The Research Of The Diversity, Population Dynamics And Breeding Ecology Of The Dominant Species Of Wetland Birds In The HengShui Lake

Hengshui Lake Nature Reserve lies in Hengshui City, with an area of 18787hm².It consists of grassy marshland, water, forest land and shoals, and forms nature wetland ecological system. During 2001 to 2002, observation and statistics were made on the dynamic status of migration, habitat form, habit of activity and population density of Aves in the wetland of Hengshui Lake. The management and protection of bird resources are also discussed in the paper.1. From 2001 to 2002, 201 avian species were recorded in wetland of the Hengshui Lake. They belong to 45 families and 16 orders. 137 Species belong to Palaeartic Realm and 18 to Oriental. The species of Palaeartic are dominant, and 187 species (93.0%) are migratory birds. The avian species diversity shows clear seasonal variation. Both the species number and population are found most in migratory season. Among all the birds, 7 species are listed as protected birds under state grade 1 protection, and 28 species under state grade 2 protection.The results show that, Common crane (Grus grus) migrates into this area in the middle of November and leave until the middle of March of next year. In winter,they are used to activity together, normally aboutlO-20individuals.Totally only about 600-700 individuals are reserved in this area.2. A census of waterbirds was taken from 2001 to 2002 in Hengshui Lake. The community species, the constitution of the diversity and the migration dynamics of waterbirds were analyzed. The majority of waterbirds in the area are herons, ducks and waders, most of which are migratory. The all-year community variety can be divided into 4 periods: the period of migration in spring, the period breeding in summer, the period of migration in autumn andthe period of living through the winter. There exists seasonal variation in the number of the species. Judging from either all species of birds or that of warterbirds, the most important reason of seasonal and quantitative variation in every species lies in annual variation of the migratory birds.3. The paper studies and analyzes the diversity in different seasons and in different environments. The avian diversity in autumn is larger than that in spring. In the seven habitats, the avian diversity is most abundant in the reed marshland, while most minimum in the water area.4. From 2001 to 2002, the breeding biology of the Whiskered Tern (Chilidonias hybrida) was studied in the reed marshes habitat in Hengshui Lake Nature Reserve. The result indicates that the Whiskered Tern arrives at Hengshui Lake Nature Reserve in the last ten days of March, commences breeding in the first ten days of May, and leaves at the end of September. It is a kind of gather-breeding bird. All nests float on water. The egg size is (35.4±1.3) mmx(27.9±1.2)mm.The parents incubate in turn. The incubation period lasts 18-21 days. The young are precocial, and after being hatched they leave the nest with their parents within 12 hours. In the whole incubation period, the behavior of occupying territory of parents is very obvious from that of others in the population.