The Oriental Stork (Ciconia boyciana) used to be thought breeding mainly in north Far East region including NE China and the far eastern Russia~ [1～6] . Whereas,from the beginning of the 21st century,cases of nesting...The Oriental Stork (Ciconia boyciana) used to be thought breeding mainly in north Far East region including NE China and the far eastern Russia~ [1～6] . Whereas,from the beginning of the 21st century,cases of nesting effort of the stork were successively reported from eastern and central southern China,the region that constantly holding most of the wintering individuals of the bird~ [4～6] ,with the localities of the Yellow River estuary in Shangdong by the Yellow Sea,Gaoyou and Dafeng of N Jiangsu,and,along the lower branch of the Yangtze River such as at Wangjiang in S Anhui and at Poyang,Yugan,and Jinxian of the SE part of Poyang lake in N Jiangxi~ [12～14] . At the Yellow River estuary,one pair of the stork found nesting on electricity pylon in 2003,then,2 pairs in 2005 and 7 pairs in 2006. In 2007,16 nests were found and in total of 48 chicks observed hatched and well raised,then,in 2008,15 pairs with 42 or 43 raised chicks at least. As it is reported that,during 2004-2006,in total of 11 nests of the stork,also built on top of electricity pylons (over 45 m high),were found at Wangjiang of S Anhui~ [14] ,whereas,due to human disturbance,only with 12 chicks could virtually get out of the nests~ [15,16] . The Oriental Stork found as summer residents around Poyang lake was in 2002,with 13 birds recorded,then 25 birds in 2003~ [12] . In 2004,2 pairs of the stork found nesting on pylon with 4 chicks raised. In 2007,5 pairs were found nesting on pylon at three localities (counties),Poyang,Yugan,and Jinxian,of the southeastern area of the lake,with 13 chicks getting out of the nests in safety and 2 other chicks falling down onto the ground then being transferred to Nanchang zoo for captive raising. Then,in early March 2008,we found 3 pairs started nesting on pylon at Poyang and Jinxian and observed birds mating in the nest,but,due to human disturbance,only 4-5 chicks,from 2 nests,were successfully raised. In fact,10 years have passed since the first attempt of one pair stork found nesting on electricity pylon in Taiwan in 1998,showing the bird started trying to breed in relatively lower latitude region of East Asia where historically being the wintering area of the bird,and,we thought that until now two new breeding subpopulations of the stork might hence be properly recognized being established,one at the Yellow River estuary and one along the lower branch of the Yangtze River,with a remarkable characteristic that all the birds in the two subpopulations are to prefer nesting on pylons,and they did it quite well,if there is no human disturbance. According to the latest factsheet on the Oriental Stork quite recently issued by BirdLife International,the whole world population of mature birds of the stork is currently estimated to be of 1 000-2 499 individuals only,so,number of each new subpopulation is to reach to 1% of its world population,with the whole breeding range of the bird,formerly estimated of about 474 000 km^2 ,much southward extended.展开更多
文摘The Oriental Stork (Ciconia boyciana) used to be thought breeding mainly in north Far East region including NE China and the far eastern Russia~ [1～6] . Whereas,from the beginning of the 21st century,cases of nesting effort of the stork were successively reported from eastern and central southern China,the region that constantly holding most of the wintering individuals of the bird~ [4～6] ,with the localities of the Yellow River estuary in Shangdong by the Yellow Sea,Gaoyou and Dafeng of N Jiangsu,and,along the lower branch of the Yangtze River such as at Wangjiang in S Anhui and at Poyang,Yugan,and Jinxian of the SE part of Poyang lake in N Jiangxi~ [12～14] . At the Yellow River estuary,one pair of the stork found nesting on electricity pylon in 2003,then,2 pairs in 2005 and 7 pairs in 2006. In 2007,16 nests were found and in total of 48 chicks observed hatched and well raised,then,in 2008,15 pairs with 42 or 43 raised chicks at least. As it is reported that,during 2004-2006,in total of 11 nests of the stork,also built on top of electricity pylons (over 45 m high),were found at Wangjiang of S Anhui~ [14] ,whereas,due to human disturbance,only with 12 chicks could virtually get out of the nests~ [15,16] . The Oriental Stork found as summer residents around Poyang lake was in 2002,with 13 birds recorded,then 25 birds in 2003~ [12] . In 2004,2 pairs of the stork found nesting on pylon with 4 chicks raised. In 2007,5 pairs were found nesting on pylon at three localities (counties),Poyang,Yugan,and Jinxian,of the southeastern area of the lake,with 13 chicks getting out of the nests in safety and 2 other chicks falling down onto the ground then being transferred to Nanchang zoo for captive raising. Then,in early March 2008,we found 3 pairs started nesting on pylon at Poyang and Jinxian and observed birds mating in the nest,but,due to human disturbance,only 4-5 chicks,from 2 nests,were successfully raised. In fact,10 years have passed since the first attempt of one pair stork found nesting on electricity pylon in Taiwan in 1998,showing the bird started trying to breed in relatively lower latitude region of East Asia where historically being the wintering area of the bird,and,we thought that until now two new breeding subpopulations of the stork might hence be properly recognized being established,one at the Yellow River estuary and one along the lower branch of the Yangtze River,with a remarkable characteristic that all the birds in the two subpopulations are to prefer nesting on pylons,and they did it quite well,if there is no human disturbance. According to the latest factsheet on the Oriental Stork quite recently issued by BirdLife International,the whole world population of mature birds of the stork is currently estimated to be of 1 000-2 499 individuals only,so,number of each new subpopulation is to reach to 1% of its world population,with the whole breeding range of the bird,formerly estimated of about 474 000 km^2 ,much southward extended.
