On several large trees in the village of Ganquan County, Yan'an City, a heron lives, and the heron couple chooses to build a nest here to lay eggs and raise offspring.
Because of the nature of heron birds to gather on the same tree to build nests, the heron nests here are very dense, and there are even more than 30 nests on a tree, and each nest is inhabited by 2 heron couples and several children.
But on the other hand, compared to other trees around, these large trees selected by the herons to nest are obviously weaker in growth, and some branches even have no leaves on them.
So the question is, obviously there are so many trees around, why do the herons have to huddle together to build a nest? Why do large trees selected by heron birds easily die?
Why do herons have to gather together to build a nest?
Here's the thing, herons, like other heron birds, like to gather together to build their nests, and sometimes they also nest with heron birds such as great egrets, small white herons, bullback herons and night herons, and nesting on the same tree is more common.
Although many birds have a sense of territory and do not like to be neighbors with others, unlike heron birds, heron birds have many natural enemies, especially the cubs have no ability to resist predators.
Someone once filmed a crow attacking a heron cub, because the heron bird's parents were not at home, and the crow brazenly attacked the "4 brothers and sisters" in the bird's nest, a good home, which was destroyed in an instant.
Gathering together to build a nest, can use the strength of the group to fight off the enemy together, if suddenly attacked, the heron couple can also rush up, regardless of their combat effectiveness, this momentum alone can scare off many "enemies".
Also, there are so many large trees around, and the reason why heron birds especially favor these trees is because these trees are relatively tall and meet the nesting needs of herons.
It should be known that the natural enemies of herons are not only from the sky, but also partly from the ground, snakes, ferrets, squirrels and stray cats will climb trees to attack their cubs, and taller trees can block the intrusion of some natural enemies and ensure the safety of the cubs.
Heron birds are typical monogamous birds that breed together.
During the breeding season, the male is responsible for collecting nesting materials, the female is responsible for nesting, and the two birds work together to create a warm and comfortable nest. The heron couple also has the habit of nostalgia for the past, and if they build a nest here this year, they will return here next year to repair the old nest and reuse it.
The heron couple will take turns to incubate the eggs, and in April this year, people recorded a baby heron that had just broken out of its shell in Fucunchuan, Ganquan County, Yan'an, Shaanxi Province.
Now that the baby herons have grown up, after a while, they will leave the nest and learn survival skills.
Heron feces, why is it bad for big trees?
Look closely, under the big tree where the herons nest, a circle of white things gathers.
In fact, these things are all heron feces, and the herons are very nostalgic, if they choose this place to breed offspring, then they will return here to breed chicks.
When brooding, baby herons defecate outside the nest, and unlike mammals, they have only one cloaca, and the feces are excreted out of the body mixed with urine.
In this way, their nests are kept clean and hygienic, but they are bitter about the creatures under the trees.
If the heron birds nest on the sidewalk trees in the city, then there will be a gust of fecal rain under their nesting ground, and there is a road in Zhengzhou called Heavenly Road, the reason is that there are too many herons and birds in the trees, and it is easy to walk under the trees.
Of course, the herons that nest in the village of Ganquan County, Yan'an, Shaanxi Province, choose to nest in the wild, and there are few pedestrians passing under the trees, which does not have much impact on humans.
But for the big trees and the plants under the trees, the herons are really "too unkind".
Herons feed on fish and their feces are acidic and corrosive. Feces accumulate under heron nesting trees for a long time, and the feces can cause the soil to become too acidic, so that the grass and trees cannot grow and die.
Although the roots of trees are deep, heron feces can also affect the branches, which also makes it generally not grow well on the large trees where herons nest.
There was once an ancient tree in Dahe Village, Hehekou Township, Pingshan County, Hebei Province, and there were many herons nesting on the ancient trees, but since the herons nested, the shrubs under the ancient trees have died, and the ancient trees have begun to wither.
This is not uncommon, under the trees where heron birds nest, people often find a white expanse, and there is almost no vegetation growing under the trees.
On the Heavenly Road in Zhengzhou, there are two large trees, one of which has been amputated and one of which has been cut down, because heron birds have been nesting here all year round to breed their offspring.
Guano covers the leaves and branches, affecting the photosynthesis of plants, and the corrosive nature of guano also makes the vegetation grow poorly. Locals used high-pressure water guns to clean up the dung from the trees, but there were so many birds that the leaves were full of feces again in a few days. Over time, the two trees withered, one dead and the other lingering.
In addition, heron birds breed offspring in April and June, during which time the temperature gradually rises, and the heron droppings will emit a distinct odor in the high temperature environment, and if the heron birds lay eggs and build nests near the human settlement, people nearby may not even dare to open the windows.
Moreover, heron birds are still birds that feed on fish, and they also use fish ponds as "canteens", so why protect heron birds?
This is because many of the heron family are endangered, and the number is too small, and if they are not protected, they may become extinct.
Secondly, in the wild environment, the presence of heron birds is also conducive to the ecological chain, and heron birds cause large trees to wither, which helps the forest to regenerate and iterate, allowing more sunlight to shine on the bottom of the forest.
In the absence of human intervention, water birds forage from the water and then return to the land to defecate, which can bring the energy in the water to the land and reduce the eutrophication of the water body.
However, there are some local floods in the heron family, such as night herons, and for locally flooded organisms, we need to think of better ways to solve the problem.
But the herons are not flooded, they are the three protected animals of the continent, and we cannot harm them privately.
#Yan'an headline##Heron Bird##Nesting##陕西爆料 #