Idle Su Yi Mishima near,
Back to the clear nine xiao smell.
For the descendants of Yan Huang,
Where there are cranes, there will be immortals.
In China, the crane is an animal that has stood at the apex of culture in ancient and modern times. Longevity, purity, happiness, loyalty, auspiciousness, elegance, rain and dew are stained, the number "a bird". In ancient times, the status of the crane was second only to the phoenix, of course, the phoenix pattern can only be used by the queen mother, then the phoenix does not exist anyway, we are not rare.
However, the elegant posture of the crane is visible to mortals, so from ancient times to the present, it has frequently appeared in various works of art and clothing.
Cranes and clouds together, meaning freedom
Cranes and water together, the meaning of goodness is like water
Cranes and the sun are together, rising step by step
Cranes and pine trees together, pine cranes prolong life, meaning longevity
Cranes and deer together, the "six contract spring", everything under the world is spring, thriving ("six" that is, lu, harmonic deer character, "he" harmonic crane character)
The old proverb "Crane confesses without dyeing", which is a high and upright atmosphere
Taoist culture regards the crane as a spiritual object and worships it. If you can rank in the Xianban, it is your mount. Therefore, the crane is almost every Chinese can blurt out a name even if they have not seen it with their own eyes. The Chinese name of the crane is the red-crowned crane.
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crane
Birds that stand at the apex of Chinese culture in ancient and modern times are the most fairy animals. The legendary crane, the red-crowned crane, has an elegant posture and distinct colors, and has various meanings such as auspiciousness, loyalty and longevity in the culture of East Asia. The red-crowned crane is an endangered species worldwide and a first-class protected animal in China.
However, most of the descendants of Yanhuang do not know a few except for the red-crowned crane, in fact, there are a total of fifteen kinds of cranes in the world, each of which has its own immortal qi. Of course, there is more than one kind of crane in Shanghai Zoo, since they are all so fairy wind Dao bone, it is better to visit The Crane Xuan today.
According to the latest taxonomy , under the crane family are the genus Crane , the genus Bulbophyllum , the genus Crested Crane , the genus " , and the most recently independent genus of white crane .
First look at the White Brothers, the white-headed crane and the white-naped crane that belong to the same genus of cranes:
white
head
The bald crane is a large wader, gray-clad, snow-white with a snow-white head and neck, inhabiting the shores of rivers and lakes, mudflats, swamps, reed swamps and wet grasslands, and has good hygiene habits. Spend a lot of time every day combing the feathers to make sure they are "neatly dressed". Never overeat, no matter how much food they eat, they always pick and eat bite by bite. The white-headed crane sometimes nests in the same area as the gray crane, and migrates together, there will be hybridization, and it is a national first-class protected animal.
pillow
The white-naped crane has a white nap and a red face, also known as a red-faced crane, and is a large wader. The side of the neck and the lower part of the foreeck and lower body of the white-naped crane are dark slate gray, similar in shape to the red-crowned crane; alert, flying away whenever disturbed; migratory, rare in number.
Originally neatly white family three white, why was the white crane separated?
Because on Earth, new species are likely to be discovered every year, and old species are constantly being provided with new knowledge at the genetic and molecular level, and there are many subversive advances, such as DNA technology. Traditional distinctions based solely on appearance characteristics are no longer scientific. So the taxonomy is often adjusted. Internationally, there is usually a major update every five years. The list of wildlife protection in China is also welcoming an update in February this year. However, within the crane family, the international white crane has been adjusted from the crane genus to the white crane genus, and the scientific name has also been adjusted to Leucogeranus leucogeranus, but China still regards the white crane as Grus (even in the newly updated list on February 5, the scientific name of the white crane is still marked as Grus leucogeranus).
IUCN materials
The white crane, also known as the "Siberian White Crane", is a large wading bird, slightly smaller than a red-crowned crane, with a white body when standing, and a dark red mouth and feet. They have been on Earth for 60 million years and are the "living fossils" of birds. The white crane is the crane with the most habitat requirements, has a strong attachment to shallow wetlands, and is a globally endangered species, with 90% of the eastern population wintering in Poyang Lake, Jiangxi. Because the skeletal structure is close to the fleshy crane, there has been a classification controversy, and it is later divided into white cranes, which are still regarded as cranes in China.
Within the Crane, there are also grey cranes and red-necked cranes under the crane genus.
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Grey cranes are large waders with grey feathers, bright red on the top of their heads, and white longitudinal bands behind their eyes, preferring to inhabit open plains, meadows, swamps and other places. The grey crane is the most widely distributed crane in the world, and its breeding grounds in China are mainly in Xinjiang and northeast China. Every autumn, they move to wintering grounds, and fly back to their breeding grounds in March of the following year, a journey of thousands of kilometers. Grey cranes are omnivorous, but are mainly plant-based and can adapt to different foods in different habitats. The ancients once mistakenly believed that the crane was gray because the crane was old, so it was called "Chitose Crane" and "Genzuru".
red
neck
The red-necked crane is a large wader, only distributed in Yingjiang and Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, with light gray plumage, bare red skin on the neck of the adult, slightly larger than the red-crowned crane and white crane, inhabiting grassy plains, paddy fields, swampy wetlands and forest edges, feeding on the roots and tubers of rice and aquatic plants, and also feeding on fish and frogs. Due to the rapid decline in the number of populations destroyed by habitat destruction, it is now a nationally protected animal.
How is it? Will the various cranes be a little difficult to distinguish? But you'll never forget the cranes, because their tufts are so fairy
coir
feather
The crane is a large wading bird, the smallest of the cranes, with a blue-gray body, a white ear cluster behind the eyes, extremely eye-catching, clear eyebrows, and elegant behavior. They prefer open and slightly dry grasslands and breed in the near-water areas of the undulating hilly areas, inhabiting altitudes of up to 5,000 meters above sea level. The crane is timid and alert, good at running, often avoiding humans and reluctant to join other cranes, and has a small population in China, which is a rare bird.
The blue crane belongs to the same genus of the crane, a crane from Africa, and unlike other cranes, their heads are not decorated at all, and they appear pure.
blue
The blue crane, also known as the "blue feather crane", is the national bird of South Africa, and unlike other cranes, the head is unadorned and looks simple and elegant. The blue crane is the most limited species in the crane family, limited to the African steppe, the vast majority of blue cranes home to South Africa, but nearly 90% of the blue crane disappeared from the earth in the 1990s. The indiscriminate application of pesticides by local farmers and the targeted poisoning of blue cranes entering farmland are the main causes.
The other crane from Africa is less low-key, it is simply luxurious. There are many paintings about the "Pine Crane Extending The Year" in China, which binds the crane to the pine tree, but the red-crowned crane does not go to the tree at all, and the only one that can roost among all the cranes is it - the crowned crane genus known as the "crowned crane", which includes the black-crowned crane (West African crowned crane) and the gray-crowned crane (East African crowned crane).
black
crown
The black-crowned crane is the "black-crowned crane", also known as the "West African crowned crane". The male and female feathers are basically the same color, the forehead protrudes out of the dark black down feathers, and the pillow has countless earth yellow velvet wires radiating around, forming a beautiful pompom, called crown feathers. The black-crowned crane is a non-migratory resident bird, they can sing and dance, they are the only cranes that can roost in trees, mainly eat insects, and will eat a large number of locusts and cicadas. The African people are very fond of the crowned crane, and the black-crowned crane is the national bird of Nigeria.
If you have a heart, you may have found that it seems that the cranes in our country are all nationally protected animals. There's nothing wrong with that, and globally, they're all very rare. How rare are cranes? According to the latest level of protection, there are nine species of cranes distributed in our country:
Cranes
National level of protection
IUCN Endangered Rating
Red-crowned crane
Level
Endangered
Siberian crane
CriticalLy Endangered (CR)
White-naped crane
Vulnerable (VU)
Bald Crane
Black-necked crane
Near-threatened (NT)
Red-necked crane
Grey Crane
Secondary
Low Risk (LC)
Crane
Dune cranes
Six other species of cranes worldwide:
Black-crowned crane
Grey-crowned crane
Meat hanging crane
American crane
Australian cranes
Blue Crane
The white crane is extremely dangerous in the world, and if it is slightly lost, it may never be seen again in our time. People's favorite red-crowned cranes are endangered worldwide, and the white-naped crane, white-headed crane and red-necked crane are also in a vulnerable state. So why are cranes so rare? Shouldn't it? They are all nationally protected animals, and they are also totems of Chinese culture and have high aesthetic value. People are so fond of cranes, even with the protection of religious culture, even ignorant humans who are good at wild game will not prey on such immortals.
From the perspective of the entire history of the earth, the reasons why cranes are endangered are complex, but there are three main reasons:
The reproduction rate of cranes is extremely low
Cranes produce only two eggs a year, sometimes only one, and not all of them reproduce successfully, and chicks in the wild do not necessarily survive safely to maturity.
The "god of wetlands" lacks wetlands
Cranes need clean and open wetlands as habitats, which are the most sensitive biological indicators for dynamic changes in wetland environments, and any change in wetlands will directly affect the breeding, migration time and wintering behavior of cranes. The red-crowned crane is revered as the "god of wetlands". Wetlands are closely related to the livable environment of human beings, and with the increase and spread of population, large-scale reclamation of wetlands will be carried out, which directly leads to the destruction of the habitat of cranes. Therefore, although humans do not necessarily directly harm cranes, the reduction of natural wetlands on which they depend will also make them endangered, which is why China pays more and more attention to the overall ecology.
Migration paths and places of migration are disturbed
Except for the black-necked crane and the red-necked crane living in the Qinghai-Tibet and Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, the rest of the cranes in China live in the north, moving to the Yangtze River Basin in late October every year to overwinter, and then fly back to the north in April of the following year. Although China has set up many protected areas on this migration ecological passage, the crane's adaptability to the living environment is poor, and it will also leave the large army to go to the non-protected area for various reasons. Accidentally eating pesticide-coated seeds, touching power lines, being artificially driven away while feeding in personal fish ponds, and illegal hunting are all their dilemmas along the way. Poyang Lake in Jiangxi is the wintering ground for many cranes, but any human water conservancy project will also have a crucial impact on them.
March 3, 2021 coincides with the eighth World Wildlife Day, and the theme of our country is "Promoting Green Development and Promoting Harmonious Coexistence between Man and Nature"
In this way, the red-crowned crane is difficult. May more people pay attention to the protection of cranes, guard the habitat on which cranes live, let cranes reproduce from generation to generation, and do not let cranes become legendary birds classified with phoenixes; the harmonious coexistence of man and nature is the deepest yearning in our hearts.
The land, rivers, wetlands, mountains, forests we own are actually borrowed from our descendants. The spirit of preserving ecology and making people live in harmony with nature, and constantly instilling it backwards, is the best legacy we can leave in this era.
Source: Shanghai Zoo