Feeding Activity of Lady Amherst's Pheasant (Chrysolophus amherstiae) in Captivity

From March,1987 to July,1990,the behaviours of captive Lady Amhersts Pheasant (Chrysolophus amherstiae) were observed twice a month during the non-breeding season,and three times a month during the breeding season.Each observation began at dawn before the pheasants went down from the trees and ended at dusk after they went up to the trees to rest.The average period of each observation was 15 hours.Each behaviour and its duration,climate,temperature,humid and illumination were recorded.This paper presents the main results of feeding activity.The daily feeding frequency of males was 16.14±6.33,while that of females was 17.83±8.21.The pheasants daily fed more frequently and took more food from September to next April than from May to August.(see figure 1).The daily feeding activity had two main peaks,one was after they went down from the trees in the morning,and the other was before they went up to the trees at dusk.The former appeared from 6:00 to 7:00 a.m.In summer and 7:00-8:00 a.M.In winter.While the latter appeared from 17:00-18:00 p.M.In both summer and winter.In winter a third peak was observed in midday (12:00-13:00)(see figure 2) and the daily feeding frequency in the afternoom was higher than that in the morning,while the reverse was true during summer (see table 1).During the breeding season the daily feeding frequency of males was 21.73±2.17,and the total time it took was 80.19±16.93 minutes,which accounted for the 8.91% of the total observing time;while the daily feeding frequency of females was 22.13±1.38,and the total feeding time it took was 125.77±12.64 minutes,which accounted for the 13.97% of the total observing time.The daily feeding frequency of males and females did not have significant variation (P>0.05),while the daily feeding time of males was significantly different from that of females (P<0.05).The stepwise regression showed that the feeding activity of males was affected by courtship,preening and walking,while that of females was affected by walking,preening and resting.The regression equations are as follows:Males Y=200.3-0.25X2-1.92X4-0.64X6;Females Y=478.33-0.57X1-0.68X2-0.64X4;Y stood for daily feeding time,X1,X2,X4 and X6 respectively stood for resting,walking,preening,and courtship time.