Huxiang natural calendar丨 a variety of means of "foodies"
Tuesday, September 7, 2021 Day 1 of White Dew
Autumn is getting deeper and deeper, and the wetlands around Hunan are brewing to change into colorful clothes, while the night herons living in the wetlands have to fade the grand breeding period "dress".
As a heron bird, the night heron is a different kind. It does not have the slender, straight body and posture of other heron birds, with a black back and a white belly, a large head and a short neck, and is a thick and fat mound. Every spring and summer during the breeding period, the night heron pillow unconsciously grows 2 to 3 streamer-like white crown feathers, like Peking Opera actors wearing flower feathers, full of heroism; their feet also temporarily change from yellow to pink, which is incomparably obvious to express the desire for "love". Until autumn, as the passion dissipated, the beautiful crown feathers and colors of the night heron disappeared, and still returned to the image of black and white fat mounds.
In appearance, the night heron has nothing to do with words such as delicacy and shyness, and is full of the aura of a strong person in life. It is also true that they can be found everywhere on earth except for the poles and Australia. Although it is not uncommon, the night heron has repeatedly rushed to the human "hot search", almost every time because it is full of means of eating -
At the zoo in Shenzhen, night herons stealing gibbon food are found and do not escape, ape birds fight, night herons are beaten into the ICU.
In many zoos in Japan, there have been strange incidents in which penguins in the park have not eaten enough for a long time when there is enough food. Keepers and bird lovers observed carefully that it was because wild night herons mixed with penguins and used their very similar shape to penguins to accept feeding and snatching penguins' fish to eat. In the face of the strong fighting power of the night heron, the penguin is the "five scum of the battle", and can only endure hunger.
However, there are many wetlands in Sanxiang and Sishui, and with the strengthening of ecological protection and restoration, the night herons can easily fill their stomachs and do not have to bother stealing food. The night in early autumn is not cold, and whenever night falls, the night herons in the wetland call for companions, flying and calling for "supper", so unhappy.
【Small business card】
Night heron, a medium-sized wader of the pelican family, is 46 to 60 cm long, with a thicker body and a shorter neck; a thin, black tip; less bare tibia, yellow feet and toes; blackish crown to the back of the head with a metallic luster, the rest of the upper body gray, and the lower body white; the pillow during the breeding period is covered with 2 to 3 long banded white ornament feathers, drooping to the back, extremely eye-catching.
It inhabits and operates in streams, ponds, rivers, swamps and paddy fields. Nocturnal, like to form groups, mainly fish, frogs, shrimp, aquatic insects and other animal foods for food.
Text/Peng Yahui Photo/Zhang Jingming Design/Zhou Yuan Think Tank/Gan Huiting Zhang Zhiqiang Coordinator/Zhou Yuegui Special Support/Hunan Forestry Bureau
[Editor-in-charge: Huang Lifei]
[Source: Hunan Daily· New Hunan Client]