The Research On The Anti-Predation Strategy Of Godlewski’s Bunting(Emberiza Godlewskii)

Nest predation is the key driving force in the evolutionary trajectory of avian reproduction biology,and which is the main cause of nesting failure in most birds.It has prompted parent birds to evolve appropriate anti-predation strategies to cope with nest predator in order to maximize their fitness.For ground-nesting birds,except aerial predators,there are also ground predators,including snakes and rodents,which present a high predation risk.In order to explore the anti-predator strategies of groundnesting birds with high predation risk,this study took Liuzhi,Guizhou province as the research area,and the ground-nesting bird Godlewski’s bunting(Emberiza godlewskii)as the research species.Field investigations and experiments were conducted on it during the breeding season from2021 to 2022.The main results and conclusions are as follows:(1)The Godlewski’s bunting has a high nest predation rate.Based on the statistical analysis of the Godlewski’s bunting nests to obtain the general situation of their reproduction in the study area.The results show that the predation rate is as high as 60%,indicating that nest predation is one of the main reasons for nest reproductive failure of the Godlewski’s bunting.Most of the predators were Golden Snake(Elaphe carinata),Brown Rat(Rattus norvegicus),Long-tailed Shrike(Lanius schach)and Red-billed Blue Magpie(Urocissa erythrorhyncha).By comparing the nest reproduction parameters of the Godlewski’s bunting,it is found that there is no significant difference(P > 0.05)in nest site parameters between preying nests and non-preying nests,but the latitude(p= 0.022 < 0.05)and altitude(p= 0.039 < 0.05)of the nests may be the factors that affect the nest fate of the Godlewski’s bunting.The results showed that under the high risk of predation,Godlewski’s bunting may adopt anti-predation strategies when selecting nest sites,for example,choosing a location of nesting after breeding success.(2)Through human simulation of potential predators approaching the nests,it was found that Godlewski’s bunting has a typical nest defence behavior—Injury feigning behavior,and the specific process of this behavior was recorded in detail for the first time.According to the analysis,the frequency of injury feigning behavior was affected by the periods of nest,with a significant difference(p= 0.033 < 0.05)between the brooding period(34.50%)and incubation stage(16.42%);After injury feigning,the of Godlewski’s bunting will move a certain distance,and this movement distance(MD)also has significant differences(p= 0.008 < 0.01)between the two breeding stages.The distance of movement during the brooding period is relatively close,and the bunting has a tendency to further attract intruders.The injury feigning behavior of Godlewski’s bunting has significant influence(p= 0.046 < 0.05)on the nest fate.The success rate of nests with injury feigning behavior(79.31%)is higher than that of nests without injury feigning behavior(57.78%).It shows that the Godlewski’s bunting uses injury feigning behavior as one of the nest defence behaviors when facing potential predators,diverting the attention of predators to protect the nest.(3)In this research,predator Brown Rat,Golden Snake,Long-tailed Shrike and a control group Oriental Turtle Dove(Streptopelia orientalis)were used to test the anti-predation behavior strategies of Godlewski’s bunting with predator recognition ability.The experimental results show that Godlewski’s bunting had the highest probability of aggressive expulsion and injury feigning behavior when facing the surface predator Brown Rat.While the control group’s Oriental Turtle Dove had the highest rate of neglect.In addition,Golden Snake and Long-tailed Shrike originally mainly focus on warning calls.The above experiments reflect that the Godlewski’s bunting can recognize predators and show different behavioral responses according to the degree of danger,especially when it responds strongly to small ground predators.By comparing the behavioral responses of different specimens in the incubation and brooding period of Godlewski’s bunting,it is found that the response of the parent birds in brooding period is stronger than that in incubation period.It also indicates that Godlewski’s bunting has different degrees of anti-predation at different stages of reproductive investment,with the most intense anti-predation at the late reproductive period.In conclusion,the above results show that Godlewski’s bunting has evolved appropriate anti-predation strategies to cope with high predation risk,such as anti-predation adaptation in nest site selection,injury feigning as nest defence behavior,and identification of nest invaders and relevant behavioral responses.At the same time,the comparison between different breeding stages shows that the nest defence intensity of the Godlewski’s bunting is higher in the brooding period than incubation period,implying that the investment in nest defence of the Godlewski’s bunting may be related to the trade-off adaptation of the value or suitability of its offspring.