In the field of painting, there is a saying of "the finishing touch", and the most important part of a painting is the stroke that gives life to calligraphy and painting. It can be eyes, it can be wings, as long as it can sublimate the overall painting, it is the finishing touch. In the animal kingdom, there are also many animals that look unassuming, but there is always a "shining point" on the body that makes itself dazzling.
Take the wings, some ordinary-looking birds can become the brightest stars with a little starlight on their wings. Today I will introduce you to two kinds of birds with ordinary appearance but shining wings!
The goldfinch is a small bird with an adult body length of about 13 cm, about the size of a sparrow. The whole is mainly gray, the top of the head is dark gray, the back is brown, and there is nothing too unusual. However, the goldfinch has a little gold color on the waist, and there is a golden yellow patch on the upper and lower wings, like a medallion embedded in the wings, which is very dazzling, and the name of the goldfinch comes from this.
This bird generally inhabits the woods of hills and plains at an altitude of about 1,500 meters. Probably because he was afraid that he would get lost when he went deep into the mountains, he lived in a small forest. There are goldfinch distribution in many places in China, from Heilongjiang in the north, to Tibet in the west, to Guangdong in the south, and to Taiwan in the east.
They prefer to go out locally, appearing in pairs during the breeding season and moving in groups in the fall, most often in groups of hundreds. It feeds mainly on the fruits and grains of plants, so the goldfinch will appear in some orchards and rice fields. Because of the destruction of crops, he was often driven away by the farmer's uncle and was not very popular.
Male goldfinches are a little more dazzling than female goldfinches, and the gold is relatively rich. The feathers of females and chicks are relatively dull, and they are not as strong as males in momentum. The breeding period of the goldfinch is relatively long, and it can breed in both spring and summer, and can give birth to about two litters a year. The division of labor between the two is relatively clear, and the male is responsible for finding the materials for nesting, including grass blades, plant fibers, cotton and other materials.
For comfort, but also to find some feathers, hemp and other materials to make the inner nest, so that the whole nest is warm and comfortable. The female is responsible for the construction, a process that often takes about a week to complete. When the nest is complete, the female will lay eggs, about 4 in a litter. The female is responsible for hatching, and after two weeks, the chicks can break out of the shell. After two weeks of care by their parents, the chicks are able to go out and forage for food on their own.
In China, many people like to raise the goldfinch as a pet, the feeding difficulty is not high, and it is very popular with beginners. However, in the last few centuries, the goldfinch was basically caught in the wild. It's painful to watch, but now that there are farmed goldfinches, you can buy them in the regular market if you like.
Goldfinch is a pet in China, but it has high "artistic value" abroad. Many celebrities have painted goldfinches in their works, such as Raphael's Madonna of the Goldfinch, in which the baby in the painting is holding a goldfinch. The winning work of the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Literature is called "The Goldfinch", which shows that in foreign countries, the Goldfinch is still very high-grade.
In addition to the goldfinch, the bald eagle also belongs to the kind of "finishing touch" that looks ordinary at first glance, but when you look closely, you will find that the wings also have a golden color. In terms of appearance, the white-headed grebe is also based on black and gray, with obvious white feathers on the head, some people call it "bird white-headed", but the golden color on its wings is indeed impressive.
White-headed grebes are more common in China, with a lively and active personality, and their voices are sometimes pleasant and sometimes noisy. It is estimated that it is often in contact with humans, so it is not too afraid, and it will often appear in rural areas or squares with relatively large population density. The bald eagle is an omnivorous bird, and the fruits and seeds of plants, locusts and moths flying in the sky are its rations.
Whenever you see bugs flying in the air, you will take the initiative to attack, and you can destroy many bugs in a day, which is a beneficial bird. The breeding time is similar to that of the goldfinch, both in the spring and summer, and in order to attract the female, the male birds will bark very complexly, and each of their calls has a different meaning. Nests are usually built in May and are made into cup shapes made of plants.
However, the white-headed quail living in the city is more miserable, usually using human garbage as a rookie, such as toilet paper, cotton thread and other materials. It can be said that it is one of the birds with the strongest adaptability except for a few birds such as sparrows. In terms of adapting to the environment, the bald eagle has its own special skills.
Usually the north is colder than the south in winter, but in winter the bald quail will fly from the south towards the north. If it is a human being, it is basically necessary to prepare thick cotton clothes and cotton pants.
However, the bald eagle does not need it, and its appearance does not change significantly. After research, scientists have found that the white-headed grebe can adapt to the cold by low temperature domestication, improving the body's metabolic rate and controlling muscle contraction, perhaps this is the "special function" of birds with "golden arms"!
Both the goldfinch and the bald eagle have a pair of gold-embellished wings, and one is favored by artists and used in artistic creation. One favored by God and possesses incredible cold resistance. Both are God-chosen animals!
Do you prefer birds with "golden wings"?