When we walk, travel, and play, we often see some scenes with birds, and it is indeed difficult to glance at them in a hurry to see what birds they are and what they look like. Fortunately, there is such a group of "bird people" who will leave some images to tell us the details that cannot be seen by the eyes in those scenes!
This is a common situation, when we were young, we all learned that geese flew by, one would line up adult words, one would line up into one word, so we firmly believe that such geese are all geese, but in fact, they are not:
Goose array
Geese, cormorants, egrets, cranes, storks and other large birds like to fly long distances in the shape of "human" or "one", that is, the familiar "geese array". The "geese array" is led by the experienced and well-qualified "head goose", the "head goose" flies in the air, and a weak updraft will be generated on the wings, and the birds behind it can use this air flow to fly, thus saving physical strength.
Generally speaking, herons fly with white necks, swans with white necks, ordinary cormorants with black necks, and geese and ducks that are smaller and shorter, and cranes or storks that are larger and fly slower.
Their true appearance is as follows:
Mostly white, and flying with their necks shrunk... Heron birds
White, but flying with its neck outstretched... swan
Black, flying with its neck outstretched... cormorant
Seeing this figure, you shout geese again, even if it is wrong, it is not outrageous!
And look at the details, you will find --- Hongyan
Large, slow flight, but too far to subdivide out!
The telephoto lens zooms in and --- yellow-billed stork
This is fine, after all, it is big, so it can be distinguished --- red-crowned crane
You go to the beach, inadvertently, you will always see these little elves chasing the sea, the waves come, they slip back and forth, the waves retreat, they chase and rush to the front of the beach, the birds seen under this scene are basically the wading birds of the partridge!
The elves of the sea
The plover refers to two species, the Plover family and the Plover family, the identification of them, looking at the body shape, from the long mouth, long neck, long feet of the three long characteristics, you can simply distinguish them, long legs, long neck and long mouth is the plover, shorter is the sandpiper. Of course, the elves who chase the sea must be birds of the Plover family, because the purpose of chasing the sea is to get close to seeing the food that has been brought ashore by the waves.
Golden spotted plover
Long-legged, long-billed sandpiper --- anti-billed sandpiper
Therefore, the distinction between the partridge, the most important thing, is to be judged by the behavior! Birds of the Plover family rely on its big eyes to find food, they stand in place, after seeing food, they will run fast, so the behavior of the family has a certain regularity: standing → running→ pecking→ standing → running → pecking. Most of the sandpipers rely on long mouths to perceive food, so the behavior of the sandpiper family is: walking → to explore the → eat→ walking → probing → eating
Sandpipers flying in groups under the setting sun
Plover bird waves on the coastline on the edge of the city
At certain times, you may also see the birds of the sandpiper see this shocking bird wave on the wetland and on the coast!
When you go to the mountains and forests, you will encounter such a patch of birds in the treetops, most of which are of a species (leaving aside some of the mixed ones), so which birds will like this way of resting?
Flocks of birds that cover the sky
Starlings, peacebirds, sparrows, all like to gather in trees like this, do you know why they are clustered together? One is to dilute the risk, one more pair of eyes is more than one safety, a group gathered together, the area covered by this radar, what stealth aircraft is difficult not to be discovered. Second, it is easy to forage, and the more eyes there are, the easier it is to see food.
Look at the bird shadow of a tree in the distance
A little closer, you can see that it is a sparrow
That's right, sparrows
Looking at the color, it is estimated that it is a flock of Peacebirds
Pull up and take a closer look -- peacebirds
Mercerized starling
Which birds prefer to live in groups?
In the countryside, you often see such a scene, swallows, crows, starlings, sparrows, all like to stand on the wires in rows, do you know why? Why do these birds like to stand on wires?
Staves on wires
The first reason is that the line of sight is good, the so-called standing high to see far, standing on a high place can naturally see more, looking for food will be much more convenient, because there are basically no buildings under the wires that can block their line of sight!
The swallows stand tall in line, standing high to see far.
The second is to help them find a better spouse. Ornithologists at Cornell University said: Sometimes they do not simply stand on the wires and do not speak, in the spring, the male birds will sing harder to attract females, and standing on the wires without buildings will be seen by more females! Thus increasing the probability of finding a spouse!
There is always a maverick eager to show his --- look at that empty seat, and choke me to death this obsessive-compulsive disorder!
The third is information exchange, the general birds will communicate with each other on the wire, such as where there is a lot of food, when to go to the south for winter, when to fly back to the north, etc., these problems are the main content of their communication, of course, the most important thing is to share food resources!
Where are you from? Is there more food over there?
The fourth point is that the take-off is convenient, if the birds rest on the ground, then when taking off again, the first thing is to vigorously flap the wings to overcome gravity in order to really fly up, and on the wire is different, take-off does not need to consume a lot of physical strength to flap the wings, you can completely rely on energy conservation to achieve the effect of rapid take-off, saving a lot of physical strength!
See who runs fast
The greenery in the community is getting better and better, between the branches of some big trees, you can often see the silhouettes of these birds, far away, not real, but this kind of in the community, not afraid of people's large birds, many times are bead-necked doves, even if you walk past the lawn, it is on your legs, not afraid of your arrival.
Silhouette of a bird in a neighborhood tree
Have you seen a free romance in the community?
If you are slightly nicer to it, it will even fly to the flower pot on your balcony to spawn!
A bead-necked dove that does not treat itself as an outsider at all
Don't think that you can do bad things as you want when you live in a small high-rise, there is an old acquaintance who can fly outside the window is watching you!
You go to the park to see the lotus flowers, walk through the reeds, suddenly startle a big bird, startle you, you carefully look at the reeds, but found nothing, then let the photographer to help you see the end!
Did you find me? I am a master of mimesis --- reed flounder
Yes, the reed flounder genus mostly has a protective color (mottled brown and yellow stripes), the tip of the mouth is up, when standing to imitate the surrounding reeds and grass, can avoid being detected, whether it is the common small reed flounder or yellow reed flounder, is a virtuous, very alert nature, in case of interference, immediately stand still, extend the head and neck upwards to watch.
Master of Mimesis --- Reed Flounder
Small reed flounder
The little reed flounder moves with great caution, and when it senses that someone is coming, it often straightens its head and neck upwards, and stands there motionless for a long time, like a specimen or a dead grass, if not carefully observed, it is difficult to distinguish them from the reeds and branches around it, and only when it comes to it does it "pounce" and fly away.
Now you know who scares you by the pond! Haha~
When you take your children to the countryside and see the countryside, do you often see this scene? Tractor ploughing the field, accompanied by a large group of large white birds flying behind, far away to see the body of the cow, there is actually one standing, they are so peaceful, harmonious symbiosis!
Heron birds following the tractor when ploughing the field
A cow-backed heron standing on the back of a cow
Haha, do you know the purpose of this cow-backed heron standing on the cow?
Bullback herons can prey on parasites on the back of cattle, as well as small insects that are disturbed by the buffalo walking around, on the other hand, the bullback heron can also help the buffalo to drive away the flies on the body, and also serve as a guard for the buffalo, which is the mutually beneficial symbiosis between the cow-backed heron and the cow, which is very interesting, usually a buffalo on the back of a cow-backed heron, at most two, one on the left, one on the right, if a third bull-backed heron wants to come to a corner, the first two will only join forces to drive it away.
The bull-backed heron, also known as the yellow-headed heron, looks like this:
Do you know why it's called a yellow-headed heron again?
Of course, the winter feathers of the bullback heron will fade and turn white, so if you see white, don't be surprised!
When the spring is warm and blossoming, there are always black shadows on the lake surface of the park, there is no law to quickly skim the lake surface, swinging a string of ripples, we know that there is a trick described in the martial arts: swallow three copies of water, very vivid expression of this scene, yes, this is a swallow flying on the water, then do you know why it points the water?
Swallows point water because swallows across the water, prey on suspended or floating insects on the surface of the water, in order to maintain the balance of the body, and play a buffering role, not so that the impact is large and the entire body rushes into the water, so it is often necessary to use tail clipping or wingtips to dip the water.
I don't know who cut the fine leaves, the spring breeze in February is like scissors --- swallows with scissors
The swallow is based on the flow of air and the combination of air pressure for gliding and flying, so the swallow's flight without a trace and swiftness is the biggest feature, like a scissors tail can reduce the resistance in the air, and can change direction with the direction of the wind, and, its flight speed, almost 120km / h, you drive at high speed, not illegal, it is estimated that it is impossible to catch up with it.
In the above scene, like lightning skimming the water, flying extremely fast and dexterous, there are only the house swallow and the golden-waisted swallow, which look like this:
barn swallow
Golden-waisted swallow
But don't put the swift into it and say Oh, the swallow is closer to the sparrow, and the swift can be separated by 18,000 miles.
On this occasion, you will see it really, but don't shout, I see a black duck! Because, it is not a duck, but ..... Chickens, black water chickens! Isn't there a little bit of awareness as a chicken? Not only does it swim like a duck, but it also has a flat mouth like a duck!
moorhen
The black water chicken wears a black robe and bright red forehead armor is its signature, often in pairs or in small groups, good at swimming and diving. It does not like the wide surface of the water, likes the water shaded by trees or aquatic plants, so on the calm and open lake, you should not look for it, on the contrary, under the leaf surface of the residual lotus, you can often see its figure.
The black water chicken is also called the red bone top chicken
To say more, if you see not this red signature mouth, but white, then congratulations, you know a new product, that is, white bone top chicken!
White-boned chicken
Nine is the big number, this time the above will introduce nine scenes, and there are many next time to nag. These contents are just to give people who are new to birds a general concept, if you need to understand in detail, or then carry out a scientific subdivision, that is a big project, need systematic knowledge, but, after all, we are only an amateur bird lover, can do a simple distinction, it is enough! The key is to have a bird-loving heart and the act of loving birds and protecting birds in daily life!