Northern Red-tailed Plover (scientific name: Phoenicurus auroreus): Is a small bird with a body length of 13–15 cm. The northern red-tailed plover male is grey or dark grey in the forehead, crown, and back of the neck to the upper back, and some individuals are grayish-white, with a black waist and tail coverts orange-brown under the back. The central pair of tail feathers is black, the outermost pair of tail feathers have a black-brown margin, and the rest of the tail feathers are orange-brown. The two-winged coverts and feathers are black or blackish brown, and the secondary and tertiary feathers are white at the base, forming a distinct white wing spot. The base of the forehead, the side of the head, the side of the neck, the chin, the throat, and the upper thorax are black, and the rest of the lower body is orange-brown. The grey and black parts of the new plumage that have just been replaced in autumn have dark brown or brown feathers, and the flying feathers and covert feathers are also decorated with light brown feathers; and the black parts such as chin, throat and upper chest have gray narrow margins. Females have olive-brown coverts on the forehead, crown, head, neck, back, shoulders, and inside of both wings, while the remaining upper and flight feathers are blackish brown with white wing spots, but smaller than males, with pale brown waist, upper tail coverts, and tails, dark brown central tail feathers, and pale brown lateral tail feathers. The underparts are yellowish brown , the thorax is brown , and the middle of the abdomen is nearly white. The eye circles are slightly white. The iris is dark brown, and the mouth and feet are black.
China breeds in Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, northeastern Inner Mongolia, Beijing, northern Hebei, northern Shanxi, southern Shaanxi, Ningxia, eastern and southern Qinghai, northwestern and western and eastern Gansu, Henan, Sichuan, Guizhou, northwestern and western Yunnan, and southern Tibet, and winters south of the Yangtze River, including southern Sichuan, southern Yunnan, southern Tibet, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Hainan Island.
The northern red-tailed plover mainly inhabits shrublands and low trees near mountains, forests, river valleys, forest edges and settlements, especially in settlements and nearby jungles, gardens, and ground edges, and sometimes along roads and river valleys into large forests, but also mostly in the roadside forest edges, rarely entering dense primitive forests. Often alone or in pairs. Agile, he frequently jumps between the ground and bushes to peck at insects, occasionally flying through the air to prey on them. Sometimes he also stood on the branches or power lines for a long time, and when he found that there were insects on the ground or in the air, he immediately flew to catch them and then returned to the same place. The range of activity is not large during breeding, usually within 80-100 meters from the nest, and does not like to fly at high altitudes. Each flight distance is not far, generally in the forest short distance to fly section by section. Sexual timidity, when seen, is hidden in the jungle. The activity is often accompanied by a 'drip-drip-drip' sound, which is monotonous, sharp and crisp. It is easy to find it according to the sound. Pauses are often constantly swinging their tails up and down and nodding their heads.
The breeding period is from April to July, slightly later in the north, and generally enters the breeding period in early May. In mid-to-late April, courtship is seen, the male and female red-tailed plover chase each other, or the male stands on a branch or telephone line, constantly nodding at the nearby female and chirping, when the female bird flies to the front, the male nods and tails more vigorously, and the wings are half-raised and drooping, and the feet are constantly moving. After a while, the female takes off, and the male immediately catches up, chasing each other up and down at a low altitude. Nesting environment is diverse, in addition to a large number of nests in the wall of the house holes, gaps, eaves, roofs, arches, abandoned houses and other human buildings and adjacent firewood stacks and other pile gaps, but also nest in tree holes, rock caves, under tree roots and earthen pits. Eggs are laid as soon as the nest is built, usually 1 egg per day, with 6-8 eggs per clutch, mostly 6-7. Egg egg egg blue, duck egg green and white and other different color types