The big treasure is out, and the second treasure is also out! Wei Zhongxin, a steward who has been fighting in the hot mountain forest for 91 days, can't contain the joy in his heart, holding the camera in one hand and sharing this happy picture with his mobile phone in the other hand to the WeChat group of the reserve.
This is the proud moment of the Encheng National Nature Reserve in Guangxi: for the first time in China, the whole process of the crowned hornbill nesting, breeding and breaking out of the nest in the stone caves of the karst cliffs has been filmed in a complete picture.
The hornbill father and hornbill mother "hugged" for the first time after more than 90 days of separation inside and outside the nest. Photo by Wei Zhongxin
The first chick to bravely emerge from the nest. Photo by Wei Zhongxin
The second chick that grinds in the nest for nearly 4 hours before it emerges from the nest. Photo by Wei Zhongxin
Two treasures are coming. Photo by Wei Zhongxin
The crowned hornbill is a large bird with a body length of 74-78 cm, which is a rare species under key protection in China, and is also known as a "toucan", "airplane bird" or "love bird" because of its large beak, flying like an airplane and "monogamous" characteristics.
The crowned hornbill flyes much like an airplane, so it is called an "airplane bird". Photography / Zhao Jiaxin
According to the Public Consultation Draft of the Directory of Wild Animals under National Key Protection released by the State Forestry and Grassland Administration and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs on June 19, 2020, the crowned hornbill will be upgraded from the original national second-level key protected wild animal to the national first-level wild animal.
The crowned hornbill prefers open forests and forest edges, flutters its wings or glides among the trees, and its diet is mainly plant fruits, insects and chicks of some birds, and it will continue to make a harsh "quacking" sound when flying, and the sound is loud and can be heard from a distance.
In March 2019, Wei Zhongxin, the person in charge of the management and protection site of the Encheng National Nature Reserve Management Center (hereinafter referred to as the Encheng Nature Reserve) in Guangxi, and wei Zhongxin, a full-time steward, found that the crowned hornbill nested in the stone cave of the karst cliff when he was patrolling the mountain forest, which was the first time that the crowned hornbill had such behavior in the reserve, and there was never such a record in the country, and it may also be the first record in the world.
In order to fully understand the living habits and nesting breeding behavior of the crowned hornbill, and to observe and photograph its nesting and breeding process, the Encheng Conservation Area entrusted this important task to Wei Zhongxin.
Wei Zhongxin hid in the bushes to carry out monitoring work.
With a love for birds, Wei Zhongxin has been systematically observing the stone cave where the crowned hornbills nested last year since the beginning of 2020. In late March, he finally spotted the crested hornbills there, with a male stopping in the treetops near the cave to observe. For the next two or three days, the male would come to the cave every day to watch, and occasionally fly to the mouth of the cave to look inward. Wei Zhongxin whispered in his heart: "The male bird revisited the old place, it seems that last year's pair of crowned hornbills will come to this stone cave to build a nest and breed."
The "husband" of the crowned hornbill has repeatedly observed back and forth, which has also caused misunderstanding and chase by the neighbor "white-winged blue magpie", but it has confirmed its eyes and believes that this old nest is still safe, so it decided to take the "wife" home to give birth this year.
The male crowned hornbill is chased by the white-winged blue magpie. Photography / Zhao Jiaxin
Crowned hornbills mostly nest in tall tree holes, but because encheng Reserve belongs to the karst topography, most of the low shrubs on the rocky mountains are rare, so the crowned hornbills can only choose to nest in the cliff wall stone caves to breed, which indicates that the crowned hornbills have the ability to adapt to the natural environment.
The most peculiar thing about the crowned hornbill is its nesting habits. In order to protect the "family", the male bird will seal the nest with mud, leaving only one mouth for feeding food. Since then, the female has been staying in the nest responsible for hatching and caring for the young birds, and the male is responsible for finding food every day to feed the female and young birds, until the young birds grow up and have full wings, and then break out of the nest with the female birds.
The hornbill father waits outside the cave for the hornbill mother and child to come out of the nest. Photo by Wei Zhongxin
The father of the crowned hornbill feeds the second treasure who is afraid to come out of the nest. Photo by Wei Zhongxin
On July 16, 2020, the female of the crowned hornbill pecked open the hole to seal the mud and broke out of the nest, and then two crowned hornbill chicks also came out of the nest and joined the male of the crowned hornbill, and the two full-winged chicks could already soar freely in the air and play in the branches.
The moment the mother hornbill breaks the nest and flies out. Photo by Wei Zhongxin
At present, the number of crested hornbills in China is extremely rare, and the number recorded in the Encheng Conservation Area has only increased from 2 last year to 4 this year, which is the result of the conservation area and the local people jointly managing the reserve.
Author: Wei Zhongxin Qin Mingxiang
Source: Nature Super Talk
For more information, please pay attention to the China Green Times subscription number on WeChat