Vertebrate crested wheat chicken
Vanellus vanellus
Crested wheat chicken, belonging to the vertebrate, ornithischia, plover order, plover family, wheat chicken genus. It often inhabits swamps, grasslands, paddy fields, drylands, river beaches and saline lands near the water areas, and is distributed in many parts of the country. Photo taken in the Napa Sea.
At present, there are 6 species of known wheat chicken in China, and in terms of appearance alone, crested wheat chicken kills other "clan relatives". Crested wheat chickens are similar to males and females, but the females are slightly monotonous in body color. The most obvious of them is the black feathers on the top of their heads, which are very similar to the crown feathers of peacocks, showing that they are graceful and elegant.
Don't look at them as elegant, but hot-tempered. In particular, they are extremely territorial, but whenever someone or other animal enters their nest area, they will constantly attack and bark, flying up and down to intimidate intruders.
For all animals, the most important thing to solve to survive is the problem of eating.
The recipe for crested wheat chicken is not set in stone. What to eat, mainly depends on age. Young birds eat more digestible wheat, grass stems, grass seeds and other plant foods, and occasionally eat insect larvae, and when they grow up, they become carnivorous, and agricultural pests, slugs, snails, and earthworms are their love.
However, different habitats and different seasons will have a certain impact on their diet, and sometimes in order to make it easier to eat, they will forage in wheat fields, so some places also call it tianjie, that is, "field duck", although they are not ducks. If you are not in the field, don't worry, as a member of the wading bird, the crested wheat chicken also has good fishing and shrimp catching skills.
In the past, they were generally considered to be "monogamous", but in recent years, foreign studies have found that there is also a phenomenon of "polygamy" in crested wheat chickens, and some male birds that occupy territory will also choose "polygamy". The reason for this needs to be further studied. However, for chicks, in a "monogamous" environment, they will be more cared for by the bird's parents.
In addition, just by looking at their names, many people will think that they are chickens, but they are not. The chicken we usually refer to the species in the order Ofterus, such as the white horse chicken, plateau mountain quail, etc. released in the early stage; and some birds have "chicken" in their names, but they are not actually members of the order of chickens, such as the purple water chicken belonging to the crane-shaped order, and the crested wheat chicken to be talked about today, more accurately, the crested wheat chicken can be understood as a water bird.
In addition to pecking and laying eggs on the ground, they are very different from chickens in other aspects such as reproduction, nesting, brooding and habitat.
Yang Tao, a natural ecology photographer, won the second prize in the plant and fungus category of the 2020 China Wildlife Photography Annual Competition. Over the years, he has been paying attention to and photographing the biodiversity of the Hengduan Mountain area, and is committed to interpreting the beauty of nature and ecology with the lens, arousing the emotional resonance of the viewer with the discovery vision, and promoting nature conservation with the power of images.
Planning coordinator: Zhao Juan Lian Huiling
Text: Lian Huiling
Poster Design: Zheng Biyin