观察并拍摄到1只小型鸟类(图1,封面),发现时其正在岸边石滩取食,附近还有黄头鹡鸰(Motacilla citreola)在取食.     

湖北荆州发现红颈苇鹀

红颈苇鹀被IUCN列为全球近危物种,在中国南方比较罕见。2014年3月15日,笔者在湖北省荆州市观音档镇 (30°22′55″N,112°21′27″E,海拔30 m)进行鸟类调查时,发现3-5只红颈苇鹀在油菜从中活动,拍到一组照片,经查阅文献,确定为湖北新纪录,并结合前人的观察,确定为冬候鸟。     

北京发现越冬黑头剑蛇

2011年9月,在北京市四座楼自然保护区开展野生动物调查时,采集到2号蛇类标本,经鉴定为黑头剑蛇(Sibynophis chinensis),其中1条为幼蛇,属首次在北京发现越冬个体.     

Wavelength Dependency of Light-Induced Effects on Photoperiodic Clock in the Migratory Blackheaded Bunting (Emberiza melanocephala)

The effects of light wavelength on photoperiodic clock were determined in the migratory male blackheaded bunting (Emberiza melanocephala). We constructed an action spectrum for photoperiodic induction (body fattening, gain in body mass, and gonadal recrudescence) by exposing birds for 4.5 weeks to 13 h light per day (L:D = 13:11 h) of white (control), blue (450 nm), or red (640 nm) color at irradiances ranging from 0.028 to 1.4 W m^?2. The threshold light irradiance for photoinduction was about 10-fold higher for blue, compared to red and white light. Phase-dependent effects of light wavelength on the photoperiodic clock were further examined in the next two sets of skeleton photoperiods (SKPs). In the first set of SKPs, birds were exposed for four weeks to asymmetrical light periods (L:D:L:D = 6:6:1:11 h) at 0.25 ± 0.01 W m^?2; two light periods applied were of the same (450 nm: blue:blue, B:B; 640 nm, red:red, R:R) or different (blue:red, B:R or red:blue, R:B) wavelengths, or of white:white (W:W, controls). Photoperiodic induction occurred under R:R and B:R, but not under B:B and R:B light conditions; the W:W condition induced an intermediate response. The second set of SKPs used symmetrical light periods (L:D:L:D = 1:11:1:11 h), and measured effects also on the activity rhythm. Birds were first exposed to one of the four SKPs (R:R, B:B, R:B, or B:R) for three weeks, subsequently were released into dim constant light (LL_dim; ?0.01 W m^?2, the night light used in an L:D cycle) for two weeks, and then were returned to respective SKPs for another three weeks. Activity was greater in the R:R compared to B:B, and in B:R compared to R:B light condition. Zugunruhe (intense nighttime activity, indicating migratory restlessness in a caged situation) developed under the R:R and B:R, but not the B:B and R:B, light condition. Under LL_dim, all birds free-ran with a period >24 h, the Zugunruhe had a circadian period longer than the daytime activity, and the re-entrainment to SKPs was influenced by the position of light periods relative to circadian phase of the activity rhythm. Photoperiodic induction at the end of 8 weeks was found in the R:R and B:R, but not in B:B, light conditions; in the R:B condition only one bird had initiated testes. Taken together, these results suggest that in the blackheaded bunting, the circadian photoperiodic clock is differentially responsive to light wavelengths; this responsiveness is phase-dependent, and the development of Zugunruhe reflects a true circadian function. Wavelength-dependent response of the photoperiodic clock could be part of an adaptive strategy in evolution of the seasonality in reproduction and migration among photoperiodic species under wild conditions.     

Unusually high losses to nest collapse in Black-headed Buntings Emberiza melanocephala nesting on a preferred plant species

Capsule Birds select Cotton Thistles as a nesting substrate but these plants provide an unstable support.     

Regulation of seasonality in the migratory male blackheaded bunting (Emberiza melanocephala)

The present study was carried out on a Palearctic-Indian migratory species, the blackheaded bunting (Emberiza melanocephala), to understand the importance of photoperiodism and circannual rhythms in determining seasonality in changes in body mass and testis size in birds. An initial experiment determined the effects of duration and intensity of light on photoperiodic induction. The birds were exposed to different photoperiods (hours of light:hours of darkness; 11.5L:12.5D, 12L:12D, 12.5L:11.5D and 13L:11D) at the same (approximately 450 lux) light intensity, and to 13L:11D at different light intensities (50-, 100-, 400-, 800- and 1000-lux). The induction and subsequent regression of photoperiodic responses were dependent upon duration and intensity of the light period until these reached threshold. A second experiment investigated if an endogenous seasonal rhythm underlies photoperiodism in buntings. Birds maintained since February on a 8L: 16D photoperiod (a non-inductive short day length invariably used to ensure photosensitivity in photoperiodic species) were subjected periodically to 16L:8D (a long day length), one group every month from mid-March to mid-August. The magnitude of long day response in body mass and testes decreased as the duration of the short days progressed, but testicular response was restored in birds that were exposed to long days in July and August. The birds exposed simultaneously to short, long, and natural day lengths for 32 weeks underwent an induction-regression cycle under long days and natural day lengths, but not under short days in which a decrease in body mass occurred after about 20 weeks. The last experiment examined the importance of latitudinal migration on photoperiodism, by comparing the response to long days of three groups which included birds from populations those were held in the outdoor aviary for 1 or 2 years at 27 degrees N and those immediately arrived from their breeding grounds (approximately 40 degrees N). There was no difference in the photoperiodic induction among the three groups, indicating that neither experience to changing photoperiods during a migratory journey, nor to long photoperiods at breeding grounds, were critical for a subsequent response (initiation-termination-reinitiation) cycle. Taken together, these findings suggest that (1) the blackheaded bunting has its own endogenous timing program, which is regulated by the photoperiod, and (2) the photoperiodic programs of bunting are flexible enough to accommodate variations in the amplitude of environmental cycles. Thus, it appears that photoperiodism has evolved independently of the evolution of migration in this species.     

栗斑腹鹀的繁殖习性

1999年5～7月,通过野外直接观测的方法,对栗斑腹鹀的繁殖过程进行了调查.结果表明:在103.78 hm2样地内共有45个巢,种群密度为0.81只/hm2.平均窝卵数为5.09枚,孵化期为12 d,孵化率为36.3%,繁殖成功率为27.7%,繁殖生产力为0.49.     

Neural Correlates of Migration: Activation of Hypothalamic Clock(s) in and out of Migratory State in the Blackheaded Bunting (Emberiza melanocephala)

Background

Many vertebrates distinguish between short and long day lengths using suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN). In birds particular, the mediobasal hypothalamus (MBH) is suggested to be involved in the timing of seasonal reproduction. This study investigated the response of SCN and MBH to a single long day, and the role of MBH in induction of the migratory phenotype in night-migratory blackheaded buntings.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Experiment 1 immunocytochemically measured c-fos in the SCN, and c-fos, vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) and neuropeptide Y (NPY) in the MBH of buntings exposed to a 20 h light period. Long light period induced significantly stronger c-fos expression, measured as number of c-fos-like immunoreactive (c-fos-lir) cells, in MBH, but not in the SCN. Within the MBH, c-fos-lir cells were significantly denser in the inferior hypothalamic nucleus (IH) and infundibular nucleus (IN), but not in the dorsomedial hypothalamus (DMH). IH and IN also had significantly increased number of VIP and NPY labeled cells. DMH had significantly increased number of VIP labeled cells only. Experiment 2 assayed c-fos, VIP and NPY immunoreactivities in the middle of day and night in the MBH of buntings, after seven long days (day active, non-migratory state) and after seven days of Zugunruhe (night active, migratory state) in long days. In the migratory state, the number of c-fos-lir cells was significantly greater only in DMH; VIP-lir cells were denser in all three MBH regions suggesting enhanced light sensitivity at night. The denser NPY-lir cells only in IN in the non-migratory state were probably due to premigratory hyperphagia.

Conclusions/Significance

In buntings, SCN may not be involved in the photoperiod-induced seasonal responses. MBH contains the seasonal clock sensitive to day length. VIP and NPY are parts of the neuroendocrine mechanism(s) involved, respectively, in sensing and translating the photoperiodic message in a seasonal response.