Comparison Between Two Species Of Prinia On The Character Of Gathering In Winter And The Pattern For Declaring Territory

Plain Prinia(Prinia inornata) and Yellow-bellied Prinia(P.flaviventris) both distribute in south China with close relationship.The tails of the two species would turn shorter in breeding period than in non-breeding period.Their tails could cooperate with their song to declare territorry and other information.In order to understand the mechanism of sympatric speciation of Prinia,studies were carried out during Jan.2007 and Jun.2008 in Jiangxi Village of Zhaoqing city,Guangdong province.The results showed:Ⅰ.Comparison on gathering in winter:Most of Plain Prinia observed in nature is gathering and the proportion is 72.4%(n≥2);Most of Yellow-bellied Prinia observed appeared alone and the proportion is 65%(n=1).Yellow-bellied Prinia prefer to act solely not like Plain Prinia.Ⅱ.Comparison on the length of the tail:From non-breeding season to breeding season the length proportion of the tail to the the body of Plain Prinia vary from 0.584±0.018 to 0.494±0.021(n=8),and Yellow-bellied Prinia vary from 0.582±0.016 to 0.538±0.021(n=8).The former reduce 28.7%more than the after which reduce 17.3%.Ⅲ.Function of the song and the tail in breeding season:1) By contrast to Plain Prinia,Yellow-bellied Prinia have more song types which are also more complex and usually wary a lot.2) There is more and complex tail act company with the song of Plain Prinia than the other.Ⅳ.Comparison on the habitat in breeding season:1) 80.1%of Plain Prinia act in tussock and the proportion of Yellow-bellied Prinia is 32.9%.52.1%of Yellow-bellied Prinia moves about in brush.2) Vegetation cover of the former is 0.680±0.203 (tussock,n=36) and the after is 0.833±0.174(tussock,n=24),0.813±0.174 (brush,n=38).Hence,we concluded that differences between two speices were obvious on gathering mode in non-breeding season,the length proportion of their tail to their body in different seasons,the song construction,and the cooperation by their tails and songs.