Abstract:

Home range and habitat use of male Reeves’s pheasant (Syrmaticus reevesii) were studied during the winter of 2001/2002 and 2002/2003 in the Dongzhai National Nature Reserve, Henan Province. The results from five individuals of Reeves’s pheasant with over 30 relocations indicated the average size of home range was 10.03 ± 1.17 hm2 by Minimum Convex Polygon method, 8.60 ± 0.35 hm2 by 90% Harmonic Mean Transformation method, and 9.50 ±1.90 hm2 by 95% Fixed Kernel method. The winter range was smaller than that in the breeding season. The mean core area of the home range was 1.88 ± 0.37 hm2. Although the habitat composition of the core area varied greatly among individuals, conifer and broadleaf mixed forests, masson pine forests, fir forests, and shrubs together accounted for a large part of the habitats used. Habitat use within the study area was non-random, while habitats were randomly used within home ranges. Tree di-ameter at breast height, shrub height and coverage at 2.0 m dictated habitat use. The proximity between for-ests and shrubs were also important in providing refuge for the birds during the winter. Recommendations for conservation management include protecting the existing habitats in Dongzhai National Nature Reserve, in-creasing suitable habitat for Reeves’s pheasant through artificial plantations (e.g. firs), and restoring some parts of the large area of shrubs to forest.