Use of the foraging area by captive bred oriental storks (Ciconia boyciana) in a closed semi natural paddy field

Abstract

Rice paddy fields have been recognized as an alternative habitat for avian wetland foragers, and fish-rice farms have become a new tool in improving the abundance of aquatic animals. However, the use of the habitats by avian foragers, particularly by oriental storks (Ciconia boyciana), was not well understood. In the present study, we investigated how a fish-rice farm influenced the abundance of aquatic animals and documented the foraging behavior of the two captive bred oriental storks in a closed semi-natural paddy field. Our results showed that the fish refuge pond (water depth 40 cm) had a higher abundance of fish whereas the areas planted with rice (water depth 20 cm) had more tadpoles and some aquatic insects. The two captive bred oriental storks captured mostly fish and aquatic insects in the rice-planted area and mostly fish in the fish refuge pond. The two oriental storks had higher foraging success and spent more time for foraging in the rice-planted area than in the fish refuge pond. This result suggests that the oriental storks might prefer foraging in the area with fish, aquatic insects, and amphibians under a greater success rate presumably due to shallow water depth in the paddy fields with a fish-rice farm.

Interval-Parameter Two-Stage Stochastic Programming (IPTSP) Model of Ecological Water Replenishment Scheme in the National Nature Reserve for Improved Suitable Habitat for Rare and Endangered Migrant Birds

“…Thus, they were selected as the objects of study in this work. According to the living habits of the study species, they can only inhabit and forage in water areas of depth between 0-40 cm [15][16][17][18]. Thus, the present work considers the water area with this as a suitable habitat for them.…”

“…They generally live in marshes or shallow water areas having a water depth below their tarsus (40 cm) [13][14][15][16]. Further, due to the limitations of their body size, especially the length of their beak, legs, and neck, they generally feed in shallow water areas having a depth of less than 40 cm, such as reed marshes and fish ponds [15][16][17][18]. Further, they cannot survive in regions with very less water, as they need to put much effort to find food or cannot peck out food at all [14].…”

Predicting the distribution of released Oriental White Stork (Ciconia boyciana) in central Japan

“…As Yoon et al () reported Oriental White Storks are now well known to forage in rice paddies and for the species, rice paddies have been recognized as an alternative wetland habitat (Ma, Cai, Li, & Chen, ), and they have become an important landscape feature for wetland species. Dynamic habitat change from wetland to rice paddies was also observed in geese ( Anser albifrons ) in Japan, owing to the reclamation of wetlands (Moriguchi, Amano, & Ushiyama, ).…”

“…Today, Oriental White Storks are well known to forage in rice paddies (Yoon et al, ). Naito and Ikeda () reported that the species spent about 80% of its foraging time in rice paddies in June—the maximum for the year—and they have been witnessed foraging in shallow pools in the paddies (Ezaki & Miyara, ).…”

“…Before extirpation of the Oriental White Stork in Japan, its foraging sites appeared to include paddies, ditches, and rivers in rural areas (Naito & Ikeda, ). The birds now prefer wetlands including human‐managed paddies (Yoon, Na, Kim, & Park, ) and farmlands (Higuchi & Pierre, ) for foraging. In China, loss and fragmentation of the Oriental White Stork's wetland habitat has occurred as a result of agricultural development (Liu, Zhang, Li, Lu, & Yang, ).…”