Huxiang Natural Calendar 丨 Wind Warm Birds Sound Broken (2) Do you know "䴙䴘"?
Friday, April 2, 2021 The 14th day of the spring equinox
It's a name you'll never forget once you've seen it – crested [pì] 䴘[tī].
It is a general term for a class of water birds, belonging to the family Phylloscopidae, and the crested ibis is the largest and most beautiful of them.
When the spring breeding season comes, they grow two pairs of black feathers like small braids on the back of their heads, forming a dark crown upright, and the slender neck is surrounded by a circle of brown and black long fluff, which resembles the pleated collar commonly worn by medieval European aristocrats, and the contrast with the white forebelly is very eye-catching. The head is so gorgeous that it is worthy of the name "crest".
There are two things in the life of the crested ibis, which are particularly wonderful. One is swimming, the position of their two feet is at the back of the body, close to the hips, the toes have wide fins, it is almost difficult to walk on land, but it is very suitable for paddling; the other is to show love, the two agreeable cresteds will swim together in the process of swimming together, suddenly begin to look at each other affectionately, and then together put their bodies high on the water, and at the same time nod their heads up and down, walking on the water together, as if stepping on the surface of the water, dancing, love to the depths, but also from the bottom of the water to a small handful of water weeds to each other, very romantic.
Crested ibises are winter migratory birds in Hunan Province and are more common. It mainly winters in the Dongting Lake area and wide rivers and large reservoirs. Changsha County Songyahu National Wetland Park is one of the habitats of crested ibises in our province, which originally belonged to winter migratory birds and migrated north and south every year, but in recent years, it has been observed that some individuals no longer migrate north, from winter migratory birds to resident birds. According to expert analysis, it may be affected by climate change, and it is also related to the good ecological environment and sufficient food resources of Songya Lake.
Zhou Canying, president of Changsha Wildlife Conservation Association, introduced that the beginning of April is China's "Bird Love Week", crested ibises have also officially entered the breeding period, they nest and breed on the surface of Songya Lake, which is a good time for bird watching.
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Crested ibis, commonly known as langli white, water old croak, water donkey, etc., the partridge belongs to the family Ofcepters. It prefers to inhabit reeded and overgrown rivers, lakes, ponds, swamps, especially those that are empty and quiet and clear. He is good at diving into the water to hunt food, and feeds on aquatic invertebrates such as insects, small fish, crustaceans, mollusks, etc. Build a floating nest on the surface of the water and float with the water.
Adult crested ibises are more than 50 cm long and weigh about 0.5 to 1 kg, entering the breeding period from March to May, and the incubation of eggs is taken in turn by the male and female brooding birds, and the chicks can swim and hide soon after hatching.
Text/Peng Yahui Photo/Zhou Canying Design/Ye Yanna Think Tank/Zhang Zhiqiang Coordinator/Zhou Yuegui Information/Hunan Forestry Bureau
[Editor-in-charge: Cao Xian]
[Source: Hunan Daily· New Hunan Client]