The wind blew through the grass and woke up the egrets. The crisp cry struck the birdwatcher's reverie, and the white clouds floated overhead, crashing into a clear blue sky. In the midst of the chaos, a speeding black figure flashed, and the romantic encounter expected by the bird of prey monitor began.
The Leizhou Peninsula is an important passageway on the East Asian-Australasian migratory bird migration route. At the beginning of October, the Zhanjiang Bird Love Association was stationed in Haolang Village, Jijia Town, Leizhou City, to carry out scientific monitoring of migrating birds of prey. During the monitoring period, some surprises were also staged one after another - the white-bellied sea eagle, a national first-class protected animal, fought in the long sky of Zhanjiang for the first time, and ushered in the arrival of rare species such as white-shouldered eagles and black eagles.
White-bellied sea eagle. Photo by Zhu Lifeng, monitor of Zhanjiang Bird Love Association
Protected animals at the national level
White-bellied sea eagle
This year, the white-bellied sea eagle was included in the "List of Wild Animals under National Key Protection" at the first level. Commonly found in the offshore areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Hainan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and other places, the white-bellied sea eagle is a medium-sized bird of prey with a body length of 70-85 cm. At high altitude, the white-bellied sea eagle either soars or glides, very elegant, flying with two wings at an angle, slow and powerful wings, and the scene is spectacular.
White-shouldered carving
The divine eagle spread its wings and soared up to ninety thousand miles. The white-shouldered eagle is a large bird of prey, and is also known as the "imperial eagle" because of its powerful and powerful image. There are obvious white spots on the shoulders, which are very prominent on the black-brown body feathers, which are the main features that distinguish other eagles. According to scientific research, the white-shouldered eagle is probably the most loyal bird in the world, and males and females will be together throughout the feeding period to share the responsibility of raising offspring. In 1994, it was rated as a global vulnerable species, and in 2021, it was listed in the "List of Wild Animals under National Key Protection in China" for the first level.
White-shouldered carving. Photographed by Mai Kang, monitor of Zhanjiang Bird Love Association
Black eagle
The black eagle is a national protected animal. The eagle is 61 to 74 cm long and weighs 1.3 to 2.1 kg, making it a medium to large bird of prey. The main reason for the slaughter is that the grassland rat extermination campaign has led to the eating of a large number of poisoned rats, which eventually caused it to be poisoned twice or give birth to deformed eggs, of course, in part because of the destruction of the habitat of the reserve.
Black eagle. Photographed by Mai Kang, monitor of Zhanjiang Bird Love Association
National second-level protected animals
osprey
It is the only medium-sized bird of prey in the falcon family, osprey family, and osprey family. Fierce, dark brown back, white belly, often flying on the surface of the water, preying on fish, commonly known as "osprey". The ancient Chinese people highly admired the mighty and sharp-eyed osprey, describing the gaze as "osprey" or "osprey", referring to the recommended sage as "osprey recommendation", and the osprey that likes to enter into pairs of activities is also regarded as a symbol of happy love.
osprey. Photo by Jiang Jinshan, monitor of Zhanjiang Bird Love Association
Eurasian spoonbill
The white spoonbills are large waders. It is 85 cm long, with white feathers, and a long, straight, flattened lute-like mouth. The white spoonbills are beautiful in appearance, elegant in posture, light and dexterous in flight, and are often called "bird beauties". At present, the population of white spoonbills in the world is about 30,000. In 2012, it was listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Eurasian spoonbill. Photographed by Mai Kang, monitor of Zhanjiang Bird Love Association
Crested hummingbird
Crested hummingbirds are 57–60 cm long. As the name suggests, crests refer to the crown feathers on their heads, while the "bees" in the name refer to the pupae whose main food is bees. The main object of crested bee eagle predation is wild bees, but also eats some forestry pests, pests, etc., only some individuals living near the bee farm will cause a small amount of loss to the beekeeping industry.
Crested hummingbird. Photographed by Mai Kang, monitor of Zhanjiang Bird Love Association
White-bellied harrier
The white-bellied harrier is a medium-sized raptor with an adult body length of about 60 cm, inhabiting and active in wet and open places such as swamps, reed ponds, rivers and lakes, and breeding mainly in Hulunbuir, Heilongjiang Province and Jilin Province in northeast Inner Mongolia in China, and wintering in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, Yunnan, Guangdong, Hainan, Fujian and other provinces. In December 1988, it was included in the list of wild animals under national key protection and belonged to the national second-level protected animals.
White-bellied harrier. Photographed by Mai Kang, monitor of Zhanjiang Bird Love Association
Black-winged kite
The black-winged kites are small birds of prey with a body length of about 33 cm. Unlike most birds of prey, the wings of the black-winged kites are wide and large, but their wings are thin and narrow, although they cannot withstand too much buoyancy, but they are conducive to swooping, and the black-winged kites are the only birds of prey that can hover in the air. It is generally active alone, mostly in the morning and dusk, mainly feeding on field rats, birds, hares, insects and reptiles.
Black-winged kite. Photographed by Mai Kang, monitor of Zhanjiang Bird Love Association
Nihon Matsujaku-sparrow
The Japanese pine sparrowhawk is a bird of the eagle-toothed eagle subfamily, a small bird of prey with a body length of 23-33 cm. The shape and plumage resemble that of a sparrowhawk, but the black streaks in the center of the throat are thinner and narrower, not as wide and thick as the sparrowhawk. A small number of them are resident birds, generally in northern China as summer migratory birds, and in the south as winter migratory birds. It mainly inhabits montane coniferous forests and mixed forests, but also occurs in forest margins and sparsely forested areas, and is a typical forest raptor. It feeds mainly on small birds such as and warblers, but also eats insects and lizards.
Japanese Pine Sparrowhawk. Photographed by Mai Kang, monitor of Zhanjiang Bird Love Association
Grey-faced eagle
The grey-faced eagle, a medium-sized bird of prey, feeds mainly on animal foods such as small snakes, frogs, lizards, rats, squirrels, hares, foxes and birds, and has been listed in the 2012 Red List of Endangered Species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and belongs to the national second-level wild protected animals.
Grey-faced eagle. Photographed by Mai Kang, monitor of Zhanjiang Bird Love Association
【Text】Kang Yunyi
【Review】Gu Dawei
【Source】Part of the data collation Baidu Encyclopedia
【Special thanks】Zhanjiang Bird Love Association strongly supports
【Author】 Kang Yunyi
【Source】 Southern Press Media Group South + client
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