Diàn kē (diàn kē) is the most popular elegant ornamental bird nowadays. The diet is mainly insects, such as locusts, bugs and ants, and a small number of wild fruits and weed seeds are also eaten. Breeding from April to June, the nest is oval, composed of weeds, dead leaves, fine roots, etc., there is an entrance and exit on one side, the nest is cushioned with fine grass and fibers, etc., and the nest is placed between the grass on the ground. There are 4 to 5 eggs per nest, and the egg shell is slightly grayish blue-green, or has reddish spots. The picture on the left shows the red and blue dot chin, which must be fully vitaminized during the moulting season. If indigo chin does not get enough feather vitamins during the hair changing season, it will lead to the entire year without a beautiful coat color, which is the lesson of blood! Please take care of the hard-won indigo!
Indigo chin picture The name is red chin, dot chin, red-throated singing plover, red-necked wild plover. It belongs to the order Finches, ornithischiae, and the subfamily Pterophoridae.
Population distribution
Summer breeds in the northeast of China, Qinghai and northern Sichuan, and winters in the southwest of China.
Red-spotted chin is a traditional caged bird in China. In the past, it was mostly raised in the royal court, and the Three Birds Tower and the Five Tea Houses in Beijing Tianqiao also had special feeding. This bird is reared and raised, and then paired with a refined cage, the export price is very high.
Morphological characteristics
The red-spotted chin is slender, handsome, and about 16 cm long. The male's body feathers are mostly olive-brown , with a slight darker color in the center of each feather. The throat is red and there is a white eyebrow stripe on the eye. The thorax is grey , the flanks are tan , the abdomen is white , the female has a white throat , and the eyebrows are pale yellow.
Habits of life
The red-spotted chin is a ground-dwelling bird that often jumps happily in the lush plains, reeds, and swamps. The male bird has beautiful plumage and is good at singing. The song is melodious and gentle, very pleasant. It is very good at imitating the sounds of crickets, golden bells, oil gourds, golden bells and other insects. The red-spotted chin is an insectivorous bird that feeds mainly on orthoptera, hemiptera, and hymenoptera. Life in nature is good, but it is mentioned that cages are difficult to keep and if not changed properly, they will die quickly. A red-spotted chin generally lives for about 5 years, although both adult birds and young birds can be raised, but it is better to raise young birds.
Feeding management
China has a long history of raising red dot chin, and there are also very exquisite point chin cages. The feed is not the same in the north and south, but it is generally fed a little flour and often given some fresh beef and lamb, flour worms or corn borer larvae.
Newly bred chins are often frightened and do not eat. In order to prevent cage collisions and damage to feathers, reduce physical exertion and maintain stability, it is necessary to "bind the arms". It is to cross the outermost 4 to 5 feathers of the bird's wings at the waist, tie them with cotton thread, and turn the rest of the feathers above the ligation. If the bird is found to be unstable, grabbing the cage and wiping the tail, you need to tie the entire feather tip.
After the bundled bird is placed in the cage, it is covered with a cover and placed in a place to "eat". It is to put bread worms or corn borers in the cage, put a thin paste of chin flour in the food jar, add fresh minced meat, and then put a few worms to remove the water tank. Let the birds be hungry to eat the worms in the cage or in the can, and thirsty to eat the porridge in the can. If you find that the worms and snacks in the cage are eaten clean, add new food, usually once every 2 hours. If you stick to this for a few days, the birds will eat it. Then open the hood, hang it on a high place, and gradually increase the concentration of the porridge, and when the red dot chin can eat the dry powder, then put in the water tank and the food tank, and add powder and water respectively.
Food and water for red dot chin should be kept clean and replaced every day. The cloth pad at the bottom of the cage must be brushed frequently, dried and replaced so as not to cause feces
Indigo is corrosive and contaminates the toes of birds. Red dot chin likes water baths, should always provide bath water, to be bathed after the bath with new drinking water. In winter, when the room temperature reaches more than 15 °C, bath water can also be provided.
The moulting period is a critical period for raising red-spotted chin, and uneven or non-feathering of the moulting not only affects the appearance and song, but also may cause the death of the birds. Therefore, during this period of feeding management, special attention should be paid to giving more live food and other animal feed. Let the birds breathe in the fresh air or "catch" the dew in the grass every morning. Some people put the moulting birds into cages covered with grass to raise them, so that the changed feathers are shiny and beautiful.
Raising red dot chin, to prevent colds in winter, the room temperature is required to be kept between 15 and 20 ° C, and the temperature cannot be high and low, and it is not advisable to go out to walk birds.