| Bar-headed Geese (Anser indicus) is endemic in Asia, which breed in the marshes andhighland lakes of Qinghai, Tibet in China, and northern Mongolia, and winter in Yunnan,Guizhou, southern Tibet in China and India, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Bhutan and so on. Since2005, the species had been involved in a number of HPAI outbreaks and resulted in mass death,which draw widely concern on its biology, ecology and the role in spread of avian influenzavirus. In order to reveal the daily behavior patterns and winter foraging habitat selection ofBar-headed Goose, study was carried out at Qinghai Lake and Caohai Lake in2010~2012. themain conclusions are as follows:1.Daily behavior patterns of Bar-headed Geese at Qinghai Lake, ChinaDaily activity budgets and rhythm of wintering Bar-headed Geese at Qinghai Lake werestudied with instantaneous scan sampling methods from April to June in2010and2011. Theresults showed that the main behavior of the male in breeding season was resting and standing,the main behavior of the females was perch on nest and repairing the nest; vigilance, calling,aggresion, foraging and walking had significant differences between females and males;vigilance, calling, preening, agression,walking et al of the males had significant differencesbetween pre-incubation period and incubation period, most of the behaviors of the females hadinsignificant differences between pre-incubation period and incubation; Bar-headed Gooseforaged more in2011than in2010. The behavior patterns of the males were to detect andprotect the nest, and the females were to incubate. The behavior rhythm of Males was moresignificant in the daylight than females, resting occured more frequently in the afternoon, lessin the morning and evening; caling, aggresion, walking are most frequent in the morning. thedaily bahavior rhythm of the females was insignificat, repairing the nest was more in themorning. The temperature affected behaviors little during months, the daytime temperaturemight affect the behavior of the Bar-headed Goose more. When the temperature was low,females might perching on nest for longer time, and males was likely to increase forging. 2. Daily behavior patterns of Bar-headed Geese at Caohai Lake of Guizhou, ChinaDaily activity budgets and rhythm of wintering Bar-headed Geese (Anser indicus) atCaohai Lake were studied with instantaneous scan sampling methods from December2011toFebruary2012. During the wintering period, the main behaviors were foraging and resting,which accounted for50.48%and43.79%respectively. There were two foraging peaks in themorning and evening, and one resting peak in the noon. The results showed that foraging,resting and drinking had significant differences among the rhythms of time. By comparingbehaviors in different habitat types, foraging was found the main behavior on the land, andresting in the shallows. It is suggested that the activity patterns in different types of habitatwere influenced by food abundance and human disturbance. Partial correlation analysis showedthat temperature was the main factor influencing the daily activity patterns of Bar-headedGeese. When the temperature was higher, the geese decreased foraging and increased resting.3. Foraging Habitat Selection of Bar-headed Geese at Caohai Lake in GuizhouIn February2012, the foraging habitat selection and population distribution of Bar-headedGeese at Caohai was researched by using the fixed-spot observation, plots surveys and factoranalysis methods. The results showed that the population of Bar-headed Geese wintering inCaohai was1828, and distributed in five roosts respectively; disturbance factors, escape factorsand food factors were the main factors of their foraging habitat selection, they liked to choosethe sites with poor plant species, higher vegetation cover, lower vegetation height, farther fromdisturbance, closer from the water, open habitats and lower altitude as their foraging sites.Based on the above habitat characteristics, the Bar-headed Geese selected meadow andfarmland as their main foraging sites. |
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