Guangdong Luokeng Crocodile Lizard National Nature Reserve found key protected birds Mandarin duck

Recently, researchers from the Research Center for Animal Ecology and Evolution of the Institute of Zoology of guangdong Academy of Sciences discovered Mandarin ducks during an autumn bird survey in The Luokeng Crocodile Lizard National Nature Reserve (hereinafter referred to as "Luokeng Conservation Area") in Guangdong Province, which is the first record record of the Luokeng Conservation Area.

mandarin duck.

At 4 p.m. on October 27, in a reservoir on the West Niutang Sample Line of Luokeng Nature Reserve, researchers found 4 Mandarin ducks with a total of 3 males and 1 female. The reservoir is surrounded by well-developed secondary forests, with a water grass barge about 3 meters wide on the shore of the reservoir, dense bushes of miscellaneous trees, and tall fir trees planted on the side of the road. After seeing the observers, the Mandarin duck flew to the opposite shore, swam for about 20 meters, climbed up the branches and began to rest and sort out the feathers.

Mandarin ducks are very rare in Guangdong, and only a few places have been recorded in the wild, and this is the first distribution record in the Luokeng Conservation Area. Luokeng Conservation Area is located in the northern part of Guangdong Province, at the southern foot of the middle section of the Nanling Mountains. History has recorded a total of 341 species of wild vertebrates, including 164 species of birds. This record not only adds a national key protected bird to Luokeng Conservation Area, but also expands the distribution of mandarin duck wintering habitat. In the future, we will continue to conduct in-depth bird surveys in Luokeng Conservation Area, and use Luokeng Conservation Area as a pilot to improve the bird survey system of Nanling National Park.

It is understood that the Mandarin duck (Aix galericulata) belongs to the order Goose, Duck Family, Mandarin Duck genus, body length of 38-45 cm, for small game birds, male and female heterochromatic, male bird beak red, feet orange yellow, rich and gorgeous plumage, head with gorgeous crown feathers, wide white eyebrow lines behind the eyes, a pair of chestnut yellow fan-shaped upright feathers on the wings, standing on the back like a sail, very peculiar and eye-catching, very recognizable in the wild. The female has a black beak, orange-yellow feet, a grayish-brown head and entire upperparts, white around the eyes, and white eyebrow lines.

Mandarin ducks are migratory birds from north to south, breeding in most of the central and eastern regions north of the Yangtze River, as well as in the mountainous forest lakes, rivers, ponds, reed swamps and rice fields in the southwest region, wintering in the Yangtze River Basin, South China, Southwest China and Southwest China, and in Taiwan as a resident bird. Mandarin ducks feed mainly on grass, leaves, rice crops, etc., but also eat insects and other arthropods, small fish, shrimp or frogs during the breeding season.

Mandarin duck is a national level II key protected bird, the global population is estimated at 65,000-66,000, China is estimated to have 100-1100 breeding pairs, and less than 100 wintering individuals, the overall trend of its population may be declining.

In recent years, Luokeng Reserve has monitored a variety of wild animals through infrared cameras: yellow-bellied horned pheasant, small civet cat, big grey cat, spotted spirit cat, civet cat, Zang chief monkey, pig badger, dog badger, yellow-bellied ferret, wild boar, red chamois, hairy-crowned deer, Chinese iguana, silver star bamboo rat, white partridge, white-browed mountain partridge, snake eagle, brown-winged crow, black-crowned falcon, crested eagle, etc.

[All-media reporter] Ye Zhiqiang

【Correspondent】 Tang Zhongxiang Luo Baoxuan

【Author】 Ye Zhiqiang

【Source】 Southern Press Media Group South + client

Source: South+ - Create more value