parrot
Everyone is no stranger,
There are long ones like this
↓↓↓
There are also long ones like this
But have you ever seen a parrot with an "owl face"?
Have you ever seen a parrot that can't fly?
There is such a parrot in the world,
It only lives in New Zealand,
And the number is very small,
It is our protagonist today
- Owl [xiāo] parrot.
1
A parrot that can't fly
Although the parrot is called a parrot, it is very different from the parrots we know well in appearance alone.
The face of the parrot has a unique arrangement of face plates and feathers of the owl order, a unique receptor, feather whiskers, and a large, gray beak. So if you look at the face alone, it is clearly an owl!
In fact, the parrot has wings, but the wings are relatively short, the feathers are very soft, and it lacks the keel of the bird to control the flight muscles, so it cannot fly.
That is to say, the wings of the parrot are not enough to make it fly, but can only serve as a general balance, or provide some degree of support when jumping from a tree.
However, the parrot seems to be eager to fly. When they are frightened, they will climb up the trees in time, and when the danger is far away, they like to try to fly down. Unfortunately, if you can't fly, you can't fly, and the result of doing so is usually a half-death...
Precisely because it can't fly, parrots don't have to be as light as other parrots. So they store a lot of fat, and the body will naturally be fat and round. The body length of the parrot is about 59 to 64 cm, and the weight is 950 to 4000 grams, which is much larger than other parrots.
Also because they can't fly, parrots need another "weapon" to protect themselves, which is to talk about the color of their feathers.
Most of our common parrot feathers are brightly colored, but almost all of the parrot's feathers are mossy yellow-green and a very small number of black to dark brown stripes.
Such a color is actually their protective color, after all, they can't fly, they are very small, they are vulnerable to attack by other animals on land, and having such a protective color can at least help them avoid danger.
2
Grand and solemn courtship "grand ceremony"
In addition to not being able to fly, which is different from other parrot relatives, the owl has a special feature.
The owl is also the only parrot that practices polygamy and a courtship mating system.
What is the courtship mating system? Simply put, the scene when they courted was like the ancient Roman warriors dueling in the gladiatorial arena for the woman they loved.
During courtship season, male parrots gather in an arena-like place to spread their wings and attract the opposite sex by performing unique dances and singing.
They compete for the right to mate, and when mating is complete, the male-female relationship ends and they don't form a mate—they meet only for the sake of succession.
The "gladiatorial arena" of the owl parrot
Each arena is a disc-shaped pit made of males, up to 10 meters in size, but generally at least half a meter long owl in depth and width. The entire disc is often adjacent to the stone surface, field mound or tree trunk to facilitate the reflection of sound.
In addition to the discs, each male parrot builds a connecting path or visible trajectory for their discs, up to 50 metres long along a ridge and up to 20 metres in diameter around the summit.
It is lovely that they take this matter very seriously, and they meticulously sort out the wreckage on the disc and the trail.
3
Weak and helpless little pitiful
It can be said that all the "tragedies" that happen to the parrot stem from not being able to fly, not being able to fly and not being able to avoid a lot of dangers, although it is larger than ordinary parrots, but it is a small bird, for so many ferocious animals on land, it is too easy to prey on them.
How dangerous are the IUCN classified as critically endangered animals, with 126 parrots as of 2012, including 78 adult birds.
The "tragedy" of the parrot began after European colonists came to New Zealand, and more and more extensive land was converted to farming and grazing purposes, and the parrot and its living environment were further invaded.
More importantly, the colonists brought more dogs, domestic cats, ferrets and other mammals, which was a fatal blow to the owl parrot.
Since people were not familiar with the owl parrot for a long time, the owl parrot has not been directly persecuted by humans.
It was not until 1845, when the British zoologist George Robert Gray first described its fur, and since then, European colonists have begun to learn from the Maori, using dogs to hunt for parrots.
In the late nineteenth century, out of curiosity and fanaticism about scientific research, the owl became widely known, leading to thousands of individuals being captured on a large scale as pockets in zoos, museums, and collectors, most of whom died within a month.
In 1880 , in order to reduce the number of invasive species hares , a large number of ferrets ( such as different species of sable , ferret and ferret ) were introduced to New Zealand , but they also disturbed the original ecosystem , with most native species such as the owl becoming prey.
Parrot specimen
Under the constant blows, the number of owl parrots declined sharply, and it was not until the twentieth century that people began to pay attention to the owl parrot, but it was too late, when the owl parrot was nearly extinct, and the owl parrot rarely appeared in people's field of vision.
Originally, the parrot lived very well in this part of New Zealand, because the expansion of humans almost caused a "catastrophe", which should cause us to reflect.
While we are constantly improving our lives, should we also consider the living conditions of other creatures on the earth? The harmonious development of man and nature is the wisest choice.