Bonasa sewerzowi

The foreign name of the spotted-tailed hazel pheasant is Chinese Grouse, which is divided into two subspecies, namely the nominative subspecies (T.s.sewerzowi) and the Sichuan subspecies (T.s.secunda). The difference between the two is that the Sichuan subspecies has a thicker chestnut head and black horizontal back and waist. The spots are obvious, and the shoulder and wing coverts have significant white end spots; the named subspecies has a lighter chestnut color on the head, and the black horizontal spots on the back and waist are blurred, and the shoulder and wing coverts have no white end spots or are not obvious.

    However, the distribution areas of the two are different; in addition, the hazel grouse has a chestnut-white belly with black arc-shaped spots, and the outer tail feathers are gray-brown with dark brown insect spots. The spotted-tail hazel grouse has a chestnut-brown belly with black horizontal spots, and the outer tail feathers Dark brown with narrow white horizontal spots, and the external shape is also different.

Spot-tailed hazel pheasants mostly move in groups except during the breeding season. Most of the groups are family groups, or large groups composed of family groups, especially during the period of raising chicks. They mostly move and live in trees, and they also spend the night on spruce trees. Sometimes they also go to the ground to move around, especially during the brooding period. They move almost entirely on the ground. It is not until the chicks can fly that they gradually transition to an arboreal life. The daily activity time is long, starting from dawn until dark, and the daily activity time is as long as 10 to 14 hours, most of which is spent foraging for food. After eating at noon, they perch on spruce trees or tree stumps and trees under the forest. Rest on the roots or take a sand bath on the soft slopes of the forest. It has a seasonal vertical migration phenomenon. In winter, it often migrates to spruce forests or spruce mixed forests and shrublands at low altitudes. In spring and summer, it migrates to forest grasslands and shrublands in upper mountains.

The spotted hazel pheasant mainly feeds on the spores, young leaves, twigs, catkins, and spruce seeds of willow and birch trees, as well as the twigs, leaves, catkins, berries and other plants of honeysuckle, cotoneaster, barberry, polygonum, and vitex. It feeds on plant foods such as seeds, as well as lepidopteran larvae, coleopteran insects and other small invertebrates. The white fruits of Sorbus koehniana are the favorite food of the spotted-tailed hazel grouse in autumn. Especially in summer. Forages on the ground or in trees, mostly on the understory in summer and on trees in winter. They often forage alone, especially in trees, and rarely gather together in the same tree to feed.

The territorial behavior of the spotted-tailed hazel grouse is also more intense in autumn. The male bird will also flutter its wings and jump, but it is not as intense as in spring. Early morning and evening are the concentrated times for them to feed on rowan fruits. Sometimes the male birds will be relatively dense and fight. The newly born spotted-tailed hazel pheasant chicks in autumn will spread out and integrate into winter flocks to face the test of severe cold in winter.

The breeding period of the spotted-tailed hazel pheasant is from May to July. Pairs are often formed during the vertical migration to the breeding grounds in the upper mountains in spring. In winter, fighting behavior of roosters appears in the overwintering flock. After the pairing is formed, the overwintering flock gradually decomposes. In spring, the male spotted-tailed hazel pheasant will occupy a territory in the forest, marking the territory by fluttering its wings and jumping, and attracting females. By the time the snow in the mountain forests is about to melt away, most male hazel pheasants have already found their mates. During this period, the male bird has a very strong desire to show off in front of the female bird. He will raise the feathers on his neck, droop his wings, raise his fan-shaped tail feathers, shake all the muscles in his body, circle around the female bird with rapid steps, and It makes a rustling grinding sound and uses all its strength to attract the female bird's attention. At this time, the black feathers on the throat of the male bird are particularly flamboyant, and the tail feathers are particularly eye-catching against the white spots. Sometimes the male bird will squat on the ground and shake his head quickly, begging the female bird to agree to mate with him. If the female bird is satisfied with the male bird's performance, she will also squat down and shake her head. At this time, the male bird will raise her head and walk up to the female bird from behind. on the female's back, biting the feathers on the female's head to mate. The mating behavior usually lasts only a few seconds, and the female bird will quickly break away from the male bird's body. During the breeding season, the male always stays by the female's side until the eggs are hatched, and the female still feeds in the male's territory. Male birds protect their territory from intrusion.

Generally, the female spotted-tailed hazel pheasant begins to build nests and breed in early May. The nest structure of the spotted-tailed hazel pheasant is simple. It usually nests in spruce forests, round cylindrical trees or mixed forests. It especially likes to nest on flat slopes with well-developed understory shrubs and vegetation. The nest area is mostly 10 to 15 hectares. The nest is usually placed on the dry ground at the base of the tree trunk, surrounded by shrubs for cover. The female bird is solely responsible for building the nest. In most cases, the female bird digs a round pit on the soft ground, pads the surrounding and bottom with spruce twigs or stems and leaves of Gramineae and Cyperaceae plants, and pads the inside with moss. , feathers and down. Some also nest in natural tree holes on tree trunks. The size of the nest is 15.5 to 25.0 cm in outer diameter, 14 to 16 cm in inner diameter, and 8 to 11.5 cm in depth.

After the nest is built, the female begins to lay eggs. The female bird's egg-laying interval is 2 days, and she usually goes to the nest to lay eggs between 11 noon and 3 pm. Each clutch lays 5 to 8 eggs. The eggs are oval, brown and white or light brown with pink, with reddish brown or tan or maroon spots or patches. The egg size is 43 to 49 mm × 30 to 34.5 mm. Eggs are usually laid in mid-to-late May, with one clutch per year and one egg per day. The average number of eggs in a spotted-tailed hazel pheasant's nest is 6. After all the eggs are laid, the eggs will be incubated, which is borne by the female bird. During the incubation period, the female bird is very attached to the nest. She leaves the nest once a day except at noon and afternoon. Except for about an hour of foraging time, she is incubating the eggs the rest of the time. The incubation period lasts 25 to 28 days. Female birds are precocious and can move around and forage with their parents shortly after hatching. In order to improve the concealment of the nest site, the female bird will cover the eggs with dry leaves, twigs or bark after laying eggs to reduce the possibility of the nest being discovered. The color of the female bird's body is very coordinated with the surrounding environment, forming a good concealment color. In the wild, sometimes you won't find it even if you walk up to its nest, because the female spotted-tailed hazel pheasant loves the nest so much that she won't move even when a person walks 1 meter away from the nest. Some females even touch it with their hands. He also insists on not leaving and will peck your hand with his mouth. The incubation period of the hazel grouse is nearly a month. This period is a critical period for the female hazel grouse. Not only are crows and other natural predators of birds posing a threat to the eggs, but nocturnal mammals such as weasels are also the main cause of nest destruction. factor.

The spotted-tailed hazel grouse is a bird endemic to China, with a narrow distribution area and a rare population. According to a survey by Wang Xiangting (1993), the population in Gansu Province is 3,528, with the highest population density being 1.3~2/km2 and the lowest being 0.45/km2. square kilometers, with higher population density in some areas. However, in recent years, the population density has dropped sharply in some areas. For example, in Zhuonige Forest Area, a survey in May 1990 showed that the population density was only 0.2 individuals/square kilometer, which was half of the 0.4 individuals/square kilometer 10 years ago. . The State Forestry Administration’s survey of China’s key terrestrial wildlife resources found 13,000 animals. According to many years of research by Sun Yuehua and others, the number of individuals measured remotely in 6 years exceeded 70. The population density of spotted-tailed hazel grouse during the spring breeding period in Lianhua Mountain is 17.2±0.64 birds/square kilometer. The number of male birds is greater than that of female birds, and the sex ratio is about 1: 1.5. The population of spotted-tailed hazel grouse in Gansu is about 3,500. The reasons for population decline are mainly due to habitat destruction, hunting, natural enemies, parasites and other factors. Global: Populations are on a downward trend, but exact population data are not available.

With the expansion of human activities such as deforestation, forestry logging, grazing, and village and town construction in low-altitude areas, many alpine coniferous forests and mixed coniferous and broad-leaved forests have become isolated "isolated islands", seriously threatening the survival status of the spotted-tailed hazel grouse. Geographical isolation and fragmentation, facing the risk of extinction in some places.

Listed in the "Red List of Chinese Species": Near Threatened (NT).

Listed in the "Red Data Book of Endangered Animals in China·Birds": Endangered.

Listed in The IUCN Red List: Near Threatened (NT), 2012 assessment.

It is listed in the first level of China's "List of National Key Protected Wild Animals" (February 5, 2021).

Protect wild animals and eliminate wild game.

Maintaining ecological balance is everyone’s responsibility!

It is endemic to central China and is distributed in Qinghai, Gansu and Sichuan. It is native to the Taiga forest area of ​​the Palearctic. Due to the Quaternary glacial period, it survived only in its existing distribution area. The Sichuan subspecies is mainly distributed in Songpan, Maerkang, Pingwu, Qingchuan in northern Sichuan, Kangding to Batang in the west, Baiyu in the northwest and Muli in the southwest. The nominate subspecies is mainly distributed in Gannan County in the Hexi Corridor of Gansu, Xilinhe Forest Area on the northern slope of Lenglongling in the eastern section of Qilian Mountains, Tianzhu County, Yongdeng County, Kangle County, Lintan County, Zhuoni County, Diebu County and forest areas in Qilian, Menyuan, Tongren County, Huzhu County, Yushu and Banma counties and cities in Qinghai Province.
It mainly inhabits mountain forest grasslands at an altitude of 2500~3500 meters and areas of golden wintersweet, mountain willow and rhododendron shrubs with a few con

The male bird has a white forehead base, black nostril feathers, dark maroon head and pillow with black spots, and the feathers are slightly extended to form a short crest; there is a white longitudinal band with black spots behind the eyes, extending back to the back of the neck, under the eyes There is also a white longitudinal band starting from the forehead, passing through the eyes and extending to the side of the neck and connecting with the surrounding white of the throat; the ear feathers are dark green; the back, waist and tail coverts are maroon, with prominent black horizontal spots and narrow light gray feather edges; The outer tail feathers are dark brown, with several narrow white transverse spots and end spots; the central pair of tail feathers are brown maroon, decorated with black beetle-like spots, and have 7 to 8 black and brown-white horizontal spots juxtaposed; the wings are The coverts are tan or chestnut brown, with black insect-like spots or patches and white fe