Abstract:

The roosting behavior and roost-site selection of Temminck’s tragopan(Tragopan temminckii) in Laojunshan Natural Reserve of Sichuan Province were studied using radio-telemetry and field observations between April and August 2005 and between March and August 2006. Nineteen tree-roosting and two ground-roosting individuals were recorded. Adults and sub-adults roosted in trees individually. The average diameter of the roost branch was 4.6 cm and the average height was 6.8 m. The roosting behavior began at 0.5-1 hour before sunset and ended at about 0.5 hour after dawn. The roosting duration was related with season and weather: shorter in summer (615.7 ± 15.7 min) than in spring and autumn (658.3 ± 5.9 min) with fine weather; and shorter in fine weather than overcast, heavy fog or rain (661.5 ± 6.8 min) in summer. Nineteen roost trees belonged to 6 species of 2 families (Fagaceae and Magnoliaceae). The mixed deciduous-evergreen broad-leaved forest and bamboo-shrubs mixed forest were the most frequently used roosting habitats. The ANOVA and Mann-Whitney U test showed that Temminck’s tragopans prefered roosting in trees with abundant canopy on steep upper slopes of dense bamboo-shrubs. Principal component analysis showed that the vegetation and roost branch direction accounted for most variations of the habitat variable.

Key words: Temminck’s tragopan, roost site, roost tree, habitat variable, Laojunshan