Recently, when the bird monitoring team of Luokeng Crocodile Lizard National Nature Reserve in Qujiang District, Shaoguan and researchers from the South China Institute of Endangered Essences were conducting bird monitoring in autumn and winter, they found a "wild duck" in an abandoned pond on the Jianggongduan line. It swam towards each other and lived in harmony with the local pond owner small duck (Tachybaptus ruficollis), without disturbing each other and living together in harmony. After taking the photo, the team members identified it as spot-billed duck (Anas zonorhyncha), adding a new record of for the birds in Luokeng Reserve.
Two days later, the maintenance staff of Luokeng Protection Area discovered its figure while patrolling the Jianggong route. They rested for two days and had not left. The monitoring team speculated that it might be that they were left alone during the migration.
Spot-billed duck is a bird of the genus duck family . It is one of the ancestors of Chinese ducks. It is 58-63 cm long and is dark brown overall. The face to the neck, eyes, eyebrow lines, chin and throat are all light yellow-white. It looks white in the distance, which is in a clear contrast with the dark brown body color. The male and female feathers have similar feathers, but the female birds are dim.
main identification features are: the mouth is black and the mouth end is yellow, and there is a black dot at the top of the mouth end during the breeding period. Different subspecies wing mirror is metal blue or metal green. The Chinese subspecies Zonorhyncha breeds in eastern China and migrates to the south of the Yangtze River in in winter. It has dark patterns on the cheeks, blacker feathers, and the wing mirror is metallic blue. The subspecies haringtoni remain in Indian subcontinent , Myanmar and Laos . It is found in southern Tibet, southern Yunnan and southwestern Yunnan, as well as Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao. The wing mirror is metallic green and has a white trailing edge. Because it is different from the Chinese subspecies zonorhyncha in terms of morphology, migration habits and molecules, most of the concepts now treat it as different species from the Chinese subspecies, and retain the Chinese name of the Chinese subspecies zonorhyncha to the Chinese subspecies zonorhyncha, and the subspecies haringtoni, which was once placed under the spotted duck, was renamed the Indian-Burma sonorhyncha.
Spot-billed ducks mainly live in various inland lakes, reservoirs, rivers, ponds, estuaries, sandbanks and swamps. They will also appear in coastal and farmland during migration and winter. In addition to the breeding period, they often move in groups and are mixed with other ducks. The main foods are aquatic plants' leaves, buds, stems, roots, aquatic algae such as pine algae, floating algae, as well as grass seeds and seeds. In addition, it also eats animal foods such as insects, molluscs, , etc.
Relevant person in charge of Luokeng Reserve introduced that after autumnal equinox , a new round of migration season for migratory birds has also quietly arrived. For birds, migration is a cycle of life journeys. There will be fatigue and various difficulties during the long journey. If you encounter migrating birds and stop and rest, try not to disturb them, and do not hunt them illegally. If you find a single injured bird, please contact the local wildlife rescue center for assistance in time. Let us work together to carry out a "fly protection operation" so that the birds can fly safely and survive the winter smoothly.
[All-media reporter] Ye Zhiqiang
[Correspondent] Tang Zhongxiang Liao Chanyun Wang Wenting
[Author] Ye Zhiqiang
[Source] Southern Media Group Southern + Client
