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Avian Research 2019, 10(1): 23 https://doi.org/10.1186/s40657-019-0161-x
Research | Open Access | Issue | Published: 14 June 2019

Egg laying and incubation rhythm of the Chinese Grouse (Tetrastes sewerzowi) at Lianhuashan, Gansu, China

Show Author's Information Mei Shi1,2,  Yun Fang1,  Jin-ming Zhao3,  Siegfried Klaus4,  Yingxin Jiang1,  Jon E. Swenson5,  Yue-Hua Sun1( )
Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
School of Life Science, Huaibei Normal University, Huaibei 235000, China
Jena, Germany
Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Box 5003, 1432 Ås, Norway
Keywords:
Body mass, Nest attentiveness, Chinese Grouse, Environment temperature, Incubation pattern
Cite this article:
Shi M, Fang Y, Zhao J-m, et al. Egg laying and incubation rhythm of the Chinese Grouse (Tetrastes sewerzowi) at Lianhuashan, Gansu, China. Avian Research, 2019, 10(1): 23. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40657-019-0161-x
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Abstract Full text About this article
Background

Incubating birds must balance the conflict between thermal needs of the developing embryos and their self-maintenance needs for energy. The Chinese Grouse (Tetrastes sewerzowi) lives in high mountain conifer forests and faces energy stress, cold environment, and predation pressure. Females might adjust incubation rhythm to adapt to these constraints.

Methods

Two methods were used to investigate egg laying and incubation pattern of the Chinese Grouse; 25 nests were monitored by data loggers and 12 nests by infrared video cameras.

Results

Female Chinese Grouses usually laid an egg every 2 days. The incubation period was 28-31 days. Overall incubation constancy for Chinese Grouse was 93%. The females took 5.0 recesses per day and 34% of all 1696 recesses were taken in the crepuscular period. The average recess duration was 20.3 min. Females took more and shorter recesses in the latter part of incubation. The females who allocated more time to foraging had a higher reproductive success.

Conclusions

Probably due to its high egg/body mass ratio, the Chinese Grouse has a long laying interval of 49 h. We suggest that, due to energy stress, females have relatively more recesses and they increase the number of recesses as incubation progresses. To compensate for the embryos' thermal needs, they extend the incubation period and shorten the recess duration in this cold environment.


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About this article

Egg laying and incubation rhythm of the Chinese Grouse (Tetrastes sewerzowi) at Lianhuashan, Gansu, China

Show Author's information Mei Shi1,2, Yun Fang1, Jin-ming Zhao3, Siegfried Klaus4, Yingxin Jiang1, Jon E. Swenson5, Yue-Hua Sun1( )
Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
School of Life Science, Huaibei Normal University, Huaibei 235000, China
Jena, Germany
Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Box 5003, 1432 Ås, Norway

Abstract

Background

Incubating birds must balance the conflict between thermal needs of the developing embryos and their self-maintenance needs for energy. The Chinese Grouse (Tetrastes sewerzowi) lives in high mountain conifer forests and faces energy stress, cold environment, and predation pressure. Females might adjust incubation rhythm to adapt to these constraints.

Methods

Two methods were used to investigate egg laying and incubation pattern of the Chinese Grouse; 25 nests were monitored by data loggers and 12 nests by infrared video cameras.

Results

Female Chinese Grouses usually laid an egg every 2 days. The incubation period was 28-31 days. Overall incubation constancy for Chinese Grouse was 93%. The females took 5.0 recesses per day and 34% of all 1696 recesses were taken in the crepuscular period. The average recess duration was 20.3 min. Females took more and shorter recesses in the latter part of incubation. The females who allocated more time to foraging had a higher reproductive success.

Conclusions

Probably due to its high egg/body mass ratio, the Chinese Grouse has a long laying interval of 49 h. We suggest that, due to energy stress, females have relatively more recesses and they increase the number of recesses as incubation progresses. To compensate for the embryos' thermal needs, they extend the incubation period and shorten the recess duration in this cold environment.

Keywords: Body mass, Nest attentiveness, Chinese Grouse, Environment temperature, Incubation pattern

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Publication history
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Publication history

Received: 15 May 2019
Accepted: 30 May 2019
Published: 14 June 2019
Issue date: January 2019

Copyright

© The Author(s) 2019.

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

We thank people in the Lianhuashan Natural Reserve for their great helps. Prof. Kathy Martin gave us great comments on our manuscript. We appreciate all these help for the improvement of this paper.

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