Understanding the changes in population dynamics,including demographics,distribution and threats,is essential for species status assessing. The endangered Green Peafowl (Pavo muticus) has experienced sharp population declines and distribution range diminishing both in China and Southeast Asia. Field population surveys have not been conducted in China since the 1990s, which hindered conservation planning and decision-making.

With interview and line transects methods,we figured out the population and distribution changes of Green Peafowl across its historical ranges over the past three decades in China during 2014?2017.

The Green Peafowl once habituated in 54 counties in China. Nearly 60% of the distribution counties were lost in the past three decades,with the left 22 counties distributed in central,southern and western Yunnan,SW China. Population decrease detected in all distribution areas except for Shuangbai and Xinping county where more than 60% of the total population is located. Only about 30% of the former bird population were recorded with the same interviewing method as 20 years ago. Three birds,1 carcass,6 calls and 12 footprints were detected along the 865 km line transects,indicating extremely low encounter rate of Green Peafowl in field. Sharp decreases in flock sizes were also detected,from 8?20 birds per flock in the 1990s to 3?5 birds at present. Poaching and habitat conversion are two widespread and long-lasting threats,while poisoning caused mortality in the past and hydropower construction affect regional population’s survival. Large flocks of 18-27 birds were discovered in the field,which increases our confidence of population recovery of this endangered pheasant in China.

Only interviewed bird number and counts based on line transects were presented in this study,without further population estimation due to limitation of the data sets. Although the actual population of this cryptic bird must be underestimated,dramatic population declines and distribution concentrations of the endangered Green Peafowl occurred over the past 30 years in China undoubtedly.

The behavior of cranes reflects many of their survival strategies, but little has been known of the incubation strategies of cranes, in which both parents share incubation duties, in response to cold temperatures in alpine environments. The lack of information may restrict the effective conservation of the threatened Black-necked Crane (Grus nigricollis), a biparental bird nesting in high elevation wetlands.

We directly observed and used infrared video cameras from 2014 to 2015 to study the incubation behavior and quantitatively measured the frequency and details of egg turning behavior in the Black-necked Crane at the Yanchiwan National Nature Reserve in western Gansu Province, China.

At lower ambient temperatures in the morning, crane parents spent more time on the nest with less recess frequency and prolonged on-bout duration, while at higher temperatures around noon, the parents had more frequent recesses from incubation and shorter periods between nest exchanges. They adjusted the amount of time incubating by varying the recess frequency and the length of on-bout duration. Mean nest attendance and egg turning frequency of females were significantly higher than those of the males. The nest attendance and on-bout duration of females showed a significantly negative relationship with those of males. The two parents responded differently to the change of temperature. Females spent more time on the nest at lower morning temperatures, while males increased their time on the nest at higher temperatures after noon. Higher incubation recess frequency and egg turning frequency were observed at noon, probably because parents spent more time foraging, taking advantage of the lower egg cooling rate.

Both Black-necked Crane parents in the alpine environment adjusted their behavior in response to the thermal requirements of eggs and the weather conditions experienced. Our findings demonstrate that parents of this species incubated in different but complementary ways and efficiently enhanced egg care in a dynamic environment, so as to maximize benefits from the warm portion of the day and the intense solar radiation while minimizing the cost of rewarming eggs and the risks of cooling eggs.