Wildfires in Australia have been burning for almost half a year. According to official statistics, more than 1,600 homes were destroyed, 24 people died, countless people were displaced, and more than 500 million animals were engulfed in fire, including mammals, reptiles and various birds, and the corpses of kangaroos koalas killed by fire and smoke piled up.
The mountain fires that have lasted for nearly half a year are natural disasters, and this big bird called "fire eagle" and the spreading fire are inseparable.
Australia fire hot search continues, many netizens who brush small videos may have seen this kind of eagle that will set fire, the video of this eagle holding a smoking branch thrown around, which makes many netizens question: some eagles will pick up prey from the air and throw it down to death, why does this eagle set fire everywhere, what is its purpose?
The wildfires that spread everywhere are inseparable from this kind of eagle, in fact, they are not deliberately "arson", people just want to eat mixed food, but this way is really terrible, like naughty children, I don't know how big the consequences are.
<h1>Bird that "sets fire": the howling kite</h1>
This bird that "sets fire" is called an eagle or sparrowhawk, and the scientific name is called a howling kite. They often whistle, make a yuan-like sound, prey like an osprey, and behave more like an eagle. It is 50-60 cm long, weighs more than a pound, and has a wingspan of 1.2-1.5 meters.
It is mostly found in Australia and nearby islets. Morphologically similar to the eagle we call it, it feeds mainly on insects, birds, rabbits and small mammals, and also has the function of resisting carrion poisoning. As we all know, there are many rabbits in Australia. Therefore, this kite, which is considered a beneficial bird, can effectively prevent the flooding of these small rodents.
<h1>Why do the kites light fires everywhere? </h1>
For many wildlife, forest fires are deadly and devastating, but for the howling kite, which is known locally as the "fire eagle". These opportunists are widely known for preying on animals that run in fires or pick up animals that die in fires and smoke.
The local aborigines said: "I have seen a "fire eagle" pick up a smoking branch with its claws and throw it into a hay half a mile away, and soon the grass will catch fire, and then a group of fire eagles will circle in mid-air, waiting to eat the charred and frightened animals.
When a fire burned to the side of a small river, fire eagles were also seen picking up smoking branches and throwing them to unburned places on the other side of the creek in order to continue the fire.
The Australian people hate what the kites have done. According to statistics, at least 1 in every 5 fires in Australia is caused by the famous "arsonist" whistlebird, and whenever a group of howling kites hover over the field not far away, people know that there is a fire there again. And for the howling kite, it is a dinner party, just a meal.
In the forests or fields of Australia, it can be said that there will be howling kites when there is fire, so the locals call them "fire eagles", there is nothing wrong with them, eagles hovering over the fire.
In our impression, the eagle is a very intelligent bird of prey, they will use their claws to catch them in order to eat the turtle, and then fly high into the air and throw the turtle on the rock, the turtle after landing on the ground is naturally torn apart, and the shell of the turtle can not save its life.
There are often fires in Australia, and whenever a fire breaks out, the small animals and insects in the grass will be burned by the fire and run for their lives. The clever howling kites often saw prey flying around from the fire, and thus learned to use the fire to eat properly.
The Australian people never expected ah, this kind of big bird can do such a thing, is this what people do? Not really.
<h1>Why not extinguish this howling kite, who "set fire to the rice" everywhere</h1>
As mentioned above, the kites are beneficial birds and an important link in nature's food chain. Australians have been tortured for decades by the flood of hares, and the howling kites are the natural enemies of the hares, so they cannot be eliminated.
In 2012, the kites were added to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. That is to say, it is also a kind of big bird sitting on the bottom of the prison.
However, not all the Australian kites living in Australia will "ignite" this skill, it may be family inheritance, or the reason for the bloodline, this unique skill is only mastered by a few howling kites. If all the birds in Australia had learned to set fires, they would have really been cut off from the door.
<h1>epilogue:</h1>
The fires in Australia are caused by a number of factors, one is the climate crisis, Australia is one of the most water-scarce countries, last year was the hottest and driest year ever in Australia. The second is the Australian plant, the flammable eucalyptus tree, which is the fuse and the main food of the koala. There are also high winds and lightning, which are the factors that lead to the delay in extinguishing the fire.
Australia has the highest rate of animal extinction in the world, and since colonization, more than 30 species of mammals have gone extinct in Australia, and there are many divine manipulations by Australian officials. Recently, because the camels drank too much water and caused the drought, they sent a helicopter to shoot 10,000 camels, and it can be seen that the Australian upper class did not take the fire seriously.
A quote from The Wandering Earth:
"Initially, no one cared about this catastrophe, it was just a wildfire, a drought, the extinction of a species, the disappearance of a city. Until this catastrophe concerns everyone..."
The Australian fire lasted about 5 months from 2019 to 2020, and it is said that the length of the coastline burned by the fire is enough to travel from the northeast of China to Shanghai. Unlike our country, temperatures in Australia peak in January and February, which means the fire will burn and even worse in the coming months.