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cje ›› 2010, Vol. 29 ›› Issue (06): 1193-1197.

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Nest site selection and reproductive habit of Ficedula zanthopygia in man-made nest box.

CAO Chang-lei1;GAO Wei2|YOU Yu-yan2;WANG Ji-long2;ZHOU Tong2;DENG Qiu-xiang2   

  1. 1College of Life Science and Technology,Yangtze Normal University,Fuling 408100, Chongqing,China;2College of Life Science,Northeast Normal University,Changchun 130024,China
  • Online:2010-06-10 Published:2010-06-10

Abstract: From February 2005 to July 2006, 226 man-made nest boxes were put onto a secondary deciduous forest to study the nest site selection and reproductive habit of Ficedula zanthopygia. Twenty five of the 226 boxes were utilized by F.zanthopygia, and 96% of them were of mini-type, suggesting that F. zanthopygia had selectivity on nest box size. The clutch size of F. zanthopygia was 6.00±0.17, egg’s long size was (17.45±0.07) mm and egg’s short size was (13.20±0.06) mm, average egg weight was (1.54±0.02) g, average incubation period and nestling period were  12-14 d, hatch rate was 88.76%, and flying rate was 96.22%. The main factors affecting the nest site selection were nest sit(31.46%), concealment below nest (24.67%), illumination (15.70%), and food (11.32%). Nest site was the uppermost factor in nest site selection. Concealment  was the second, which could reduce prey probability. Illumination could elevate the temperature within nest, playing an important role in hatching. Food was an important factor in satisfying the nutrition of F.zanthopygia in its breeding season. The materials of the nest were miscellaneous and closely related to the local environment, reflecting the stronger adaptability of F. zanthopygia to habitat.

Key words: Amomum villosum, Tropical forest, Secondary forest