笼养冠斑犀鸟繁殖生态的初步观察

2002~2004年通过对笼养冠斑犀鸟的繁殖生态进行观察,结果表明:冠斑犀鸟的发情期为3月中旬至4月初,求偶的追求者为雌鸟,雌鸟占据选巢营巢主导地位,从入巢到破巢的整个营巢期雌鸟始终把自己封闭在巢洞内,雄鸟担负了运送巢料和食物的所有任务直到雌鸟出巢,出巢后幼鸟在未具有觅食能力前,绝大部分的哺育任务仍由雄鸟承担。冠斑犀鸟的繁殖封巢期为89.0±12.99天,首次营巢的时间较长达15天左右,从第二年起营巢时间缩短为3天,孵化期为25.25±3.86天,育雏期为45.75±2.87天,繁殖成功率为100%。繁殖期除了人工投料外,冠斑犀鸟仍可从生态园中获得多种食物,以满足幼鸟的生长需要。     

广西西大明山冠斑犀鸟的繁殖生物学

作者于2014和2015年在广西西南部的西大明山自治区级自然保护区研究冠斑犀鸟（Anthracoceros albirostris）的繁殖生物学特征,以直接观察法或红外相机共观察5巢犀鸟,2014年2巢,2015年3巢。研究显示,西大明山的冠斑犀鸟在每年4月下旬至5月下旬开始营巢繁殖,雌鸟进入巢洞并在雄鸟协助下自封在其内,期间与幼鸟完全依靠雄鸟喂食。雄鸟带回巢的食物中,数量上有超过80%是果实。雌鸟在封巢期间完成换羽,并和幼鸟在7月中旬至8月中旬破巢而出,封巢时间为89 d 和93 d（n = 2）,繁殖成功率为100%（n = 4）,平均出巢幼鸟为（2.3 ± 0.5）只（2或3只,n = 4）。营巢树与人工林/林下作物的平均距离为87 m（0 ~ 210 m,n = 3）,其中,两棵生长在当地人经常使用的山路旁。营巢树种分别为南酸枣（Choerospondias axillaris）及金叶树（Chrysophyllum lanceolatum）,营巢树平均胸径为73.7 cm（72.0 ~ 75.0 cm,n = 3）,巢洞高度为7.8 m和9.0 m（n = 2）。其中两棵营巢树在2014年和2015年的繁殖季均被重复利用。研究结果显示,西大明山的冠斑犀鸟在繁殖期间能承受一定程度的人为干扰;从封巢时间来看,雏鸟成长所需的时间与南宁动物园笼养环境下差别不大,显示当地食物资源不缺,但天然林破碎化严重,高大乔木较少,营巢树洞资源的缺乏似乎是制约西大明山冠斑犀鸟种群发展的重要因素。建议保护区加强护林力量,积极探索种植速生大胸径本土树种的可行性,并同时开展人工巢箱应用的研究。     

笼养条件下冠斑犀鸟合作繁殖行为

在2003~2005年,每年的2~10月,通过对南宁动物园犀鸟园一窝处于繁殖中的冠斑犀鸟(Anthracoceros albirostris)生殖合作的观察。结果发现,冠斑犀鸟的生殖合作行为属于“巢中帮手”类型。帮手鸟的介入方式是通过食物传递为纽带,从接触雄亲鸟为起点,帮助雄亲鸟运送食物、哺育和护巢。它们之间无亲缘关系,合作是一种互惠合作式的利它行为。帮手的存在主要是性比率失调。     

广西冠斑犀鸟的种群数量及分布状况

冠斑犀鸟(Anthracoceros albirostris albirostris)属于国家Ⅱ级重点保护野生动物,并且是亚洲热带地区重要的种子传播者.冠斑犀鸟在20世纪70年代以前曾广布广西西南部中越边境地区,但其分布范围持续萎缩,2000年以后只残存于3个孤立的分布点,而西大明山林区一直是冠斑犀鸟的主要分布点.为了解此物种在广西的最新分布状况,我们于2009年在广西西大明山自然保护区首次进行了冠斑犀鸟的同步调查,同时调查了当地犀鸟可利用的植物资源.结果显示至少有50只冠斑犀鸟在当地栖息,是广西目前最大的种群,但数量明显呈下降趋势.本文记录了124种犀鸟可潜在利用的植物,探讨了广西犀鸟面临的威胁,并呼吁国家有关部门和科学界加强对中国犀鸟保育研究的关注.     

凤头麦鸡繁殖行为观察

2006～2009年在黑龙江省牡丹江地区对凤头麦鸡Vanellus vanellus繁殖生态习性进行了观察.凤头麦鸡在牡丹江属夏侯鸟,每年3月末4月初迁来,9月下旬迁走,居留期约6个月;4月底开始筑巢,繁殖期间的配偶关系为一雄一雌,营巢于沼泽草甸,也有个体将巢筑于田边或荒地中,个别将巢直接筑在农田的垄上.巢比较简单,在1～2 d内完成.巢筑成后的7～10 d开始产卵.每窝4枚,平均卵重25.2 g,最后一枚卵产出后即开始孵卵,孵化期为24～29 d, 孵化率50%～100%;幼鸟为早成鸟,育雏期30 d左右.     

西大明山自然保护区冠斑犀鸟的分布及保护现状

采用点计数调查法和访问方法在2004年12月、2005年10月、2006年4月、2006年12月及2007年5月对西大明山自然保护区的三大林区(即:凤凰山林区、西大明山林区和小明山林区)冠斑犀鸟(Anthracoceros albirostris)的数量及分布情况进行了系统调查.结果显示,西大明山自然保护区的种群数量约53±8只,按保护区的面积计算种群密度为0.088ind·km²,按森林覆盖面积为0.23ind·km².其中:凤凰山林区及西大明山林区估算冠斑犀鸟有41±5只,比2000年数据减少了约30只;小明山林区仅剩12只.结果反映西大明山自然保护区的冠斑犀鸟已处在极度濒危的边缘.     

冠斑犀鸟

又名斑犀鸟、印度斑犀鸟,因其头上部生有带黑斑的冠状盔突而得名。冠斑犀鸟分布于我国的广西南宁市西部的西大明山自然保护区、云南的西南部的高黎贡山和无量山,属国家II级保护动物。国外主要见于南亚国家,包括缅甸、越南、老挝和柬埔寨等。从上世纪70年代以后．在我国的西南部分布区数量急剧减少,目前广西野生数量不足50只。云南的冠斑犀鸟数量,因没有进行野外调查,数量不详,但估计比广西数量更少。     

绿翅鸭繁殖生态初报

2007～2009年在黑龙江中南部地区对绿翅鸭(Anas crecca)繁殖生态习性进行了观察。绿翅鸭在黑龙江属夏候鸟,每年3月末4月初迁来,10月上旬迁离,所观察的4对绿翅鸭居留期约6个月。迁来时成群停留在湖泊及江的冰面上,开江以后散去,繁殖期间,绿翅鸭的配偶关系为一雄一雌,巢址多选择离水域较近的草丛或灌木丛中,所观察的4巢,巢都比较简单,筑巢时间为(5.5±1.0)d(n=4)。巢筑成后的(3.25±0.50)d开始产卵。每窝70～12枚不等,平均(9.80±2.21)枚(n=4)。卵重平均(28.70±0.72)g(n=39),最后一枚卵产出后(2.50±0.577)d(n=4),开始孵卵,孵卵期约为22～26 d不等,平均孵卵期为(24.25±1.17)d(n=4),平均孵化率为79.5%±29.98%。幼鸟为早成鸟,育雏期为(29.75±1.70)d。     

犀鸟考

我国境内现有棕颈犀鸟、冠斑犀鸟、双角犀鸟及白喉犀鸟。四种犀鸟的地理分布均见于云南,冠斑犀鸟尚见于广西。本文系据古籍资料加以考释,以证我国古代即有关于犀鸟的记载。汉代许慎《说文》载:“鹲,水鸟也”。鹲音蒙,许氏云为水鸟。南朝顾野王《玉篇》曰:“鹲,水鸟鷇未生毛”,又有“鹲鸠”。宋代丁度《集韵》,王洙《类编》谓:“鹲(音庞),鸠属”。示鹲有不同音读,云为水鸟或鸠,所述欠详,难言何鸟。鸠之为物,现一般指鸠鸽科之鸟,但古今有异,所称较广,古称黑卷尾为鸠,毛脚沙鸡为鸠,鹗为睢鸠,布谷为鸤鸠。其谓鸠,亦难定体型。据《荀子·劝学…     

绿鹭的繁殖习性观察

2001年4－9月在合肥市对绿鹭（Butorides striatus)的繁殖习性进行了观察。绿鹭营巢生境主要选择在建筑物附近的高大阔叶树上,常一树一巢,未见与其他鹭类混群营巢。每巢产3－5枚卵,孵卵期21d,育雏期41d,42日龄后幼鸟离巢飞走,出飞存活率62．5％。育雏期雏鸟主要食物为小型鱼类。在4所大学校园及1处公园统计到有效巢56个,推算绿鹭224只。绿鹭在合肥繁殖属首次记录。     

Foraging Patterns of Sympatric Hornbills during the Nonbreeding Season in Arunachal Pradesh, Northeast India

The diet and food resource partitioning of three sympatric hornbills (Great Hornbill Buceros bicornis, Wreathed Hornbill Aceros undulatus, and Oriental Pied Hornbill Anthracoceros albirostris) during the nonbreeding season were studied relative to fruit availability in a foothill semievergreen forest of Arunachal Pradesh, northeast India. Hornbills fed on fruits of 49 plant species that comprised over 95 percent of their diet. Hornbill species partitioned food resources by varying the relative contribution of figs and non‐fig fruits in the diet. Similarity in non‐fig fruit diet was low. Ten species contributed to over 90 percent of the non‐fig diet. The availability of non‐fig fruits was much lower in the nonbreeding season than in the breeding season; however, despite lower fruit availability during the nonbreeding season, hornbills had a wide diet breadth and indirect evidence suggests that Wreathed Hornbills foraged widely in this season for fruit. Great Hornbills relied more on figs that were available year‐round. The diverse diet breadth that included rare and patchy fruit resources underscores the importance of conserving large forest tracts for hornbills.     

Ethological evidence of adaptive predation of Oriental Pied Hornbill (Anthracoceros albirostris) on farmed swiftlet (Aerodramus spp.) in Kalabakan,Sabah, Malaysia

The Oriental Pied Hornbill is one of the ten species of hornbills found in Malaysia, and known to be an adaptable species with regard to utilising available food resources, although there is not much information about its foraging behaviour where its habitat overlap with human activities. We observed an opportunistic behaviour of a pair of Oriental Pied Hornbills preying on farmed edible bird nest swiftlets, in the state of Sabah, Malaysia as captured by closed circuit television utilised by an edible bird nest entrepreneur. A more detailed study could better assist and determine the frequency of this particular predation-prey interaction which may be a new cause of human-wildlife conflict in Malaysia and illuminating the diet diversity and adaptive ability of this hornbill species to seeking their dietary range.     

Nest site characteristics of four sympatric species of hornbills in Khao Yai National Park, Thailand

Characteristics of nest sites, nest trees and nest holes were documented for four sympatric species of hornbills in Khao Yai National Park: the Great Buceros bicornis. Wreathed Rhy-ticeros undulatus , Oriental Pied Anthracoceros albirostris and Brown Hornbills Ptilolaemus tickelli. Nearly all hornbills nested in cavities in the trunks of at least 13 different genera of living trees. Sixty percent of the 80 nests found were in two tree genera, Dipterocarpus (34%) and Eugenia (26%), which comprised only 7% and 3%, respectively, of all large trees in 302 sample plots. Hornbills tended to prefer holes high in large, emergent trees for nesting, except for the Brown Hornbills, which preferred nest holes within or below the main forest canopy (15–25 m high). Most nest sites were between 700 and 800 m a.s.l. (79% of the total of 80 nests). Brown Hornbill nests were located in areas with a significantly higher altitude than were those of the Oriental Pied Hornbill. Hornbills tended to select nest entrances according to their body size, and all four hornbill species used oval to elongated nest entrances, with the Great Hornbill preferring the most elongated entrances. Hornbills did not select a specific nest entrance orientation.     

Fruiting Phenology and the Conservation of the Great Pied Hornbill (Buceros bicornis) in the Western Ghats of Southern India1

The phenology of principal fruits consumed by the endangered Great Pied Hornbill (Buceros bicornis) was monitored for two years in a wet forest habitat in southern India. Lipid–rich fruits, produced by several interior forest trees mainly of the family Lauraceae, were highly seasonal in their availability, and their production in the dry, hot season coincided with the breeding of the hornbill. Sugary fruits, produced mainly by several species of Ficus, were available year–round due to aseasonal fruiting patterns. Because Ficus fruited even at times of low fruit resource availability, and was heavily utilized by hornbills and other frugivores, it played a keystone role in the maintenance of the avian frugivore community. Overall fruit production was scarce between July and January during the southwest and northeast monsoon seasons. Vitex altissima produced berries abundantly during much of this time (September–December) and thus was another important fruit resource for avian frugivores. To safeguard the fruit resource base for the Great Pied Hornbill, we recommend: (1) The protection of Ficus and Vitex trees from overexploitation, and (2) the conservation of forest integrity to maintain compositions and densities of the lipid–rich fruit tree species utilized by the hornbill.     

Parental provisioning behaviour in Pied Flycatchers Ficedula hypoleuca is well adjusted to local conditions in a mosaic of deciduous and coniferous habitat

Capsule Pied Flycatchers are better able than Great Tits to adjust their feeding behaviour to varying conditions in the same area.

Aims Great Tits breeding in a mosaic of deciduous and coniferous forests in the northern temperate region exhibit consistently lower breeding success in their preferred deciduous habitat than in coniferous habitat. This was explained by the unexpectedly poor nestling feeding conditions in deciduous forests of this region. We studied whether the same paradox applies to Pied Flycatchers that occupy the same habitats in the same area.

Methods Parental provisioning behaviour was studied using video‐recording and experimental manipulation. Caterpillar abundance and basic breeding parameters were measured in different habitat types.

Results Parental provisioning frequency and the proportion of caterpillars in nestling diet was lower, while food objects were on average larger, in coniferous compared with deciduous habitat. However, the total volume of caterpillars and adult Lepidoptera delivered to nestlings did not differ between habitats. In contrast to Great Tits, offspring body parameters in Pied Flycatchers did not differ between habitat types.

Conclusions These results demonstrate how the relative suitability of particular habitat types varies between species and is dependent upon geographical location.     

Advanced breeding dates in relation to recent climate warming in a Mediterranean montane population of Blue Tits Cyanistes caeruleus

Trends in the onset of breeding, clutch size and numbers of hatchlings and fledglings are examined for a Mediterranean montane population of Blue Tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) subject to recent warming in springtime monitored during 20 years. Blue Tits advanced their breeding dates in relation to mean air temperatures in April and, as a consequence, laid larger clutches. However, increases in the numbers of hatchlings and fledged young over time were not statistically significant after accounting for variables of influence. The entire breeding season seems to have been displaced towards earlier dates by adjusting breeding time to increased temperatures in prebreeding time, to which Blue Tits have been more responsive than Pied Flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca) in the same area. The alternative hypothesis, that interference competition with Pied Flycatchers for nestboxes and caterpillars, the main common food base of nestlings, has been the driving force behind the advancement of laying of the Blue Tit population, was not supported. However, the significant advance of breeding dates in Blue Tits has not been sufficient to overcome the precipitous decline in reproductive fitness with the advancement of the season.     

Evidence from hatching success and DNA fingerprinting for the fertility of hybrid Pied × Collared Flycatchers Ficedula hypoleuca × albicollis

The Pied and Collared Flycatchers Ficedula hypoleuca and F. albicollis hybridize on the Baltic islands of Öland and Gotland. Field studies of hatching success in clutches from 36 breeding hybrid males indicate that male hybrids reproduce successfully. In comparison, 25 hybrid females had normal clutch sizes but failed to hatch nestlings, suggesting female hybrid sterility. The paternity of seven hybrid males was investigated by DNA fingerprinting using two hypervariable minisatellite probes. Of these hybrid males, six were assessed as fertile. Three of the hybrid male families (43%) contained nestlings with extra-pair paternity and the frequency of extra-pair fertilization among 37 nestlings was 22%. One nestling originated from intraspeciflc female nest parasitism. The sterility pattern in hybrids between these two flycatchers with sterile female and fertile male hybrids is in agreement with Haldane's rule.     

Does supplementary calcium reduce the cost of reproduction in the Pied Flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca?

Studies in acidified as well as in naturally base-poor areas have recently revealed that availability of extra calcium-rich food items is an important component of habitat quality affecting breeding performance in several bird species. However, these mostly short-term studies have provided equivocal results concerning the exact consequences of calcium shortage on different species in different regions. We studied the effect of calcium availability on reproduction of the Pied Flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca breeding in pine forests in Estonia, NE Europe, over a period of 4 years. Experimental pairs were provided with supplementary calcium-rich material when breeding, while control pairs were left unsupplemented. Experimental females laid larger eggs and their nestlings had longer tarsi than those of controls. Moreover, the mass and condition of females tending larger than average clutches were increased by calcium-supplementation. Our results provide the first experimental evidence that calcium availability may affect the overall cost of reproduction in free-living passerines. We compared these results with similar data for the Great Tit Parus major , collected from the same area during the same study period. Great Tits responded to low calcium availability mainly by restrained reproductive behaviour and reduced breeding success, while Pied Flycatchers invested significantly more in current reproductive effort despite the increased cost of reproduction. Thus, the effects of calcium deficiency on birds seem to be species-specific or population-specific. This partly explains discrepancies between the results of earlier studies.