Stopover Ecology In Migration Of Emberiza Rustica At Maoershan Of Heilongjiang Province

Most avian migration is consisted of migratory flights and stopover. Fuel is consumed during migratory flights and deposited during stopover. As connections between breeding and non-breeding grounds, stopover sites are of importance for the whole life history of migrants. This paper choose the Emberiza rustica (Rustic Bunting), a kind of migratory songbird, using bird banding, measuring and observing, to study the stopover ecology at the stopover site Maoershan of Heilongjiang Province. The study includes migration time, migration number, stopover duration, feeding behavior, mass change, energetic condition and sex-related variations.A total of 636 and 1546 Emberiza rustica (Rustic Bunting) were captured in fall of 2006 and in spring of 2007, respectively. The number is more in spring than in fall. The migration time of Emberiza rustica (Rustic Bunting) is longer in spring (48d) than in fall (35d). The migration fastigium is on 10^th Otc. in fall and on 11^st Apr. in spring. They arrive and leave the research site early in spring, but late in fall. The males arrive at the stopover sites earlier than females in spring and arrive in the same time in fall.Avian migrants deposit energetic stores before migration. However, they often have to periodically replenish depleted energy stores during stopovers. Body mass of spring (18.77g) was higher than that of fall (18.25g) birds. Condition index (i. e., body mass adjusted for body size) was lowest among fall females (23.95) and highest among spring males (24.54). Body mass among fall females (17.98g) was lowest, and energy taking was least. After captured, mass change was most distinct and energy accumulated rapidly among fall females. In spring, condition index change was most distinct of males and males were inclined to increase energy stores. The average stopover time is 3.8d in fall and 4.2d in spring, the longest stopover time is 16d and 26d in fall and spring. Birds were more likely to stay longer in spring than in fall in stopover site of Maoershan. The female individuals were more likely to extend the stopover time in spring and fall. In northeast China, Emberiza rustica (Rustic Bunting) migrants added energy and adopted the migration strategy of time minimization.The results showed that, birds mainly eat plants in grassplot and ground. We detected a positive relationship between time of initial capture and condition index regardless of season or sex, suggesting birds were able to replenish energy stores. It had no relationship between sex-ratio and energy stores in stopover sites.Further research on stopover ecology is urgently needed in China for a better understanding of the behavior and for the conservation of these songbird migrants.