Summer habitat in the Feng River Basin
Mountain dove
Originating on the northern slope of the Qinling Mountains, the Feng River is 78 kilometers long, flowing through Chang'an and Enyi, and flows into the Wei River in Xianyang. Liangjiatan is located in the middle reaches of the Feng River, which is the widest riverbed after the Feng River leaves the Qinling Mountains. There are tidal flats, wetlands, farmland, secondary forests, shrublands, grasses and other ecosystems on both sides of the river, which are not only important habitats for a variety of resident birds, but also provide excellent wintering or breeding grounds for dozens of migratory birds. The records of birds by the ancestors of the Feng River Basin can be traced back to the Western Zhou Dynasty, and it is said that the popular poem "Guanguan Ju dove, in the river continent" is their description of the birds in the Feng River.
Collared finches
I started bird watching in 2012, and just in time I learned that there was a large-scale urban development plan near Liangjiatan, so I set out to record the environmental changes by observing and monitoring the bird data here. However, because he had not been able to live in Xi'an for a long time, he had to use the long vacation or vacation gap to collect data and photos in the Liangjiatan Wetland. This intermittent monitoring is done for 6 years, covering most of the habitat within 7 kilometers of the rubber dam of the Liangjiatan wetland down the river, and the time also covers the span of the four seasons of the year.
Golden Plover
From November 2012 to October 2018, a total of 104 bird species were recorded in 16 orders and 43 families, including 22 families of passeriformes and 21 families of non-passeriformes. According to observation records, at present, the birds in Liangjiatan of Fenghe River are still dominated by water birds, such as the common water birds Top5, there are elegant herons - egrets, great egrets, herons, night herons and so on. In addition to these big guys, there are also many small people, such as: not good at flying, but can float on the water "water floating" small?? (Read piti); a black water pheasant with a sexy red forehead that swims up and stretches its neck to move forward; a fishing expert dressed in blue and white spots, a flexible and brisk fishing expert - ordinary kingfisher; a large number of noisy spot-billed ducks.
Wedge-tailed Burrow
In addition to the resident water birds, there are some water birds in Liangjiatan Wetland who are short-term residents who come from afar every autumn and stay until late spring of the following year. These migratory birds include: red-breasted duck, ribbed duck, green-winged duck, green-winged duck, white-eyed diving duck and many other wild ducks; northern red-tailed plover, white-capped brook plover, red-tailed water plover, red-tailed blue-tailed plover and other smaller water birds of the family; a small number of bean geese, Mandarin ducks and white spoonbills and other national second-class protected animals.
Willow warbler
The diverse habitats on both sides of Liangjiatan are also home to a large number of forest birds, the first five common of which are: small and spherical brown-headed jays, pheasants with long tails and gorgeous feathers, crows that sing like singers, white-headed ibises known as "white-headed grebes" because of the snow-white on their heads, and docile doves: bead-necked doves with pearl necklaces around their necks, mountain doves wearing gold mesh coats, and fire-spotted doves covered in pink. Other forest birds are only occasionally seen, but they are also very active, such as: the good forest doctor who treats various large trees - woodpeckers (three kinds of woodpeckers can be seen in Liangjiatan Wetland: large spotted woodpeckers, star-headed woodpeckers, gray-headed green woodpeckers); in different seasons, you can often see migratory birds that migrate with the seasons, such as: the cuckoo that will come before and after the wheat is yellow in summer - the big cuckoo (the call is cuckoo), and its close relatives four cuckoos (the call is cuckoo). In winter, it migrates vertically from the Qinling Mountains and feeds here for a variety of tits: large, red-headed long-tailed, silver-throated long-tailed tits; in addition, there are three-brow grass bunting, small buntings, gray-headed buntings, swallow finches, goldfinches and other small birds that migrate from the north.
Fire Dove
Grey-headed green woodpecker
In the summer, Liangjiatan is full of lush water and grass, fat fish and insects, and is a vibrant scene everywhere, so it is also very conducive to bird breeding and brooding: Yashayan will build a dense nest on the earthen weir built in the 60s and 70s of the last century to raise the next generation; Berau will be diligent in feeding the insects in order to take care of the cubs; and the big meal given by the crowned fish dog to the chicks is a small fish in the river; only the cuckoo does nothing, simply lays eggs in other houses, and lets the oriental reed warblers, who are much smaller than their cubs, feed the cuckoo babies for themselves.
Black-tailed wax-billed finch
ruddy shelduck
When the weather is good, you can often see birds of prey spreading their wings and soaring in the air, these are the kestrels, sparrowhawks, ordinary harriers and white-tailed harriers at the top of the ecological chain of birds in Liangjiatan, they always circle to inspect their territory, as if they are dominant. Although they are the top predators of birds, there is still no shortage of brave birds that will challenge birds of prey or other birds that are much larger than themselves. For example, here, there have been gray-headed wheat chickens (body length 26-29 cm) in order to protect their territory from invasion, and to attack the white-bellied harrier (body length 41-53 cm), after a few rounds, the white-bellied harrier can only obediently leave; several goldfinch (body length 13cm) for a pole position, the bead-necked dove (body length 30cm) launched a collective onslaught, and finally occupied a place on the pole by "bird strength".
great spotted woodpecker
Just intermittent observations like this have uncovered so many interesting bird activities that if you can keep observing and recording for a long time, you will definitely be able to harvest more. The monitoring of birds in the Liangjiatan wetland is only the beginning, and it is expected that more children and big friends can pick up the telescope and walk into the dense forests and wetlands around them to do natural observation, understand nature, and love the biodiversity around them!