The Activity Rhythm And Behavioral Time Budgets Of Wild Reeves’s Pheasant (Syrmaticus Reevesii)

The information on animal behavior can provide the scientific basis for the protection of rare and endangered species. Animal activity rhythm and time budget, which can reflect the nutritional and social status and other conditions of animal individuals, are important contents of the animal behavior researches. As they can help to analyze the survival status or strategies of aspecies. They are important for the development of conservation measures. We studied the rhythm of behaviors of Reeves’s Pheasant in Pingjingguan Village of Guangshui City in Hubei Province and Dongzhai National Nature Reserve in Henan Province between March 2012 and August 2013, using the infrared camera technology. The results show:1) In 2012,538 shoots were taken by the infrared cameras in Pingjingguan, with the sex ratio of pheasant being 1.43:1 (female to male). From late March to August in 2013,670 shoots in Pingjingguan, and 596 shoots in Dongzhai were taken by the infrared cameras, with the sex ratio at the two sites being 1.36:1 (female to male) and 0.42:1 (female to male), respectively.2) In 2013, the total capture rates by the cameras were 19.78 in Pingjingguan and 16.85 in Dongzhai. The capturerate of male was significantly higher than that of female in Dongzhai (Independent t test, t10=-2.46, P= 0.045), those in Pingjingguan show no significantce (Independent t test, t10= 0.262, P= 0.567).3) Reeves’s Pheasant preferred habitats with high tree cover, open under-forests and far away from forest edges in Pingjingguan, while they preferred forests with high degree of canopy closure, open undergrowth but high variety of the grasses, gentle slope degree and high litter coverage in Dongzhai.Linear regression model of capture rate in Pingjingguan:f(x)= 31.059+DFE* 0.004-GRC* 0.111-C1.0* 0.409+TRC* 0.346Linear regression model of capture rate in Dongzhai:g(x)=-42.622-SLA* 1.094-SLD* 0.107+GRS* 1.518+CAD* 0.214+CFL* 0.51-C1.0* 0.1874) Groups with two individuals occurred most at both study sites:68.23% in Pingjingguan and 72.79% in Dongzhai. The flocking types of flocks of Reeves’s Pheasants between Pingjingguan and Dongzhai were significantly different (Pearson χ2=46.415, df= 4, P<0.001)5) Reeves’s Pheasant preferred shrubs and bamboo forests, avoided mixed forests, firs and shrubs, and used chestnut(Castanea mollissima)forests randomly in Pingjingguan. In Dongzhai, they preferred mixed and Coniferous forests, avoided firs and broad-leaved forests, and used shrub randomly.6) The main behaviors of Reeves’s pheasant are moving and foraging, accounted for 40.71% and 33.10% of the total frequency respectively. There were two peaks in daily activities of Reeves’s pheasants in both genders, though the peak in the morning of males was two hours earlier than that of females. There were significant differences in feeding, moving and fighting of Reeves’s Pheasant between different seasons. The proportions of different behaviors between male and female pheasnts were not significantly different. There was a fluctuation in daily rhythm of the foraging behavior of Reeves’s pheasant.