Deep in the Daxing'an Mountains, at 50° north latitude, in the early morning, 3 male black-billed grouse chickens stand on the golden yellow larch branches to welcome a beautiful day. The black-billed grouse female appears in a dress. It strolls leisurely, revels in the forest, and has a temperament comparable to that of a noblewoman.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="2" > the most recognizable chicken in Taigarin</h1>
The black-billed grouse and the black grouse are the two most famous "chickens" in northern China, both of which are national key protected animals.
Black-billed grouse are mainly distributed in the northern leaf forest in China, and their two main habitats, the Little Xing'an Ridge and the Altai Mountains, are on the verge of extinction, even in the Daxing'anling area, where the population was the largest, the rate of decline is very rapid. After the Large Forest Fire in Daxing'anling in May 1987, the population density of black-billed grouse dropped sharply, and the situation was very severe.
The black-billed grouse is very large , with males up to 95 cm in size. The male is very handsome, tall and tall, walking gracefully, and in the sun, the metallic green feathers on the chest glitter. I was fascinated by this tall, handsome chicken when I first saw the black-billed grouse in the fall of 2014.
In China, the black-billed grouse is only distributed in the northeast region, and the Altai Mountains do not. This black-billed grouse female bird seems to appear in a dress, and it strolls leisurely and enjoys itself. (Photo by Liu Lu)
The black lyre chicken has 18 black-brown tail feathers, and the outermost 3 pairs are particularly elongated and curved outward in the shape of a sickle, which is very similar to the shape of the Western guqin, hence the name. In 2013, I saw the black lyre chicken for the first time at the southernmost tip of the Daxing'anLing Mountains, where the forest meets the grassland. During the breeding season, they prefer to go out of the forest and compete for group status on the flat grasslands.
The grouse family of black-billed grouse and black grouse is mostly typical of northern hemisphere birds, and is now concentrated in the northern forest areas of the northern temperate zone and the Arctic tundra, which are a major food source for carnivores such as lynx, mink, fox, and raptor. Humans also regard grouse as a delicacy. In appearance, the toes of grouse are also feathered, or in winter they grow small scales along the sides, which facilitate their walking and burrowing in the snow. Grouse inhabit snow caves and can withstand severe cold. They have large sacs and sand sacs that can be used to store large amounts of food. They are good at maximizing the use of available food sources, coniferous conifers, willows, birch and other broad-leaved trees buds, twigs, willow wool, shrubs, mosses, lichens, etc., but all the life forms that can be searched are their food sources.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="34" > is extremely vigilant and has a strong sense of teamwork</h1>
The black-billed grouse is the most difficult to shoot in the wild, and it is also the most difficult to get close to, especially the male birds. In 2014, I was only a few-sided with black-billed grouse, but I was extremely impressed by their arrogant and delicate appearance. In the 1987 fire-burned Daxing'anling jungle, on the undulating ridge at an altitude of 1200 meters, the tall larch was burned to the trunk and some of the main branches, and now, after the revival, the Daxing'anling is full of vitality, and the black-billed grouse either stands on the larch or walks on the dirt road between the forests, always holding its head high.
Black-billed grouse are a food source for lynx, mink, foxes, birds of prey and other carnivores, and in the face of the law of the jungle, they are extremely vigilant, often inhabiting tall larch trees, and it is very difficult to shoot in the wild. (Photo by Liu Lu)
In the fall/winter of 2020, I went to the same area to see chickens. As the saying goes: if you want to see a chicken, you have to get up earlier than a chicken! In 16 days, 15 days I had been squatting on the ridge where the black-billed grouse roosted, sometimes I could see them, sometimes I couldn't see them, most of them were short together, and a few times I was lucky, and the time together was longer. In these episodes of getting along, I know the black-billed grouse better than ever.
Black-billed grouse like to live in groups, have a strong sense of territory, and have good teamwork, and the males are often responsible for guarding the guard, and they are always vigilant in observing their surroundings. (Photo by Liu Lu)
Black-billed grouse are very fond of living in groups, their sense of teamwork is also very strong, male birds often stand on the high larch on the ridge, the field of vision is excellent, it can eat the conifers, while standing guard, eat and see, see and eat, within the field of vision, sometimes a few black-billed grouse in the dirt road or bush to pick up grass seeds, shoots, young leaves or small pebbles. They are always careful, and whenever the wind blows, they will enter the forest and hide in a pine tree with a good view. At any time, as soon as the head chicken sounds the alarm, they will quickly hide.
In addition, the territorial awareness of the black-billed grouse is very strong, presumably it is not easy for such a large group to find an ideal habitat with various living conditions, at least the habitat must have food and water throughout the year, and there is a good breeding area, so the black-billed grouse will also cherish their territory.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="35" > a variety of predators</h1>
Winter in Daxing'anling comes very early, and in mid-October, the snow on the ridge can't catch up with the accumulation rate, and the black-billed grouse also opens the winter survival mode.
The next morning, the road to the ridge became more and more difficult, the forest seemed to become a fairy tale world, white and vast, when I walked to the ridge, a black guy suddenly appeared under a row of pine trees, which frightened me from a distance, ah, a black-billed grouse slowly raised its head, it looked at me, I looked at it, it turned out that this black-billed grouse was sleeping in the snow nest under the tree. Overnight, with a frost frost on its back, it stood up and walked carefully in the snow, which made it very difficult to walk, and its food was covered with snow, and it could only raise its head to forage for food on the bushes, or fly to the trees to eat conifers.
After the snow, all kinds of footprints were left on the snow, lynx, ocelots, mink bears, red foxes... All kinds of beasts of prey are hunting for prey, and from the footprints, they are eyeing the black-billed grouse, going back and forth in circles in the black-billed grouse's activity area, all looking for opportunities to attack the black-billed grouse.
The silent forest is actually dangerous and murderous, looking at these round footprints, I feel chilled, and finally understood, the same chicken, no wonder the black-billed grouse is extremely vigilant, and the speed of escape is faster than other pheasants.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="36" > tree full of black lyre chickens</h1>
In 2014, I searched for several days in the forest of the Urqi Han Forest Farm in Daxinganling, Inner Mongolia, and found not a single black lyre chicken. In the autumn of 2020, when I went to the Urqi Han forest farm, the biggest surprise was the black lyre chicken.
Facing the first rays of the morning sun, I met a group of black-billed grouse on the ridge, standing on the trees eating the needles of larch, and observed for a while to continue to walk forward, facing the sun, against the light. A turn, a huge charred larch tree is right in front of my eyes, the sun is particularly harsh, I squint my eyes to fix my eyes, ah, full of trees are crows! My companions and I slowly took out our camera to shoot, and suddenly found that it was a little abnormal, how can the crow be so fat? Oops, no! Everyone said in unison: This is a black lyre chicken! I rubbed my eyes and felt like I was dreaming: in such a dense primeval forest, such a tall tree inhabited by black lyre chickens! The picture in front of me broke through my long-standing understanding of black lyre chicken. I always thought that black lyre chickens lived only in open fields or on grasslands.
After a while, the black lyre chickens began to move, flying to the ground in pairs to feed, some eating grass seeds, some eating small pebbles, and some male birds chasing each other. After a while, probably after resting and basking in the sun, the black lyre chicken began to fly a long distance, flying high and far, flying ability is not like a chicken at all, and it is about to catch up with the birds of prey, flying over the forest and mountains.
We continued to walk through the forest, and many black lyre chickens flew around in the forest, 3 on this tree, 5 on that tree, 8 on another tree... For a time there were black lyre chickens everywhere, and the silent forest became lively, they foraged for a while, and stood in the trees for a while to rest, but by 10 o'clock at night they were gone, disappearing into the depths of the forest.
Two days later, when I went to the same forest, I never saw the grand scene of black lyre chickens full of trees, all sporadic, or standing in the trees to rest, or foraging on the ground.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="37" > black-billed grouse is in the same frame as black grouse</h1>
Luck is behind us. On the fourteenth day when I walked into the same forest, the same quiet morning, after the snow, I saw two black-billed grouse, and then fixed my eyes on it, ah! I was stunned, and there was a group of black lyre chickens next to me. I couldn't believe my eyes: two nationally protected animals were together, and they were living in perfect harmony! Originally, the black grouse came to the territory of the black-billed grouse, but the black-billed grouse did not mind at all, and they walked leisurely and ate. The black-billed grouse seemed to be protecting the black lyre chicken, and a dozen black lyre chickens became "low-headed parties", constantly eating and eating, completely unsafe about danger. They seemed very friendly, and for an instant I felt that the forest was warm.
In the fall of 2020, the photographer encountered the black-billed grouse (left) and the black-billed chicken (right) in the jungle of Daxing'anling. It is rare for two nationally protected pheasants to meet and get along in a natural environment. (Photo by Liu Lu)
Black grouse (45-61 cm) and black-billed grouse (47-95 cm), two chickens with very different sizes, two national first-class protected species in the same frame, are the first time I have seen bird watching in more than 10 years.
There are three subspecies of black grouse in China, namely the Xinjiang subspecies, the northern subspecies and the northeast subspecies, with the northeast subspecies being the largest and the Xinjiang subspecies being the smallest. Black lyre chickens often move in groups and like to feed on the ground. They are good at running and not too vigilant. These are 3 flocks of foraging cocks. (Photo by Liu Lu)
Black lyre chickens are more secure when perched on tall trees, and when foraging on the ground, there are also sentry companions flying back and forth under the trees. They live together against the dangers of the forest. (Source Forest and Humanity Magazine Liu Lu Personal Statement: The shooting of black-billed grouse and black grouse without any temptation editor Wang Qiang)