Genie Archives
Hand drawing: Shi Qihui
owl
The birds of the order Owls, known as owls, are one of the most widely distributed birds in the world, with more than 130 species found on all continents except Antarctica. The head of this order is broad, the beak is short and stout, the front end is hooked, the feathers on the front of the head are arranged in a disc, and some species have ear-like feathers. The distribution of binocular eyes, the facial disc and the ear feathers make the heads of birds of this order very similar to those of cats, so they are commonly known as owls. Also known as the god owl.
Elven Story
I am a relatively common bird on Liupan Mountain, with velvety dense feathers on its wing feathers, so the frequency of sound waves generated during flight is less than 1 thousand hertz, and the ears of ordinary mammals do not feel such a low frequency. Most of us live in trees, some in rocks and grass, and we are always nocturnal, and our diet is mainly rodents, but we also eat small birds and insects. Among the birds, we have a very strong ability to catch mice, one can eat more than 1,000 mice a year, and is called "Night Ranger".
Eagle owl.
The dense forest on Liupan Mountain provides a good habitat for owls to breed.
Release the eagle owl.
Elf Stories
May 22 is the International Day for Biological Diversity, and we once again came to the Liupan Mountain National Nature Reserve and went straight to the identified Liupan Mountain elf, the eagle owl, to take pictures.
Before filming, the reporter contacted Guo Zhihong, director of the Wildlife Shelter and Rescue Center, and learned that there were three injured eagle owls in the rescue center, one of which was completely restored to its viability in the wild after treatment, and decided to release them on the International Day for Biological Diversity.
There are 347 species of birds that breed and inhabit on Liupan Mountain, birds generally fly fast, and the habitat is mainly dense forest, so it is difficult to capture.
At 10 o'clock in the morning, while everyone was waiting, the eagle owl was released. Guo Zhihong went to the "ward" of the ambulance center, put the fully recovered eagle owl into a cardboard box with ventilation holes, and mentioned it to the open woodland on the side of the road. After the reporter chose the camera position and set up the camera, he quickly opened the cardboard box.
I saw a big bird with brown and gray feathers quickly leave the box and fly quickly into the forest. "It turned out to be an owl." After seeing the eagle owl, the reporters "suddenly realized".
"Yes and no." Guo Zhihong popularized science: People are accustomed to calling owls owls, but there are many kinds of owls, and the eagle owl is just one of them. At present, there are 8 common owls in Liupan Mountain, including eagle owl, redhorned owl, long-eared owl and short-eared owl.
"The eagle owl is the largest owl, reaching an adult length of 90 centimeters, while the red-horned owl is less than 20 centimeters long." Guo Zhihong said that the ear holes of owls are located on both sides of the head, and the distribution and shape are asymmetrical, and most of them have a cluster of ear feathers.
"Although the owl has a pair of large eyes, they are fixed in the eye sockets and cannot be turned." According to Guo Zhihong, they have flexible neck bones, the neck can be rotated 270 degrees, and the face can be turned backwards, which is why the owl keeps turning its head.
"Like many carnivores, owls have eyes located directly in front of their faces, large pupils, and good sensitivity to low light at night. Especially in the dark of night, the visibility is more than a hundred times higher than that of people. Coupled with their keen vision and well-developed auditory nerves, they become experts at night hunting. Guo Zhihong talked about the characteristics of owls.
In Liupan Mountain, owls rely on catching live small animals for food, the size of the prey depends on the size of the owl, the main food is still black line squirrel, black line hamster, big hamster, brown vole and other farmland rats and small house mice, brown house rat and other residential rodents, by the forestry workers called "forest guards".
"Owls have a habit of spitting out 'food pills', often swallowing food whole, and integrating indigestible bones, feathers, hairs and other residues into lumps to form small balls and spit out." Guo Zhihong picked up a piece of feathered lump from the rescue center and said that the researchers could understand the feeding habits of owls by analyzing the pills.
"Apart from peregrine falcons and golden eagles, owls have very few natural predators." Guo Zhihong introduced that the owl has become an important member of the Liupan Mountain ecosystem. (Reporter Yan Wenxin, intern Wang Lei, text/photo)
Source: Ningxia Daily