Structure Of Behavior Ethogram Of Grus Japonensis In Breeding Season In Zhalong National Nature Reserve

The behaviors of Grus japonensis in Zhalong National Nature Protection Area, HeilongjiangProvince, were observed during the period of April to August in2012, using a combination of scansampling and target sampling. The observations included the behaviors of caged Grus japonensisin reproduction period and artificially bred Grus japonensis in nestling period, as well as theexperiment to test the response of Grus japonensis to human interference. The differences ofindividual Grus japonensis were compared. Based on the behaviors of three small groups of Grusjaponensis, ethogram and PAE behavior coding were constructed. The result showed:The caged Grus japonensis showed foraging behaviors throughout the day. The peak time offoraging was always at9:00am with a small peak occurred at15:00pm during the day. Quiet timeoccurred during11:00-13:00at noon when its vigilance behavior was weak. After entering theincubation period, lying in nest became the main behavior. Male and female Grus japonensisdisplayed significant difference in vigilance and incubation behaviors. The vigilance of male Grusjaponensis was noticeably higher than that of female Grus japonensis, whereas their incubationbehavior was significantly lower than female Grus japonensis. This was consistent with thebehavior frequency of wild and free-ranging Grus japonensis. Abnormal behaviors with varyingdegrees emerged for Grus japonensis which have been confined in small cage for a long period.These abnormal behaviors include quickly wandering back and forth without any purpose;scratching the cage wall with the beak; Grus japonensis in two cages standing and looking at eachother, thus causing fighting in two cages; attempting to hover to knock down the cage and then fall;the behavior of bumping against the cage due to being frightened. Grus japonensis would mate andlay eggs again in one week after their eggs were taken away. However, behavior changes of Grusjaponensis were significant during the first1-2days after eggs were taken. Take caged Grusjaponensis for example. It would adopt different behavior in the absence of incubation; thevigilance behavior would become significant; the frequency of abnormal behaviors would alsoincrease.Ethogram of Grus japonensis has been established after analyzing their normal behaviors (11categories,48types), family behaviors (3categories,15types) and abnormal behaviors (2categories,7types), which can be used to accurately define their posture, act and behavior andprovides the standard for accurate judgment, for feeding management and wild training of Grusjaponensis. PAE behavior coding system of Grus japonensis was established. In addition,9posturecodes,62action codes and11environment codes were defined, and PAE behavior coding ethogram of Grus japonensis composed of1847behavior codes was constructed, including32abnormal behavior codes of caged Grus japonensis. The above codes may help to reduce omissionof information and recording errors in future observation.The main behaviors of nestling Grus japonensis involved foraging, setting, tranquillization,wandering and peeping. With the increase in age daily, the behaviors changed. The nestling Grusjaponensis at the age less than10days had no setting behavior and would display vigilancebehavior after wild training. With the rise in weather temperature, the frequency of washing andswimming behaviors increased significantly. The nestling Grus japonensis at the age more than70days started to try to fly.Human activities in Zhalong district mainly include tourism in scenic spots, traffic, fishing,burning waste and farming. In recent years, the development and construction of scenic spots hadgradually disturbed the behaviors of birds in the protection area. Burning waste was the mostserious human disruption and would burn the nests and eggs of Grus japonensis in the incubationperiod. The sound of engines would frighten female Grus japonensis before laying eggs, thuscausing wind eggs, egg pecking in the incubation period and prolonged incubation period etc. Theresponse of Grus japonensis to human interference was less than that of other birds. The differencein flush distance of adult and sub-adult Grus japonensis was extremely significant. This indicatedthat adult Grus japonensis had certain tolerance to human interference. Grus japonensisdemonstrated stronger resistance to interference than other cranes. Moreover, male adult Grusjaponensis had driving behavior.