Status And Biodiversity Conservation On Raptors In The Mountainous Areas Around Beijing

Raptors, including the birds of Falconiformes and Strigiformes, are on the top of the ecosystem, the changes of their number and distribution reflected the energy flow and cycle of matter in the ecosystem. The status of habitat condition, bird population is good indications for the local biodiversity abundance and the relationship of wildlife-human interference. The ecological studies on raptors were mainly focused on the species diversity in Beijing region at present. It needs further research on breeding ecology and foods analysis for the effective protection. In this study, I made a thorough investigation on the distribution of raptors in the mountainous region of ten scenic resorts and nature reserves, and collected the pellets of long-eared owls from two places during the winter. The results displayed that there were 19 species of Falconiformes were recorded; it took 83% of all the ordinary species. Among them the Northern goshawk, golden eagle, Eurasian hobby and common kestrel had a relatively high abundance. The main distribution areas include Songshan, Mutianyu, Yunmengshan, Shidu, Wulingshan and Labagoumen with the percentage of 47.3%, 36.8%, 42.1%, 52.6%, 36.8% and 68.4% respectively. The results displayed that there were 5 species of Strigiformes were recorded; it took 62.5% of all the ordinary species. Among them the Eurasian Eagle Owl and Little Owl had a relatively high abundance. The foods contents of the wintering long-eared owls were Eurasian tree sparrow, Japanese pipistrelle and house mouse. It was different from the former studies that the rodents were not the main food. The food proportion of bats, rodents and birds changed with time. This research reported for the first time that bats appeared in the pellets of wintering owls.