Characteristics of avian communities in winter in Shahu of Hubei Province,China

By the method of line transect,a bird survey was conducted in the Shahu Nature Reserve of Hubei Province from December 2006 to January 2007.According to the habitat characteristics,the avian communities were classified into four catalogues,i.e.,reed community,grassland community,farmland community,and water area community.A total of 76 bird species was recorded,which belonged to 28 families and 12 orders,accounting for 16.67% of 456 bird species in the Province.Among the bird species recorded,1 species was in the Grade Ⅰand 10 species was in the Grade Ⅱ national key protected birds,1 species belonged to endangered species,2 species belonged to vulnerable species,and 1 species belonged to rare species.The overall α diversity index(H'),evenness(J),and predominant index(C) of the avian communities were 2.37,0.55,and 0.17,and the H',J,and C were 1.67-2.44,0.50-0.86,and 0.11-0.26,respectively.The similarity index(Si) of farmland-grassland avian communities was the highest(0.74) while that of farmland-water area avian communities was the lowest(0.40),and the Bray-Curtis(CN) index of reed-grassland avian communities was the highest(0.00640) while that of farmland-water area avian communities was the lowest(0.00022).Inter-habitat's heterogeneity and human activities were the main factors affecting the characteristics of the avian community in Shahu in winter.