Have you ever seen "flying rice balls"? What about "flying little snowballs"? Please note that I am not babbling, but I want to introduce you to a cute and explosive little animal - the northern long-tailed.
Who is the name of the Northern Longtail?
Northern long-tailed, a kind of cute and cute "northern masters". Its whole body is about 10 centimeters long, weighs 8 to 10 grams, and sounds like a sparrow.
But because its whole body is furry and snow-white, and its body is as fat and pouty as a small snowball, it can be said that it is cute and cute.
In fact, the color of the northern long-tailed is not only white, its head and neck, back and back of the neck are brown, the chest and abdomen are also light brown, and the black pointed mouth shape and mung bean eyes are cute fetish, and overall it is very cute and cute.
Distribution area and daily habits
In addition, the northern long-tailed habitat is found throughout the north-central region of the mainland, often living in the taiga of the northern mountains, and also distributed in human habitats.
This animal feeds mainly on small insects on a daily basis, which is a beneficial insect for us humans, and in winter, they will come out in groups to feed, like a few snow-white rice balls rolling in the snow.
The breeding period of the northern long-tailed is the same as that of our common sparrows, which are in the spring and summer months, and the nest is built on grass and bushes. In addition, they also like to bask in the sun, so nests are often built in suitable places for sunbathing.
The difference from close relatives "siblings"
As a member of the genus of, the northern long-tailed once belonged to the same family as its close relative, the silver-throated long-tailed, and the two sides were still often mistaken after separation, in fact, the two brothers are still very different on the surface.
The chubby, white-fluffy one we commonly see is the northern long-tailed, while the other subspecies of the silver-throated long-tailed are not so white and look more like sparrows.
Compared with the more ordinary close brothers, the northern long-tailed is undoubtedly more popular because of its high appearance, but in fact, it does not mean to make itself so cute and fat.
Its so-called fat toot is actually more of a need to keep warm, after all, this bird exists in large numbers in the northern region, and is particularly afraid of cold, so the pure white warm "down jacket" is indispensable.
The courageous "Battle Bird"
As a cute little bird, the northern long-tailed is actually very big in guts and temper, as a bird with a strong sense of family, they often live together in groups, and a large family can have as many as 100 family members.
When really facing the invasion of predators, the northern long-tailed will also be scrappy and take the initiative to attack, even if the other party is several times larger than himself, until it costs his life.
In addition, this amazing bird also has a very special habit, that is, they usually help other similar people to take care of the young birds, just like our human neighbors help each other.
Surprising peculiar habits
Ornithologists have previously discovered such a habit in Japan. They found that the local silver-throated long-tailed (northern long-tailed) would run out a few "unrelated birds, etc." whenever they planned to nest in the nest, enthusiastically helping the bird lay eggs smoothly, and after laying eggs, they would also help hatch, provide food or peripheral vigilance, etc., and the sense of responsibility can be said to be quite strong.
Nowadays, this bird is basically found all over the country, is one of the most common forest birds, can be said to be more common than sparrows, we actually often see in daily life, but most likely recognize ordinary sparrows.
As the world's cutest bird, the northern long-tailed is loved by bird lovers, and in the process of an online selection of national birds, it almost became the national bird selected by netizens, which shows how popular its appearance brings it.
Speaking of this, someone must be tempted, this bird is so cute, can I keep one?
In fact, this is absolutely impossible and completely impossible, because the northern long-tailed is wild and gregarious, and it is absolutely impossible to feed it alone, but it hurts this cute bird in vain. Therefore, everyone still has to respect nature, love nature, and let the beautiful things return to where they should be.
As a species that is not endangered at all, it still has an indispensable role in nature, whether it is maintaining biodiversity or protecting human farmland pests and diseases, it has a unique significance, so let's protect this cute bird together.