FACED BUZZARD &Lpar;<I>BUTASTUR INDICUS</I>
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j. RaptorRes. 38(3):263-269 ¸ 2004 The Raptor ResearchFoundation, Inc. BREEDING BIOLOGY OF THE GREY-FACED BUZZARD (BUTASTUR INDICUS) IN NORTHEASTERN CHINA WEN-HONG DENG 1 MOE KeyLaboratory for BiodiversityScience and Ecological En•neering, College of Life Sciences, BeijingNormal University, Beijing, 100875 China WEI GAO Collegeof Life Sciences,Northeast Normal University, Changchun, 130024 China JI•NG ZHAO Collegeof Life Sciences,illin NormalUniversity, Siping, 136000 China ABSTRACT.--Westudied the breeding biologyof the Grey-facedBuzzard (Butasturindicus) in Zuojia Nature Reserve,Jinlin province,China from 1996-98. Grey-facedBuzzards are summerresidents in northeasternChina. Nesting sites were occupied in Marchand annualreoccupancy was 60%. Grey-faced Buzzardsbuilt new or repairedold nestsin late March and laid eggsin earlyApril. Layingpeaked in late April and spanned32 d (N = 15 clutches).Clutches consisted of 3-4 eggs,incubated for 33 -+ 1 d predominantlyby the female,to whomthe malebrought prey. After young hatched, the femalealso beganhunting. The mean brood-rearingperiod was 38 -+ 2 d and nestlingfemales attained larger asymptoticmass than males,but the lattergrew fasten Males fledged at a meanage of 35 d and females at 39 d. Youngwere slightlyheavier than adultsat fiedging,but the wing chordand tail lengthswere shorterthan thoseof adults.A total of 50 eggswas laid in 15 nests(i clutchsize = 3.3), of which80% hatchedand 90% of the nestlingsfledged. A mean of 2.4 youngfledged per breedingattempt. Overall nest successwas 80%. Causesof nest failure were addled eggsand predation on eggsor nestlingsby small mammals (e.g., Siberian weasel [Mustelasibe•ica] ). KEYWORDS: Grey-facedBuzzard; Butastur indicus; breeding biology; clutch size,, nestlings; fledglings; develop- m•t;, reproductivesuccess. BIOLOG•A REPRODUCTIVA DE BUTASTUR INDICUS EN EL NORESTE DE CHINA REsUMEN.--Estudiamosla biologla reproductiva de Butasturindicus en la reservaNatural de la Provi- denciade Jinlin en Chinadesde 1996-98. B. indicuses un residentede veranoen el norestede China. Los sitiosde anidacionfueron ocupadosen Marzoy la reocupaci6nanual de los nidosfue el 60%. B. indicusconstruyo o repararolos nidosviejos a finalesde Marzoy pusohuevos a principiosde Abril. E1 pico de la posturaocurri6 en Abril y abarco32 dias (N = 15 nidadas).Las nidadasfueron de huevosincubados 33 +- 1 dias, los cualesfueron incubadospredominantemente pot la hembra, a la cual el machotraia presas.La media del periodo de crecimientofue de 38 _+2 dias,las hembras obtuvieronuna mayormasa corporal que los machos,pero estoscrecieron mas rSpidamente. Los ma- chosemplumaron en un promediode 35 diasy lashembras a los 39 dias.Los juveniles al emplumar fueron levementemas pesadosque los adultos.Una media de 50 huevosfue obtenidaen 15 nidos (tamafiode la nidada = 3.3), de loscuales un 80% eclosionarony un 90% de lospichones emplumaron una mediade 2.4 pichonesemplumados pot intento reproductivo.E1 6xito generalde anidacionfue de 80%. Las causasdel fracasode anidacionfueron atribuiblesa huevospodridos y ala depredacionde pichonespot pequefiosmamlferos (Mustela sibe•ica). [Traducci6n de C6sar Mfirquez] Among subtropicalbirds, raptorsare one of the about their breeding biology,particularly in China. least-studiedgroups, and relativelylittle is known Since 1995, several surveyshave been conducted to document the distribution and population status E-mail address:[email protected] of Grey-facedBuzzards (Butasturindicus) during 263 264 DENG ET A•. VOL. 38, NO. 3 study period. The vegetation within the study area was quite diverse,although the forest type wassecondary for- est. The seven tree speciesmainly present on the study area were Mongolian oak (Quercusmongolica), Dahurian birch (Betula davurica), Manchurian linden (T ilia mand- schurica),Japanese elm (Ulmusjap0nica),Scotch pine (Pi- nus sylvestris), Korean larch ( Pinus koraiensis), and Masson pine (Pinus massoniana;Deng et al. 1997). In the study area, Dahurian rose (Rosa dahurica), Korean rose (Rosa doreana),willowleaf spiraea (Spiraeasalicifolia), ural false- spiraea (Sorbariasorbifolia), and Sakhalin honeysuckle (Loniceramaximowiczii) dominated the shrub layer. METHODS Breeding areas were surveyed by foot periodically Figure 1. The distribution of the Grey-faced Buzzard. throughout the breeding seasonto find mated pairs. We Dark shading indicates breeding range; grey shading in- defined nesting sitesas an area where aerial displaying, mating, nest-building, incubating, brooding, and repeat- dicates winter ranges. The white square indicates the ed prey-carryingoccurred. An area with a mated pair was study area. considered an occupied nesting site. Observations of Grey-facedBuzzards in their breeding areas were made from above canopylookouts and ground blinds with the their breeding season in Zuojia Nature Reserve, aid of 8-12x binocularsand a spottingscope. We distin- northeastern China. Because of these survey ef- guished mature males, females, and iramatures by their forts, the species is known from more localities body sizeand plumage color (Deng 1998). The body size of maleswas smaller than that of females.Also, the plum- than ever before in China (Deng et al. 1997). Feng age color of adults was darker than that of iramatures. et al. (1991) estimated the population at a maxi- We classifieddisplay flight as territorial only if followed mum of 30 breeding pairs in Zuojia Nature Re- by an encounter between the resident and an intruder serve and 1000 breeding pairs in northeastern Chi- (Delannoy and Cruz 1988), otherwise interactions be- tween pair members were considered courtship. We es- na. The species occurs either in conifer forests, timated above-groundheights of flying birds in courtship broad-leaf forests, or mixed forests. Grey-faced relative to known above-groundheights of hills and other Buzzards are summer residents in this area. A va- topographic features. Nest measurements were taken at rieW of reports suggestthat most Grey-facedBuz- accessiblenests. Nest height was measuredin plumb-line zards that breed in northeastern China migrate to distancefrom the nest to ground level. Shortestdiameter, longest nest diameter, nest depth exterior, and nest Okinawa, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, and depth interior were measured using a ruler. Malaysia for wintering (Ching et al. 1989, Severin- We measured egg dimensions (breadth and length to ghaus 1991, Deng et al. 2003). the nearest 0.1 mm) with vernier calipers, and deter- Until now only two casesof breeding by Grey- mined egg massand body massof nestlings(nearest 0.1 g) with a spring scale (Pesola, Barr, Swizerland). Individ- faced Buzzardshave been reported in China (Feng ual young were marked with colored leg bandssoon after et al. 1991, Zheng and Wang 1998), and these only hatching. Ricklefs' (1967) method of fitting equationsto included brief descriptions. The nests and eggs growth curveswas used to compare growth patterns of have been described(Cheng 1987, Xu 1995), and male and female nestlings.Nestlings were weighed, and breeding territory and roost characteristicshave the length of their wing chord, tail length, culmen, and tarsal length were measured at 3-d intervals. After fiedg- been reported (Kojima 1982, Deng et al. 1997, ing, mist nets were used to capture fledglings and adults, 2003). Here, we describebreeding biology of Grey- which were measured (tarsal length, wing chord, culmen, faced Buzzards based on 3 yr of observationsin and tail length) and weighed. Tarsal length wasmeasured Zuojia Nature Reserve in northeastern China. from the intertarsal joint to the bend of the foot. The tail length (mm) was measured from the base to the tip STU•)¾ APm^ of the center rectrix. Reproductiveoutput was the total number of fledglings produced over a nestling season. The studyarea, ca. 184 kme in size,was located in Zuo- Reproductive successwas a general term that included jia Nature Rcserveand included the Tumengling Moun- severalmeasures and components,expressed on per pair, tains and Zhujia Mountains ranging from the eastern per breeding attempt, or per egg basis.All statisticalpro- Changbai Mountains to the western plain (126o1'- cedures followed Zar (1999). 127ø2'N, 44ø6'-45ø5'E; Fig. 1). Elevation at the site ranged from 200-500 m above sea level. The climate is RESULTS east monsoon, characterized by hot, dry summers and cold, snowywinters. Mean monthly temperatures ranged Courtship and Territoriality. We observed the from -20.5øC in January to 23.6øc in August during movements and behavior of fledglings for 118 hr SEPTEMBER2004 GREY-FACEDBUZZARD BREEDING BIOLOGY 265 Table 1. Grey-faced Buzzard nest-sitecharacteristics in northeastern Ghina. NEST-SITE CHARACTERISTICS MEAN SD RANGE N Nest height (m) 13.3 3.5 8.8-16.6 15 Nest-tree height (m) 17.5 3.3 13.5-22.9 15 Nest tree DBH (cm) 30.8 9.3 22.1-44.2 15 Shortest nest diameter (cm) 30.3 6.2 25.5-38.6 13 Longest nest diameter (cm) 35.1 7.6 28.9-40.3 13 Nest depth exterior (cm) 42.6 11.5 33.7-55.6 13 Nest depth interior (cm) 17.3 8.1 9.8-29.5 13 Nest support branch diameter (cm) 8.6 3.7 5-18 10 at two nests. Grey-faced Buzzardsare summer res- the pair createda bowl by compactinga layer of identsthat establishnesting territories only during finer twigswith their talons and breast. The earliest the breeding seasonin northeastern Ghina. Reoc- nest-buildingactivity in a seasonwas observedon cupancyof nesting sitesoccurs in early March. An- 21 March 1998. The earliest copulation was ob- nual reoccupancywas 60% (N = 15). Six