The earliest existing owl artistic shape in my country can be traced back to the Yangshao culture more than 6,000 years ago. Initially, the owl was regarded as a "God of War Bird", and its voice was believed to bring victory in war. But in the week of , the owl became an unlucky "bad bird". Han Dynasty even made its image into a pot of rice storage, and used the image of an owl to scare away the mice that were stealing food.
But some owls do not like mice and prefer fish eating, that is fishing owls. Owls are a general term for birds such as owls in ancient my country. Fishing owls, as the name suggests, are owls that prey on fish. There are seven species of yellow-legged fishing owls in the world, and yellow-legged fishing owls are one of them.
Hiding in the deep mountains and streams
Yellow-legged fishing owl belongs to resident bird in our province, but it is very rare and is only distributed in our province Qinling and southern Shaanxi areas. It relies heavily on mountain streams and rivers with good forest coverage and less artificial interference, while urban expansion, road development and farmland reclamation have never stopped, and these human activities have forced them to retreat step by step towards deep mountain forest areas at high altitudes.
Yellow-footed fishing owl is the largest and strongest fishing owl. It likes to live in areas far away from human activities, but it seems increasingly difficult to meet this point now. Therefore, bird experts don’t know much about it. For nature lovers, it is very, very lucky to see the yellow-legged fishing owl in the wild.
As a few brushes for fishermen
Yellow-legged fishing owl can grow to more than 60 cm tall, about 2.5 kg. Although they also have a pair of cute "rabbit ears" (actually a pair of ear feather clusters), they always hang on both sides of their heads. The face is not as big as other owls. Because the color of the plantar and toes is yellow-brown, it is named the Yellow-legged Fishing Owl (also known as the Yellow-legged Fishing Owl). Since it is a living by fishing, what are its exclusive configurations that are different from other owls?
First of all, it has a pair of slender thighs and sharp claws, which is convenient for wading and fishing. Two-thirds of its legs are covered with feathers, and a pair of slender thighs are usually huddled under their belly. It is difficult to see if they take off, making it easier for them to wading and fishing. Generally, yellow-legged fishing owls will stand on branches or stones by the water and wait quietly, and then fly to catch them after discovering the traces of their prey. During the hunting process, their bodies will not enter the water, but will only use their claws to sniff into the water to catch fish. Sometimes yellow-legged fishing owls also walk around and hunt in shallow water. There are four sharp claws on each foot, two in front and two in back, which is convenient to firmly grasp the slippery fish and kill the opponent quickly.
Secondly, relying on keen visual hunting, the flying feathers of yellow-legged fishing owls lack the soft comb-like structure like other owls. There is a sound when flying wings, which means that they rarely capture animals on land; the inconspicuous face plate means that yellow-legged fishing owls rely more on vision rather than hearing when hunting, and they rely on vision that is about 40 times stronger than humans to discover targets.
Finally, the night is the best cover! Like most owls, yellow-legged fishing owls sleep and rest during the day and prey at night. So the night gave them the best cover, greatly increasing their hunting success rate. But during brooding or winter, they will frequently move to prey during the day. Although the yellow-legged fishing owl is mainly composed of various fish, it also preys on crayfish, river crabs, rats, lizards, beetles, and occasionally hunts larger prey, such as other birds. Researchers have also found the remains of porcupine in its nest.
There are few babies and fewer babies. Although birds do not migrate, they will also move frequently with the river in winter or when food is scarce, just to make a living.
Yellow-legged fishing owl also has a sense of territory. During the breeding period, it will frequently whistle to mark the territory. The field generally extends five to eight kilometers along the river. According to the yellow-legged fishing owls found in Hanzhong , they enter the breeding period around February and March, and the birds can leave their nests and learn survival skills after their parents in May. Yellow-legged fishing owls do not build their own nests. They generally use cliffs or natural caves on river banks, or "picking up" other old nests built by raptors and hibernators. Each nest produces 1-2 eggs. Compared with other owls, the number of births is very small. Fortunately, yellow-legged fishing owls have a long lifespan.
yellow-legged fishing owl population has been declining, and the population is conservatively estimated to be less than 100 breeding pairs, which is national second-class protected animal . Li Xuanqi/Wen
