On October 10, Pocket Spring City reported the news that the "world's most beautiful water bird" purple water chicken appeared in Kunming (the "world's most beautiful water bird" purple water chicken was also attracted by COP15). Purple water chicken covered with purple blue feathers, the beak crown is red, because the plumage is colorful, from different angles and light will produce a change of color. Its habitat is subject to the aquatic environment and is a rare population in China. The successful observation in Kunming, in addition to habits, also has a unique local environmental advantages. This gorgeous and cute bird species also seems to have inadvertently added a clever color to the C0P15 event. Regarding its habits and its relationship with Kunming's ecological environment, we interviewed Wei Ming, head of the Kunming Suzaku Ornithological Research Institute, who participated in the observation activities.
XiaoPao: First of all, let us introduce the purple water chicken, its appearance characteristics, and what unique habits it has.
Wei Ming: The purple water chicken and the black water chicken are close relatives, but it is much higher in appearance, and it is also widely known as the most beautiful water bird in the world.
This is a bird of the order Crateridae and has 13 subspecies. The body is about 44 cm long, the mouth is thick, bright red, short and flattened, the nasal groove is shallow and wide, the nostrils are small and rounded, under the anterior part of the nasal groove, the frontal nail is wide, and the posterior margin is truncated, orange-red.
It is then an omnivorous animal, feeding mainly on plants, eating young shoots, leaves, roots, stems, flowers and seeds of aquatic and semi-aquatic plants such as cattails, grasses, seedlings of rice, seeds of sorrels and indigo, and tubers of water lilies. Animal foods account for a small proportion, including mollusks, ants, crabs, insects and their larvae, spiders, fish and eggs, frogs and frog eggs, lizards, snakes, birds and bird eggs and chicks, rodents and carrion.
Little Palm: What is its usual habitat?
Wei Ming: It is a water bird that relies on wetland survival, is a national second-level key protected wild animal, which is relatively rare in China, and is only distributed in limited areas such as Yunnan and southern Sichuan. Yunnan Province is mainly distributed in Dali, with more than 2,000 of the country's largest population.
XiaoPao: Where is this observation?
Wei Ming: Wetland on the banks of the Niulan River in Songming County, Kunming City.
Xiao Zhang: It is said that this discovery is the first time that a group of purple water chickens has been observed in Kunming since there are records?
Wei Ming: Yes, this is the first time that the adult population of purple water chickens has been found in the Kunming area, and a total of 16 have been clearly counted, and the entire population is not fully estimated to be about 20. The purple waterfowl itself is a gregarious bird. According to our available information, there has only been a single record in Kunming in the past.
XiaoPao: Is the purple water chicken active in Kunming in groups directly related to Kunming's climate and water and soil environment?
Wei Ming: Compared with the black water chicken, the purple water chicken has slightly higher environmental requirements. The habitat selection of the purple waterfowl is closely related to environmental conditions. Purple water chicken needs sufficient food sources, especially the young shoots of aquatic plants and a sufficiently hidden environment, which requires the wetland environment to be benign and healthy, such as good water quality in the wetland, sufficient purification function and rich animal and plant diversity. This is also because the local wetland environment is good enough, so the purple water pheasant will choose this place as a habitat.
Xiao Palm: Tell us about your observation activities this time.
Wei Ming: The region has always been under our monitoring. This time, we also returned to the field after two years to monitor, and we were also very surprised and surprised to find the traces of purple water chicken under very accidental circumstances.
Little Palm: In addition to the purple waterfowl, have there been any other rare bird populations observed this year?
Wei Ming: In the same wetland, we also observed the cotton duck, the smallest species of wild duck, and the white-bellied harrier (a wetland raptor), a national second-class protected bird that comes here for the winter.
XiaoPao: From your point of view, what specific suggestions would you give for biodiversity conservation, especially the protection of birds and rare birds?
Wei Ming: Birds are the most critical indicator species of species diversity, and wetland bird diversity is a sign of wetland environmental health. In the same area, we have also observed the blue-headed diving duck and other national key protected birds before, hoping that this area can maintain such a benign state for a long time. In terms of protection work, human intervention should be controlled to a certain extent as much as possible, as if a healthy person did not need to take medicine. Healthy wetlands themselves have the function of purifying and maintaining the balance of species. In the construction and management of wetlands, it is necessary to retain more shallow water areas and tidal flats in wetlands and protect native aquatic plant communities. Wetlands should be built from the perspective of birds, or from the perspective of species diversity (i.e., from the perspective of biological needs).
XiaoPao: In terms of urban ecological protection, what other attempts can Kunming make?
Wei Ming: The basis of protection is awareness. We should carry out as many science popularization activities as possible to raise public awareness of biodiversity. For example, we have cooperated with the Yunnan Dianchi Lake Conservation and Governance Foundation to hold the Dianchi Lake Bird Watching Festival, and we also hope that the public will have the opportunity to participate in professional bird monitoring activities. In addition, the conservation work of our institutions has entered the global "100+ Cases of Biodiversity", and we hope that more institutions will be willing to cooperate with us to carry out richer science popularization activities for the public.
Pocket Spring City intern reporter: Pu Xiao
Editor-in-charge: Yang Rong
Editor: Sha LanMei
Final Judgement: Qian Hongbing Zhou Jianjun