Abstract
We investigated birds eating dry fruits of a kind of wax trees Rhus sylvestris on a warm-temperate forest plantation in order to know the seed dispersal mechanisms of R. sylvestris. Five species of birds, those were the Pale thrush Turdus pallidus, the Dusky thrush T. naumanni, the Brown-eared bulbul Hypsipetes amaurotis, the Daurian redstart Phoenicurus auroreus and the Bull-headed shrike Lanius bucephalus, were seed dispersers of R. sylvestris among 8 species eating fruit of R. sylvestris observed. Birds ate fruits especially on the end of February. T. pallidus and T. naumanni spent much more time on the branches with fruits of JR. sylvestris and they ate much fruits, therefore those 2 species were main seed dispersers of R. sylvestris. Birds with wider gapes ate fruits more efficiently, and those with narrower gapes than fruits ate fruits by destroying or pecking. The seed dispersal distance by T. pallidus was considered less than 100m which was the width of their wintering territories. On the other hand, that by T. naumanni was supposed to be longer, because they do not have wintering territories.
