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To investigate the color preference of Great Tit in nest-box selection and its impact on reproductive efficiency,experiments were conducted by hanging black,blue,green,white,and red nest-boxes in Zuojia Natural Reserve,Jilin Province,from March to July in each year of four consecutive years(2007—2010).Occupancy status of the boxes and reproductive parameters of the birds were recorded and analyzed.Occupancy rate of red boxes was compared to the average of the boxes in other colors pooled together.The occupancy rate of red nest-boxes was significantly higher than the average of all other colors combined for year 2007(χ2=5.51,df=1,0.01P0.05),2008(χ2=5.51,df=1,0.01P0.05) and 2010(χ2=4.65,df=1,0.01P0.05).An exception was found in 2009 when boxes with noticeable faded red color were used and resulted in a lower(χ2=4.99,df=1,0.01P0.05) occupancy rate than the average of nest-boxes in other colors.All these indicate that great tits do prefer the red-color nest boxes to the boxes of other colors.For breeding efficiency,there was no significant difference in clutch size among boxes of different colors in each year.The clutch size of red nest boxes was numerically lower than each of the other colors in 2010,but for the rest of the years it was numerically higher.The fledging number for red nest-boxes was significantly higher than the boxes of any other colors.When the mean of red color boxes was compared to the mean of all other colors pooled together,no significant difference was found between the clutch size of red nest-boxes and the average of all nest-boxes of other colors(F=1.68,df=1,P=0.59),however the red nest-boxes had significant higher fledging number than the average of all nest-boxes of other colors(F=17.65,df=1,P=0.04).In conclusion,Great Tit prefers nest-boxes in red color,and red nest-boxes have higher occupancy rate and fledging number than the average of all nest-boxes of other colors. |
