Both the long-tailed forest owl and the Ulin owl are the star species of taigarin, they are "forest ghosts", haunted, but with invisible power to "manage" the health of forest ecosystems.
The Ulin Owl is the ace bird of the Daxing'an Mountains, which likes to travel alone, flying quickly and silently, feeding on rodents and small birds.
There are 6 species of forest owl in China, the long-tailed forest owl and the Ulin owl are the northernmost forest owl, compared to other forest owl, they live in coniferous or mixed coniferous and broad-leaved forests, and are the star bird species of taiga forest.
Forest owls hide in trees during the day to rest, and in order to survive, they have evolved a protective color the same color as the bark. The southern leaf forest has more barking masson pine, so the forest owl living in the south is brown, while the northern larch forest life in the Ulin owl and the long-tailed forest owl, the plumage is the same as the bark of the larch tree, is mottled gray-brown.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="6" > hermit long-tailed forest owl</h1>
The long-tailed forest owl lives secretly in the dense forest of the Taiga Forest, and its vigilance is very high, and the forest travels without a trace, silently. In my bird watching experience, the long-tailed forest owl is the most difficult to find, without any chance to get along, and every encounter is a quick glimpse.
I often searched intently for traces of the long-tailed forest owl.
A long-tailed forest owl rests in a larch tree. Although they are birds of prey, they are also extremely vigilant, opening one eye and closing one eye when resting, as if sleeping. The slightest noise, immediate response.
In 2014, I went to the northern part of Daxing'anling to look for the Ulin Owl and the Long-tailed Forest Owl. At that time, I thought that they were all forest owls, and their habits should be similar, but the reality was that I had seen the Ulin owl several times, but I couldn't find the long-tailed forest owl. That's when I paid attention to the difference: the Ulin Owl is not only larger, but also not too afraid of people, and sometimes likes to bask in the sun on the surface of the forest, while the long-tailed forest owl is small, which adds to its mystery from the fact that it is difficult to find its traces.
In 2016, I accidentally met the long-tailed Forest Owl family in Altay, Xinjiang. It was a long-tailed forest owl nursing its young birds, and it was only at dusk and night, when the young birds jumped out of the tree holes to start moving, that the adult birds appeared in the distant trees. In the silent forest, it stared at the children, the feathers on the plate under its mouth rising and falling, and I knew it was calling to the children in a voice I could not hear.
For several years, the mangy forest sea of Daxing'anling has always haunted my heart, and finally, in the late autumn of 2020, after 6 years of separation, I came to the north of Daxing'anling again, and I silently prayed in my heart that it would be a great luck to see the long-tailed forest owl. After 3 days of searching, there was still no trace of the long-tailed forest owl. On the fourth day, we searched over and over again, and finally saw an owl appear in a field of vision lower than the highway, near the river, in a messy bush. This pile of bushes was simply chaotic out of the sky, and the handsome long-tailed forest owl standing there was instantly pulled down, as if it had merged with the bushes.
In the next few days, we began a journey to find the long-tailed forest owl, searching for the long-tailed forest owl in various habitats, but the time with the long-tailed forest owl was still short, it stood in the tree, and then suddenly flew away, otherwise it flew away directly. The long-tailed forest owl remains awake during the day, reacting so quickly that I wonder if it is a nocturnal bird. 12 days and the long-tailed forest owl are all in a hurry. On the fifteenth day of coming to Your Banner, I was lucky to see a sleeping long-tailed forest owl in the depths of the larch forest, found a small hole, I took the camera and took a picture, it slowly opened its eyes to look at us, and after a while closed its eyes, we changed the angle to continue shooting, it was very comfortable, there was no motivation to fly away, it looked at us, we looked at it.
When observing the long-tailed forest owl in the forest, I found that the forest owl is really magical, when they stand on gray-brown trees such as larch and willow trees, they can merge with these trees, and when they stand on gray trees such as birch and aspen, they can still merge with these trees, I can't help but sigh that these owls are really hiding masters, standing invisible, flying silently, no wonder people are looking for owls when they are looking for owls! The more you look at them, the more people love them, and the mysteriousness makes human beings like them soar!
In 2020, the author visited Daxinganling again, and after many days of painstaking searching, he finally met the mysterious long-tailed forest owl. They fly silently.
At dusk when I was about to say goodbye to Daxing'anling, I came across a long-tailed forest owl standing on a birch tree next to the forest road, which had changed from the cold wind of the past, and I could see it at a glance, and it looked at me as if it were watching an old friend, and it would not leave for a long time. On this unforgettable day, I spent more time with the long-tailed forest owl than in the previous 15 days, and I felt that the long-tailed forest owl had become much more cordial, and the forest was also much more cordial.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="32" > Ulin Owl: The star hunter of Taigarin</h1>
The Ulin Owl is the ace bird of Daxing'anling, the forest bird of Taigarin in China, known as the "forest ghost", it is haunted, one second can not see the trace, the next second suddenly appeared.
Inner Mongolia Urqihan is a relatively easy place to see the Ulin Owl in China, in October 2014, I saw the Ulin Owl 2 times, 1 adult bird, 1 sub-adult in 7 days in UrQihan, at that time I was almost crazy, every day looking for it. From October 14 to 28, 2020, I went to Daxing'anling in Inner Mongolia to see the Ulin Owl, and saw it more than 30 times in 15 days.
The Ulin Owl is the most gentlemanly large cat of all owls, and the round dough disc is composed of special feathers that can rotate at 270 degrees, and its rotation is slow, uniform, gentlemanly, and intriguing. The older the Ulin Owl, the more calm it is, and the slower its head turns.
I noticed that the feet of the Ulin Owl only showed their true faces before and just after take-off, and their feet were always shrunk inside the feathers when crouching in a tree. They have a special alienated "turning toe foot", two toes facing forward, one toe facing backwards, and one toe can be both forward and backward, this special structure is conducive to catching and firmly grasping prey.
Ulin owl have an extremely keen sense of hearing, they can collect the faint sound of prey moving in the hay, they can also collect the vibrations generated when the prey hits the snow layer, use asymmetrical ears to pinpoint the position of the prey, and then jump down from the perch, they can even hunt prey 60 cm below the snow layer. A single Ulin Owl can eat up to 1800 rodents a year.
We encounter the Ulin Owl during the day, only sub-adult birds will stay in the tree to continue to sleep, adult birds do not easily choose birch trees as a resting place during the day, in addition to predation, they generally fly short distances and rarely stay motionless.
The feet of the Ulin Owl can only show their true appearance before and just after take-off, and their feet are always shrunk inside the feathers when crouching in a tree. They have a special alienated "turning toe foot", two toes facing forward, one toe facing backwards, and one toe can be both forward and backward, this special structure is conducive to catching and firmly grasping prey.
The Ulin Owl is the top predator in the forest and has few natural enemies. Except for the breeding season, they are mostly single-handed and have little interaction with each other. But one evening, I saw 3 Ulin owls parked in a tree not far from each other. We do not know what the relationship between them is, but this phenomenon at least shows that there is no precept between them that "one mountain cannot tolerate two cats", they take care of each other and are independent of each other and do not invade each other. I even observed an Ulin owl one day intrude into the territory of the long-tailed forest owl, and the long-tailed forest owl could only reluctantly stay in a tree a few hundred meters away and watch.
I like the Ulin Owl too much, but we are not the same species after all, and there is no way to achieve real communication and interaction. However, after spending a long time together, I know that the Ulin Owl is spiritual and their ability to survive is also super strong.
In the 15 days of the Ur banner, I tirelessly searched for the Ulin Owl, met and got along with them, but never took a funny photo, such as two Ulin Owl in the same frame, Ulin Owl catching mice, Ulin Owl playing and fighting, Ulin Owl flying in front of me and very clear pictures, etc., but there is nothing to regret, it is not easy to meet, like me to travel a long distance to bird watching is itself a very lucky gamble, every time I go out is full of uncertainty.
(Personal statement: The shooting of the long-tailed forest owl and the Ulin owl did not have any temptation)
(Source Forest and Humanity Magazine Author Liu Lu Editor Wang Qiang)