摘要
Field work was conducted in the southern half of the Molopo Nature Reserve(MNR) near Vostershoop in the North West Province of South Africa to(1) describe the past and present distribution of Red-billed Spurfowl(Pternistis adspersus) in South Africa and(2) to describe the dispersion of Red-billed Spurfowl at waterholes in the MNR.The Red-billed Spurfowl did not colonize this area from Bo-tswana in the 1990s as reported in Hockey et al.(2005) and their distribution status and population sizes are not determined by long distance(30-100 km) and/or seasonal movements between the two countries.Red-billed Spurfowl are sparsely distributed and mainly occur in clusters near man-made waterholes.Waterholes provide water and food found in and around antelope droppings.The movement of the Red-billed Spurfowl between waterholes over short distances of 2-5 km was probably encouraged by the sinking of more boreholes since the 1980s(and the creation of 'veeposte'(game/livestock camps) around them).Low rainfall that results in limited insects is probably the single most important factor limiting populations of the Red-billed Spurfowl in South Africa.
作者在南非西北省的莫洛波自然保护区南半区进行了野外调查,描述并记录了红嘴鹧鸪(Pternistis adspersus)在南非的历史和当前分布,以及该鸟种在莫洛波自然保护区内水塘间的扩散情况。根据Hockey等2005年的报道,在20世纪90年代,红嘴鹧鸪未从博茨瓦纳移居此地,且未有人通过红嘴鹧鸪在两国之间的长距离(30–100km)或季节性迁移确定其分布状况及种群大小。红嘴鹧鸪主要以集群形式稀疏分布于人造的水塘附近。这些水塘提供了水,塘中的羚羊粪便提供了食物资源。自20世纪80年代以来,越来越多的水塘水位下降(以及周围狩猎园或牲畜营的建立)可能促使了红嘴鹧鸪在水塘间的短距离迁移(2–5km)。降雨量较低导致昆虫数量下降,或许是限制南非红嘴鹧鸪种群数量的最重要的因素。
