Notes on the Breeding Ecology of the Chestnut-crowned Warbler (Seicercus castaniceps)
There is little information on the reproductive biology of the Seicercus birds.During April to August 2015,we studied the breeding ecology of the Chestnut-crowned Warbler (S.castaniceps) in Kuankuoshui National Nature Reserve,Guizhou,Southwestern China.The Chestnut-crowned Warbler started to breed from May to July.All four nests found were ball shaped with dome and made of flesh moss and fine roots,which were built on the inner side of soil ridge along the road (Fig.1 and 2).As to the measurements of the four nests,the distance to road was 1.3 ± 1.2 m,nest height was 2.2 ± 0.6 m,nest width was 10.9 ± 1.5 cm,cup width was 3.3 ± 0.5 cm,nest depth was 9.5 ± 1.9 cm and cup depth was 5.5 ± 1.0 cm (Table 1).The clutch size was 4-5 eggs,with egg mass of 0.92 ± 0.04 g,egg length and width of 14.30 ± 0.30 mm and 11.22 ± 0.23 mm and egg volume of 0.92 ± 0.05 mm3 (Table 2,n =18).The incubation and nestling period was 12-13 days and 13-14 days respectively.In the middle of incubation (5th-9th days),the incubating time and the frequency of egg turning increased,and became stable in the later stage (10th-13th days) (Table 3).Both females and males fed nestlings.The growth rate of weight and tarsus of nestlings started to increase significantly when 3 days old,and slowed down after 7 days old (n =10) (Fig.3).For these four nests,nesting success was up to 100％ and hatching success was 88.9％ (16 out of 18 eggs),with fledging success being 3.3 neslings per nest.
万方数据
