Factors Affecting Incubation Rhythm of the Black-faced Spoonbill (Platalea minor) Breeding in Gyeonggi Bay, Korea

Our study was conducted to examine differences in incubation behavior among breeding sites and the relationship between factor affecting environmental change and incubation behavior of the Black-faced Spoonbill (Platalea minor). We set up the remote sensor cameras at three breeding sites (Mae-do, Namdongji, Guji-do) to observe incubation behavior in Gyeonggi Bay, South Korea from 2015 to 2018. We analyzed effects of breeding year, day of incubation started, day of incubation, the time of incubation exchanges and sex on incubation bout length. Mean incubation bout length of females (Mae-do: $7.19{\pm}0.23$ hours, Namdongji: $6.08{\pm}0.23$ hours, Guji-do: $7.96{\pm}0.30$ hours) was longer than males (Mae-do: $6.14{\pm}0.21$ hours, Namdongji: $5.45{\pm}0.28$ hours, Guji-do: $7.38{\pm}0.29$ hours). Mean incubation bout length was longer in Guji-do than other study sites. Incubation bout length tended to increase with the clutch initiation date. Males incubated their eggs at day time while female did at night time, these tendencies were observed more clearly in Guji-do. The proportion of time spent incubating of females was higher than males. Males' proportion increased as incubation progressed and increased rate in Guji-do was higher than other study sites. Our results showed that incubation rhythm of the Black-faced Spoonbill differed among breeding sites and varied with the environmental cycle.

경기만 일대에서 번식하는 저어새(Platalea minor)의 포란 행동에 영향을 미치는 요인