Breeding of the Giant Laughingthrush ( maximus) at Lianhuashan, Southern Gansu, Author(s): Jie Wang, Chen-Xi Jia, Song-Hua Tang, Yun Fang, and Yue-Hua Sun Source: The Wilson Journal of Ornithology, 122(2):388-391. Published By: The Wilson Ornithological Society DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1676/09-057.1 URL: http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.1676/09-057.1

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The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 122(2):388–391, 2010 Breeding of the Giant Laughingthrush (Garrulax maximus) at Lianhuashan, Southern Gansu, China

Jie Wang,1,2 Chen-Xi Jia,1 Song-Hua Tang,1 Yun Fang,1 and Yue-Hua Sun1,3

ABSTRACT.—We describe the nest sites, nests, description based on a single nest in a bamboo eggs, and incubation and provisioning behavior of the clump, which contained two eggs (Ludlow and endemic Giant Laughingthrush (Garrulax maximus)in Kinnear 1944). We describe the nests, eggs, a coniferous forest (2,850–2,950 m asl) at Lianhua- shan, southern Gansu, central China. We found seven nestlings, and nesting behavior of this in shallow bowl-shaped nests in Picea-Abies trees, 4.0 6 an alpine conifer-dominated forest in southern 1.5 m (x 6 SD, n 5 7) above the ground during May Gansu, China. and June 2003, 2007, and 2008. Clutch size was 2.2 6 0.4 unspotted blue eggs (2–3, n 5 6) of which 1.4 6 METHODS 0.5 nestlings hatched (1–2, n 5 7), and 1.0 6 1.0 young fledged (0–2, n 5 7). Three nests failed, Study Area.—Our study area was in the possibly due to predation or abandonment during Lianhuashan Nature Reserve (34u 579 N, 103u prolonged rainfall. Both males and females incubated 469 E) in southern Gansu Province, China. The clutches; nest attentiveness during the day decreased forested area occurs on north, northeast, and from 92.6 6 0.9% before hatching to 59.4 6 1.5% northwest-facing slopes; only shrubs and grasses during days 3–7 of the nestling period. Both parents grow on south-facing slopes. Coniferous forest is fed the nestlings (1.0 6 1.0 times/hr) and consumed the feces (0.3 6 0.5 times/hr) during the 7–15 days after the most prevalent cover type and is dominated by hatching Received 28 March 2009. Accepted 26 Dragon spruce (Picea asperata) and Farges fir October 2009. (Abies fargesii). The other cover types are: (1) coniferous-deciduous forest, including spruce, fir, Himalayan birch (Betula utilis), and willow (Salix The endemic Giant Laughingthrush (Garrulax spp.); and (2) shrublands including willow, sea maximus) is distributed from southern Gansu and buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides), and barberry southeastern Qinghai to southern and southeastern (Berberis spp.). The study area has been described Tibet and northern Yunnan in southern and central by Sun et al. (2003). The mean annual tempera- China (Zheng 2005, Thompson 2007). Habitats ture is 5.1–6.0u C, with a maximum of 34.0u C occupied include open broadleaf and mixed and minimum of 227.1u C. The climate is broadleaf-coniferous forests, bamboo (Phyllosta- semiarid, and the annual precipitation is about chys spp.) scrub in broadleaf evergreen forest, oak 65 cm. (Quercus spp.) forest with scattered conifers, and Field Procedures.—We located seven nests (6 relatively open broadleaf evergreen forest with during incubation and 1 during the nestling stage) shrub understory at 2,135–4,115 m elevation by following nesting-related activities of adults or (Thompson 2007). by systematically checking individual trees in the The Giant Laughingthrush is the largest laugh- conifer-dominated forest between 2,850 and ingthrush (Cheng et al. 1987, Rasmussen and 3,100 m elevation during three breeding seasons Anderton 2005) and was previously treated as a (Apr–Jul in 2003, 2007, and 2008). We inspected subspecies of Spotted Laughingthrush (G. ocella- nests every 3–5 days to identify hatching and tus) (Ali and Ripley 1996). Little is known about fledging dates and, if possible, cause of nest its natural history and breeding except one failure. Incubation or brood care was documented using data loggers (Tinytag Plus 2 Gemini Data 1 Key Laboratory of Ecology and Conservation Loggers, West Sussex, UK) at two nests, one of Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of which was monitored for 194 hrs during 11 days. Sciences, Beijing 100101, China. 2 Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Sciences, The probe was placed among the eggs to take a Beijing 100049, China. temperature reading every 15 sec. Length of on- 3 Corresponding author; e-mail: [email protected] and off-nest bouts, and behaviors of provisioning SHORT COMMUNICATIONS 389

TABLE 1. Giant Laughingthrush nests observed in the Lianhuashan Nature Reserve, southern Gansu, central China during May and June 2003, 2007, and 2008. DBH 5 diameter at breast height.

Nest tree Nest Clutch size

DBH Height above Distance to Nest # Date found Stage Species (cm) ground (m) the trunk (m) Eggs Nestlings Fledglings Nest fate 1 25 May 2003 Incubation Spruce 12 7.0 0.40 3 2 2 Successful 2 27 May 2003 Incubation Spruce 10 3.0 0.04 2 2 2 Successful 3 9 June 2003 Nestling Spruce 14 4.5 0.10 2 2 Successful 4 24 May 2007 Incubation Fir 32 3.8 2.00 2 1 1 Successful 5 9 June 2007 Incubation Spruce 13 4.0 0.05 2 1 0 Abandoned 6 26 May 2008 Incubation Fir 45 2.4 2.10 2 1 0 Depredated 7 3 June 2008 Incubation Spruce 26 3.5 2.20 2 1 0 Depredated

young and removing feces were recorded at one diameter at breast height (DBH) of the nest tree. nest by observation (33.7 hrs during days 6–10, All data are expressed as x 6 SD. 12–13, and 15 of the nestling period) and at another nest by video recorder (1.9 hrs on the 15th RESULTS day of the nestling period). All observers and Nests were placed in Dragon spruce or Farges equipment were camouflaged using branches and fir with three in branches of large conifers (DBH leaves. 5 34 6 10 cm) at a height of 2.4–3.8 m above Nest characteristics were measured after termi- ground and 2.0–2.2 m from the trunk. Four nests nation of nesting and included height of the nest, were in small spruce (DBH 5 12 6 2 cm) nearly distance of the nest to trunk, and height and touching the trunk at a height of 3.0–7.0 m

FIG. 1. Nest with two eggs of the Giant Laughingthrush in a Dragon spruce (Picea asperata) at Lianhuashan, southern Gansu, central China. Photograph by Chenxi Jia. 390 THE WILSON JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGY N Vol. 122, No. 2, June 2010

FIG. 2. Length of on- and off-nest bouts and nest attentiveness of the Giant Laughingthrush at one nest (found in 2007) during the incubation and nestling periods. Day 0 5 hatching day. The numbers on the asterisks are the time (hrs) monitored by data loggers whereas the numbers on/under the bars are the sample sizes of on/off-nest bouts.

(Table 1). Nests were shallow and bowl-shaped incubation stage. The other nest was predated at (Fig. 1) with an inside diameter of 11.6 6 0.7 cm 2344 hrs (Beijing Time, revealed by data logger) (10.8–12.2 cm, n 5 4), outside diameter of 19.3 6 during the nestling stage with the nest overturned 0.9 cm (18.5–20.0 cm), inside depth of 5.1 6 and feathers of the adult scattered on the ground. 1.3 cm (4.0–6.5 cm), and outside height of 9.4 6 Mean length of on-nest bouts decreased from 1.1 cm (8.0–10.5 cm). Two nests were 78 and 80 g 59.4 6 39.1 min (1.5–136.0 min) before hatching in wet weight, respectively. The inside bowl of the to 27.6 6 18.0 min (3.0–72.5 min) during the nest was lined with thin strands of bamboo, nestling period, whereas mean off-nest bouts madder (Rubia spp.), and spiraea (Spiraea spp.) increased from 4.6 6 2.8 min (0.5–10.5 min) to stems, whereas the outer bowl and foundation 15.6 6 10.1 min (2.5–45.0 min) (Fig. 2). Nest were mainly of twigs, 25 cm (10–38 cm) in attentiveness during the day decreased from 92.6 length, mostly of honeysuckle (Lonicera spp.) 6 0.9% before hatching to 59.4 6 1.5% during with a few from spruce, fir, and birch. days 3–7 of the nestling period. The female began Clutch size was 2.2 6 0.4 eggs (2–3, n 5 6) diurnal activities at 0613 hrs (628 min, n 5 9) with 1.4 6 0.5 nestlings hatched (n 5 7) and 1.0 and began nocturnal brooding at 1931 hrs 6 1.0 young fledged (n 5 7). Ten unspotted blue (628 min, n 5 9). eggs were 33.5 6 1.5 mm (31.6–36.2 mm) in Both parents provisioned nestlings and re- length, 22.9 6 0.7 mm (21.6–24.4 mm) in moved (or consumed) feces at a frequency of diameter, and 8.8 6 0.8 g (7.8–10.0 g) in weight. 1.2 6 1.5 (0–6) and 0.5 6 0.9 (0–3) times/hr, One nest was abandoned in the nestling stage, respectively, based on observation (32 hrs) and possibly due to prolonged rainfall (15–22 Jun video recording (1.9 hrs) during days 7–15 of the 2007). One nest was possibly predated as one egg nestling period. The nestling period appeared to had a small hole in the eggshell during the be 17–18 days (2 nests). SHORT COMMUNICATIONS 391

DISCUSSION ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Nests in conifers were higher than the nest in We are grateful to Dan Strickland for help with English the bamboo clump (1.2 m) reported by Ludlow and J.-L. Li, Y.-X. Jiang, Sh. -Q. Zhao, and the staff of and Kinnear (1994) and the nest of the Spotted Lianhuashan Nature Reserve for field assistance. We Laughingthrush (,2 m) (Ali and Ripley 1996). appreciate the constructive comments of K. E. Miller, C. Nest materials used by the Giant Laughingthrush E. Braun, and one anonymous reviewer on earlier drafts of were similar to those used by the closely related the manuscript. The work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant 30620130110). Snowy-cheeked Laughingthrush (G. sukatschewi) (Bi et al. 2003) and the Spotted Laughingthrush LITERATURE CITED (Ali and Ripley 1996), but did not include moss, birch leaves, or strips of honeysuckle bark, which ALI,S.AND S. D. RIPLEY. 1996. Pages 29–31 in Handbook are frequently used by the Elliot’s Laughingthrush of the of and Pakistan. Second Edition. (G. elliotii) (Jiang et al. 2007). We did not find Volume 7. Oxford University Press, New Delhi, India. nests in bamboo clumps, which were quite short BI, Z.-L., Y. GU, C.-X. JIA, Y.-X. JIANG, AND Y.-H. SUN. 2003. Nests, eggs, and nestling behavior of the Snowy- (,1.8 m) and scattered under the conifer trees or cheeked Laughingthrush (Garrulax sukatschewi)at in small patches within the forest. The bamboo in Lianhuashan Natural Reserve, Gansu, China. Wilson this area had been nearly clear-cut by the local Bulletin 115:474–477. people 5 years earlier. CHENG, T. H., Z. Y. LONG, AND B. L. ZHENG. 1987. Pages The unspotted blue color of the eggs was 113–115 in Fauna Sinica (Aves. Volume 11. Passer- similar to the Snowy-cheeked Laughingthrush (Bi iformes, Muscicapidae II, Timaliinae). Science Press, et al. 2003) but possibly differed from the Spotted Beijing, China. Laughingthrush, which has eggs that are spotless JIANG, Y.-X., Y.-Z. ZHU, AND Y.-H. SUN. 2007. Notes on reproductive biology of Elliot’s Laughingthrush at or with a few chocolate-brown specks near the Zhuoni, Gansu. Sichuan Journal of Zoology 26:555– broad end (Ali and Ripley 1996). Mean clutch 556. size was similar to that of the Spotted Laugh- LU, X., G.-H. GONG, AND X.-H. ZENG. 2008. Reproductive ingthrush (normal 5 2 eggs, Ali and Ripley ecology of Brown-cheeked Laughingthrush (Garrulax 1996), but less than the high-altitude Brown- henrici) in Tibet. Journal of Field Ornithology 79:152– cheeked Laughingthrush (G. henrici) (2.6 eggs, 158. Lu et al. 2008), Snowy-cheeked Laughingthrush LUDLOW,F.AND N.-B. KINNEAR. 1944. The birds of (3.5 eggs; Jie Wang, unpubl. data), and Elliot’s southeastern Tibet. Ibis 86:43–86, 176–208, 348–389. RASMUSSEN,P.C.AND J. C. ANDERTON. 2005. Page 413 in Laughingthrush (3.4 eggs, Jiang et al. 2007). Birds of south Asia: the Ripley Guide. Volume 2. Both parents incubated eggs and brooded Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., USA, and nestlings, similar to most other Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. (Thompson 2007). Frequency of provisioning SUN, Y.-H, J. E. SWENSON,Y.FANG,S.KLAUS, AND W. nestlings was lower than for the Snowy-cheeked SCHERZINGER. 2003. Population ecology of the Chi- Laughingthrush (1.2 vs. 7.9 times/hr; Bi et al. nese Grouse, Bonasa sewerzowi, in a fragmented 2003). One reason may be that adult Giant landscape. Biological Conservation 110:177–184. Laughingthrushes seemed to be vigilant and prone THOMPSON, H. S. S. 2007. Page 253 in Handbook of the birds of the world. Volume 12. Picathartes to tits and to decrease their activities during the nestling chickadees (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, and D. A. Christie, stage, as the frequency of provisioning young Editors). Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. estimated from video recordings (7 times in ZHENG, G.-M. 2005. Page 253 in A checklist on the 1.9 hrs) was higher than from observation (31 classification and distribution of the birds of China. times in 32 hrs). Science Press, Beijing, China.