Technicians of Longling Little Black Mountain Provincial Nature Reserve in Baoshan City, Yunnan Province, recently found a rare bird when sorting out wildlife photos. After the identification of Zeng Wei, a technician of the Kunming Survey and Design Institute of the State Forestry and Grassland Administration, it was determined to be a spotted fish dog of the genus Kingfisher family. This strangely feathered spotted fish dog, which was first photographed by Longling County photography enthusiast Li Fafang in the surrounding area of Longling Little Black Mountain Conservation Area, is a newly recorded wild animal in the local area. This is also the ninth new recorded species of wildlife in Longling County since 2021. So far, longling county has known 299 species of wild birds, accounting for 31.64% of the 945 species of birds in Yunnan Province. At the same time, the species of wild vertebrates in the Little Black Mountain Reserve in Longling County have increased from 468 in 2006 to 543 species today. Spotted fish dogs mainly inhabit the shores of open waters such as streams, rivers and lakes in low mountains and plains, and sometimes appear on the banks of ponds and roadside canals, often dominated by small fish on the water surface, and also eat crustaceans and a variety of aquatic insects and their larvae. Spotted fish dogs are mainly distributed in the area south of the Yangtze River in China, and have been included in the "Red List of Vertebrates in China". (Yu Yunjiang, Cai Shuangfa, reporter of Science and Technology Daily, Zhao Hanbin) (Photo courtesy of Li Fafang)
Source: Science and Technology Daily