Do you feel the intensity of autumn? At this time of year, the vanguard troops of forest birds migrating south begin to arrive in downtown Shanghai one after another, bringing "autumn signals" to find a city. The first to arrive are the oriole and willow warbler. They are the "autumn signal birds" that appear in the garden green space in the Shanghai area. Both the Grebe and the Willow Warbler belong to the order Finches and birds of the family Grebe. Experts from the Shanghai Wildlife Conservation Station say that it is the best season for watching birds in Shanghai, and citizens can go to the park to find them and watch their insects.
The Muscicapidae family is a large family of more than 50 genera and 324 species of birds found around the world except the poles. They are small and medium-sized songbirds, 9 to 22 cm long. They do not pick a place, and can live in every environment where suitable trees can grow, from dense forests to open bushes and even mountainous woodlands in the Himalayas, but also in plains such as Shanghai when migrating.
The common storks in Shanghai are basically "traveling birds" that fly north through Shanghai to the mountain forests of North China, Northeast China and even Siberia in the spring, and fly south through Shanghai to South China, Southeast Asia and even Australia in the autumn. They flew south with waves of cold air in the north after the autumn, and generally the "forwards" arrived in late August, and the "large troops" concentrated in the month from late September to early and mid-October.
In addition to the northern gray wren, gray striped ibis, and black wren, which are mainly dark brown and are jokingly called the "three generals of the autumn wren", there are also beautiful storks, white-bellied harriers, white-browed ibises, etc., and occasionally you can see "rare treasures" such as extremely beautiful copper-blue ibises.
The more common Partridge (time photography)
Beautiful but indiscernible copper blue wren (photo taken by Zhongyi Water Cold)
The bird is good for urban ecology. They feed mainly on bugs, especially winged flying insects, and occasionally feed on berries during migration. Most of the birds have a body structure adapted to feeding on flying insects, with rounded and large wings suitable for fast and flexible aerial swoop hunting; a pair of large, well-sighted, sharp eyes that can keenly detect prey and also help nocturnal migration; in addition, most have wide, flat beaks suitable for catching insects in flight, but their legs and feet are short and inflexible, and they cannot walk on the ground like doves or jump continuously in the grass like sparrows. When they migrate in autumn, they also fly like swallows from the north, where insects are becoming scarce, to the south, where insects are abundant.
A white-bellied bird flying back to the treetops with its booty (Photo by Yu Yuanming)
Birds are also individually called "flytraps". The grebe likes to stand silly on branches with less obstructed vision, look around with their large, round eyes, and find that there are flies that fly over, swallow in one bite, and then return to the original place, the whole process is only a few seconds. They fall into the category of "static braking".
Biologists say they catch big bugs and will go up to the trees and swallow them slowly, letting your camera take a picture. Sometimes it also hovers around the leaves, catching insects and spiders attached to the plants. Especially in the afternoon and evening, they are particularly focused on bugs and are not too afraid of people, so you can quietly walk up close and watch their wonderful insect catching performances.
Many citizens have encountered birds in the park and taken clear photos of them, and many people have found that on both sides of the mouth of the birds, there are two rows of slender "whiskers" like cats. Biologists refer to the beard of the harrier as "Rictal bristles" (Rictal Bristles). These facial manes are hard in texture, tapering at the ends, and some have barbs formed at the front.
The wagtail has two rows of slender whiskers at the crack in its beak (photo by Yu Yuanming)
What is the use of bird whiskers? Expert research concluded that this is roughly similar to the whisker function of the cat's face, which is a receptor of the body. Studies have shown that there is also a pressure- and vibration-sensitive receptor "Herbertsite body" in the beak, which is somewhat linked to the mane of the mouth. This means that the mane can help the bird gain more information during the flight, including feeling the prey approaching predators. This may help the stork navigate in the dark, avoid flying obstacles, and escape damage from predator raptors.
Unexpectedly, a migratory bird can also pull out so many knowledge points. In any case, it's the best season to see the birds in Shanghai, so go to the park and look for them.
Column Editor-in-Chief: Luan Yinzhi Text Editor: Luan Yinzhi