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Morphometrics of the Chinese grouse Bonasa sewerzowi

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Abstract

We report on the body size and mass and egg size and mass of the Chinese grouse (Bonasa sewerzowi), one of the least known grouse in the world. Although reported to be the smallest grouse in the world, not enough data have been available to substantiate this claim. We document that the Chinese grouse is, in fact, the smallest grouse in the world. It shows significant changes in body mass between the reproductive and nonreproductive season (males average 310 g in the reproductive season and 341 g in the nonreproductive season; females averaged 338 and 315 g, respectively). Egg mass averages 20.6–21.6 g and shows significant annual variation. The Chinese grouse shows some of the highest relative reproductive investment among grouse, both for egg mass (6.1–6.9% of female body mass) and clutch mass (38–43%).

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by grants of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KSCX2-SW-188), National Natural Science Foundation of China (30370223), Deutsche Forschungs-Gemeinschaft, The Swedish Research Council, BP Conservation Programme, World Pheasant Association(WPA), WPA-Germany, Martin Wills Trust, Norwegian Research Council, and Norwegian Institute for Nature Research. We thank the Lianhuashan Natural Reserve for great help with our work. Jiang Yingxin helped greatly with the fieldwork. All of the required permissions for the capture, handling, and radio-collaring of Chinese grouse were obtained from the appropriate authorities of the People’s Republic of China.

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Correspondence to Guang-Mei Zheng.

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Communicated by F. Bairlein

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Sun, YH., Fang, Y., Swenson, J.E. et al. Morphometrics of the Chinese grouse Bonasa sewerzowi. J Ornithol 146, 24–26 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-004-0046-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-004-0046-5

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