Behavior And Call Characteristics Of Captive Brown-Eared Pheasant In Breeding Season And Non-breeding Season

From April 23 to June 5 and October 15 to October 31 in 2014, the behaviors and calls of adult brown-eared pheasant (Crossoptilon mantchuricuum) in breeding and non-breeding season were been recorded using the focal sampling and continuous recording methods by infrared camera in Beijing Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation Center (BWRRC). The behavior rhythm and call frequency were analyzed. The main results of the study are as follows:The frequency of each behavior has certain daily rhythm both in breeding and non-breeding season. We divided a day time into 5 periods:dawn (5:00-8:00), morning (8:00-11:00), noon (11:00-14:00), afternoon (14:00-17:00) and dusk (17:00-20:00). In breeding season, male brown-eared pheasant was more active in dawn, morning and dusk, and the frequency of move action was very high. The female brown-eared has more foraging behavior in dawn, borning and afternoon. In non-breeding season, male brown-eared pheasant performed many move actions in dawn and morning, and the female has a high frequency of rest action in morning and afternoon.We calculated the time budget of each behavior in every day, and compared the behavior time budgets between different genders in each season using the independent sample T test. In breeding season, the difference of behaviors in foraging, moving and guarding between the pair of brown-eared pheasant was extremely significant (P<0.01). The female spent more time to forage than the male, but spent less time to move and guard. In non-breeding season the difference of behavior time budget between male and female became smaller, but the difference in guarding and foraging was significant (P <0.05). And the male spent more time to guard and forage than the female.Using the same methods, we compared the behavior time budget between paired and unpaired male brown-eared pheasant. In breeding season, the paired male spent more time to guard than the unpaired male. In non-breeding season, the difference of the time budget between paired and unpaired male was similar.At the same time, we compared the behavior time budget of each individual between breeding season and non-breeding season. The behavior time budget of 3 individuals has significant change in different seasons.The calls of captive brown-eared pheasants were collected using digital voice recorder in breeding season and non-breeding season. And the calls were divided into 4 types:crowing call, alarming call, driving call and foraging call. The acoustic features of calls were analyzed by the software SASLab Pro, and the sonograms and physical parameters of brown-eared pheasant were gotten.The frequency of the 4 types of calls in breeding season and non-breeding season has different characteristic. In breeding season, male has a high frequency of crowing call and alarming call; female has a high frequency of foraging call. The characteristic of call frequency and behavior time budget had similar regular pattern. These results indicate that different types of calls can instruct different behavior of brown-eared pheasant.