Two "crowned fish dogs" They are fish-eating birds

Two crowned fish dogs by the water. (Courtesy of Geng Chao)

On March 10, someone shared a group of strange bird pictures in the WeChat circle of photography enthusiasts, which attracted the attention of bird lovers in Weifang, and everyone discussed the current distribution of this bird called the crowned fish dog. In recent years, most of the crowned fish dogs seen are single-handedly infested by the stream, and the breeding of two together is currently the first time in Weifang.

On the same day, the reporter contacted Geng Chao, the photographer of the bird picture. He is a photography enthusiast in Qingzhou, and on the morning of March 9, he drove to Linqu Songshan Reservoir with two friends to shoot. After driving along the reservoir for a long time, they did not find the birds they wanted to photograph, and as they continued to move forward, they suddenly found a strange bird of medium size flying close to the surface of the water, and finally settled in the bushes by the water's edge. The three of them got out of the car and quietly approached to observe, and recognized through the telescope that it was a rare kingfisher, the crowned fish dog. They set up cameras at a distance of more than eighty meters to photograph the kiwi bird. More than an hour later, another crowned fish dog suddenly flew into their viewfinder, and they finally captured the two crowned fish dogs breeding, which was the first time that the Weifang area had recorded the breeding of such birds.

On the way back, Geng Chao and his friends were excited. "It can prove that this bird breeds in Weifang, indicating that they have settled here, which shows the improvement of Weifang's ecological environment." Geng Chao said.

It is understood that the crowned fish dog is a kind of kingfisher, and the common ones are ordinary kingfisher and blue emerald, the latter of which is rare. Most kingfishers are rich in color and are loved by people, and the crowned fish dog is like a different kind, it is huge, the crown is developed, and more special is the whole body "painted" full of white dots, and only black and white, by bird lovers ridiculed as "God forgot to color the bird".

Crown fish dog body length of 37-43 cm, weigh about 80 grams, usually inhabit the clear and slow flow of small rivers, streams, lakes and irrigation canals and other waters, the water quality requirements are high; food is mainly small fish, eat crustaceans and a variety of aquatic insects and their larvae, but also peck small frogs and a small number of aquatic plants; mainly distributed in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Japan and other places, found in China more in the south.

So why does it have the name "Crown Fish Dog"? The reporter searched for the source, according to the Ming Dynasty Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica" (bird one fish dog) recorded: "fish tiger, fish master, kingfisher bird." Dogs, tigers, and masters are all eaters of beasts. This bird is harmful to fish, hence the name. ”

At present, there are 9 species of fish dogs in the world, of which 2 species are in Asia, namely crowned fish dogs and spotted fish dogs, the former is distributed throughout the country, and the latter is found in the south of North China. Both crowned fish dogs and spotted fish dogs are found in Weifang and are rare but non-endangered species. The discovery of the survival and breeding of the crowned fish dog in the Weifang area means that it has changed from a traveling bird to a resident bird in the Weifang area.

Geng Chao said that they will continue to pay attention to recording the nesting, spawning and feeding of crowned fish and dogs, systematically recording their living habits, and calling on more people to care for birds and protect the ecology.