Diets And Food Nutrients Of Varied Tit

Food is the basic form of energy and nutrient for all animals,and the availability of food resources is considered to be one of the basic factors affecting their survivals in nature.The study of food selection and food utilization of birds in different stage are important for the feeding plasticity and ecological adaptability.Parus varius is a kind of strong regional and rare bird with a small crowd.In this study,we analyze the influence of food composition on the population quality and feeding strategy of Parus varius from different seasons.The results provide sientific information to effective protection of Parus varius.The experiment lasted from March 2012 to October 2013 in Xianrendong Nature Reserve,Liaoning Province.We collected the accident death birds of Parus vatius,P.major and Pheoenicurus auroreus adults as samples for analysis of the interaction between digestive system morphological structure and feeding preference.In this study,we recorded the food selection and utilization of Parus varius in different seasons through video recording and tracking with telescopes to analyze the food composition in different seasons.We also collected the sample of representative vegetaion and arthropods Parus varius feeding on during different seasons for nutrition ingredient analysis and the potential feeding preference analysis.The results are showed as follows:1.The influence of digestive system morphological structure on Parus varius feeding preference was evaluated by the digestive tract anatomy comparsion of Parus vatius(3),P.major(2)and Pheoenicurus auroreus(2)from the same sympatry.The results show that the relative length of small intestine from Parus vatius does not have significant differece from typical omnivorous birds like P.major and Pheoenicurus auroreus.Meanwhile,the length of cecum in Parus varius is short and close to degradation.These results provide that Parus varius belongs to omnivorous birds.Moreover,the total relative length of digestive tract from Parus varius is shorter than P.major and Pheoenicurus auroreus,which suggest that Parus varius feeding prefers animal-based foods than plant-based foods.2.The observation and statistic analysis on the video record was carried out to realize the food composition of Parus varius from different season.Varied Tit mainly ate arthropods during spring and summer,including Lepidoptera,spiders and Coleoptera,but also consumed a small amount of Orthoptera,Hemiptera and Hymenoptera.During autumn and winter,Varied Tit ate a wealth of vegetation,consisted mainly of berries and plant seed,the higher feeding proportion on berries could be seen,they also feed on a small amount of arthropods at the same time.There was significant differences were also evident between the diet of nesting and adults,young chicks took much more Lepidoptera larvae than adults.Interestingly,the feeding frequency of young chicks would increase with age.3.The food caching behavior of Parus varius on the seed of Styrax obassia was be found in autumn.Parus varius always stored the seeds in the tree roots,grass,precipice and within 50 m around the spot of feeding.4.Through the analysis of nutritional component on the samples we collected,we found that animal-based foods contains more the protein and the microelement like calcium and phosphorus than plant-based foods,meanwhile,the higher carbohydrate and fat content was found in plant-based foods.With the studies on primate diet,higher requirement of Parus varius on protein and trace elements is found in spring and summer,however,Parus varius prefes more carbohydrate and fat in autumn and winter.In conclusion,the short appendix and digestive tract in Parus varius proves that prefers animal-based foods as a kind of omnivorous bird,which suggests the close relationship between the digestive tract morphology and feedings.Nevertheless,the feeding preference was affected by seasons and nutritional requirement.That is the evolution for survival strategy in order to adapt to the environment by Parus varius.To protect this this species better,we have to not only reduce human disturbance,but also protect the plant of Parus varius feed on.