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Text: Cui Dong
Quietly I went, just as I came quietly, and I waved my wings without taking away a cloud.
Author: Commander
There is such a seabird, bird lovers will be proud to photograph its shadow, but it is always wandering, difficult to find. In the records of natural science, it was first discovered in 1861 on the Indonesian island of Halmahera, and was named and confirmed in 1863, after which it disappeared for a long time, until it reappeared on Muguan Island in Qingdao in 1937.
Author: Bai Shui Yang
Like a star flashing in the dark night sky, this flash is followed by decades of waiting, and even most scholars have determined the extinction of this bird species. By the time people reconfirmed its existence, the hand of time had come to 2000.
Author: Lao Zheng
Author: Shen Jinqi
This mysterious visitor is the Chinese crested tern, which has loomed for more than a century, making it a "mythical bird" in the mouths of bird lovers.
The Chinese crested tern, also known as the black-billed crested tern, is one of the rarest birds in the gull family and one of the rarest birds in the mainland, and is listed as a critically endangered species on the Red List of Birds in the World. The plumage of the Chinese crested tern is similar to that of the yellow-billed river tern, the summer feathers from the forehead through the eyes to the occipital part of the head, as well as the crown feathers on the top of the head are black, the back, shoulders and wings covert feathers are light gray, close to white, and the feet and toes are black. The Chinese crested tern is slightly smaller, its beak is orange-yellow, slightly curved, the front is black, and the tip is a little white, these characteristics are important symbols for us to find the Chinese crested tern from the mixed group of large crested terns.
Chinese crested terns are active in tropical and subtropical oceans, preferring to forage in shallow waters near shore, mixed in populations of large crested terns during the breeding season, and nesting on uninhabited islands. At the end of the breeding period, they migrate in groups alone, and when they overwinter, they disperse in the flock of crested terns. Due to its narrow area of activity and extremely small population, the Chinese crested tern has always been the darling of photographers.
Author: Yu A _wh Swallow
Author: Cockle
With the appearance of the Chinese crested tern in front of the world in 2000, confirming that they are not yet extinct, Chen Shuihua, Fan Zhongyong and others of the Zhejiang Natural History Museum have led a team to search for more than 3,000 uninhabited islands near the Zhoushan Archipelago for several years, and finally found the Chinese crested terns mixed among the great crested terns on the General Hat Island of Ningbo's Leek Shan Islands in August 2004. After years of scientific research and exploration, we can confirm that the two main breeding sites of this bird species are located in the Matsu Islands off the coast of Fujian and the Lishan Islands and the Wuzhishan Islands in Zhoushan, Zhejiang, and the population is still extremely rare.
Every year from May to August, the Chinese crested tern enters the breeding period, they do not have a fixed mate, and every year they need to go to the romantic pursuit of "new birds" to complete the breeding. The reproductive rate of Chinese crested terns is very low, only one egg is laid every year, and during the breeding period they shelter in the population of friendly relatives, big crested terns, foraging and playing together, fighting with the wind and jealousy, talking about love without doing anything, and then building nests and laying eggs in mixed groups, and even incubating eggs together. It can be said that they live together, raise babies together, and are quite intimate. By working hand in hand with a large population of large crested terns, the Chinese crested terns survive the constant changes in the natural environment and the intrusion of natural predators such as eagles, falcons and sea eagles.
Author: Children in Peace
Author: Muddy Waters
The flat and wide eel beach at the mouth of the Minjiang River in Changle, Fujian Province, is the meeting place of the river and the sea, and the gentle tides are not alarming. From April to September every year, under the call of the sea breeze, the flocks of terns often follow the rising tide, and the Chinese crested terns are mixed in pairs, they play in the shallow water during the day, sometimes float leisurely on the surface of the water, and more often need to be busy foraging. They are constantly soaring on the surface of the sea, their wings are slowly flapping, their heads are down, their eyes are fixed on the surface of the sea, looking for any chance of predation under shallow water, and when they fold up their wings and swoop down at high speed, the underwater target will be doomed.
Author: BirdBoy
Author: Hui Junhai
In order to better protect the Chinese crested tern population, the mainland has established a preliminary monitoring and conservation research base on the Zhongtiedun Islands of the Leek Shan Archipelago to help attract and restore this flock of birds. Interestingly, perhaps accustomed to the people here, perhaps they can perceive the friendliness of the observer, the Chinese crested terns on the island only fly around in fear of the proximity of birds of prey, but they are not afraid and avoid humans, which also allows researchers to carry out scientific research and documentation of this rare bird species smoothly.
Author: Kigo
Don't ask me why I disappeared for so long, I just want to face the sea and wait for the spring to blossom.
It is hoped that after better protection, the population of chinese crested terns can get rid of the endangered dilemma and soar freely on the long and beautiful coastline of the motherland.
Author: Bai Shui Yang