Journal of Ecology and Rural Environment ›› 2020, Vol. 36 ›› Issue (5): 573-579.doi: 10.19741/j.issn.1673-4831.2019.0797

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Overwintering and Behavioral Observations of the Common Crane (Grus grus) in Tianshan Muzati River Wetland

LI Jun-wei1,2, MA Ming1,2, MENG Fan-juan3, E I ILYASHENKO4, V Yu ILYASHENKO4, O V BELYALOV5, A E GAVRILOV6, S Kh ZARIPOVA6, N BATBAYAR7, CAO Lei3   

  1. 1. Key Laboratory of Biogeography and Bioresource in Arid Land, Chinese Academy of Sciences/Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China;
    2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China;
    3. Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China;
    4. Severtsov'Institute of Ecology and Evolution RAS, Moscow 119071, Russia;
    5. Kazakhstan Society for the Protection of Birds, Almaty 480060, Kazakhstan;
    6. Institute of Zoology MES, Almaty 480060, Kazakhstan;
    7. Wildlife Science and Conservation Center of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar 14210, Mongolia
  • Received:2019-10-10 Published:2020-05-23

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Abstract: From October 2017 to May 2019, the population characteristics, activity range, time budget and behavioral rhythm of the common crane (Grus grus) in the basin of Muzati River in Baicheng County, Aksu Prefecture were investigated and analyzed through the direct counting method, scan-sampling technique, satellite tracking and the minimum convex polygon. The population number of common cranes was more than 4 700 in 2009, more than double that of 2016. And the population development dynamics showed an upward trend. The group characteristics of common cranes are main family groups (63.90%), followed by aggregation groups (28.62%), and the least for solitary crane (7.48%). The family group is mainly composed of 2 adults and 1 child (46.82%), and the aggregation group is dominated by 5-8 individuals (65.91%). In the whole wintering period (about 140-160 days), the total active distance of the common crane is 1 058 km, and the activity area is relatively fixed, with a total area of 125 km2. The daily activity area and distance changed with the change of temperature: the daily activity range and distance decreased with the decrease of temperatures. On the contrary, it increased. Therefore, the activity area and distance changed in a concave shape, first increasing (October to November), then gradually decreasing (December to January), and then increasing (February to March). Feeding and alerting are the main wintering behaviors of common cranes. 46.8% of the time of the common crane were used for eating, and 17.8% of the time were used for alerting. The time spent on resting, locomotion, grooming and other behaviors was 13.4%, 11.4%, 7.4% and 3.2%, respectively. The peak of daily eating was double convex, which appeared at 8:00-9:00 and 17:00-18:00, reaching 57.0% and 58.5%, respectively. The peak of rest appeared at 11:00-15:00, accounting for 24.6%. The population of common cranes in this area is faced with many threats, such as grazing, farming, natural enemies, cold, road vehicles and artificial eviction.

Key words: population trend, time budget, behavioral rhythm, activity range, overwintering, common crane (Grus grus)

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