The difference between egrets and egrets

Egret, also known as crane, is a very beautiful waterfowl. "Two orioles sing green willows, and a row of egrets go up to the sky." The ancient people's praise for it has already made it a poetic part of China people's hearts. Egrets are naturally beautiful and slender. They have long legs and necks, long mouths and toes. They are covered with feathers as white as snow, just like a noble Snow White.

Birds of the family Egypturidae, especially egrets. Feathers are mostly white, and there are tall decorative wedding feathers in the breeding season. Habits are similar to those of other herons, but some species have courtship performance, including showing off their feathers. In English, the word egret (or aigrette) also refers to the feather of egret, which is used as a valuable ornament in eastern dresses and in western millineries. The feathers of egrets are of great value. Egrets nest in large groups and have no defense ability. As a result, they are on the verge of extinction due to human overfishing. Later, due to changes in clothing and strict protection measures taken by people, the number of egrets increased again. Egrets are wading birds, which often prey on small fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals and crustaceans in shallow water in swamps, lakes, humid forests and other wetland environments. Build messy nests on trees or shrubs or on the ground.

Egrets (sometimes called egrets) are found in both hemispheres. It's about 90 centimeters (35 inches) long, and only has feathers on its back. Its American population is sometimes called American Egret or Common Egret. Ibis ibis (sometimes called Ardeola ibis) lives on land most of the time, associates with domestic or wild herbivores, eats insects frightened by these animals, and sometimes pecks ticks on their skin. Strong body, 50 cm (20 inches) long; Feathers are white and wedding feathers are short and fluffy; Feet and beaks are light yellow; Its distribution has expanded from Europe, Africa and Asia to Australia, South America and North America. E. garzetta distributed in the old world; About 55 cm (22 inches) long; Feathers are white, the feathers on the head are strong, and the feathers on the back are lace-like. Hydra (or Hydra Changshan) is found in the warm coastal areas of North America. It has two colors: white and black. Snow heron is white; About 60 cm (24 inches) long; The feathers on the back and head are thin and transparent, and bend backwards; From America to Chile and Argentina.

The taxonomic status of egret is: bird-stork-egret-egret, which is a rare species. There are five kinds of egrets: big egret, middle egret, little egret, yellow-billed egret and rock egret.

Great Egret: It is a large egret with long feathers and a body length of about 90cm. Adult birds in Stephane are milky white. Darkmouth; There is a short crown on the head; There are long withering feathers forming a cluster between the shoulders, which extend all the way back, usually above the tip of the tail feather 10 cm, and sometimes not more than; The base of spear feather stem is tough, gradually decreasing to the tip, and the feather branches are slender and scattered. Adult birds with winter feathers have no withered feathers on their backs, no crests on their heads, and yellowish irises. This kind of heron inhabits seashores, paddy fields, lakes, mangroves and other wetlands. It is often mixed with other herons and cormorants. The great egret only moves during the day, and its neck shrinks into an S-shape when walking. The neck is the same when flying, and the feet are straight back and beyond the tail. When breeding, the skin and eyes around the eyes are exposed first, the mouth is black, and the mouth base is green and black; The exposed part of the tibia is red-gray and the feet and toes are black. In the winter feather period, the mouth is yellow, and the eyes are first partially yellow-green.

Middle egret: 60-70 cm long; The whole body is white, the eyes are yellow first, the iris is light yellow, and the feet and address are black; Reproductive feathers are decorated with spines on the back and the lower part of the front neck, with inconspicuous crown feathers behind the head and a black mouth. Habitat and activities in rivers, lakes, rice fields, beaches and shallow waters on the banks of ponds. They often act alone, in pairs or in groups, and sometimes mix with other herons. They are timid by nature and far-sighted. When flying, the neck shrinks into an "S" shape, the feet are straightened back and beyond the tail, the wings are slowly stirred, and the flight is leisurely and straight. Mainly feed on small fish, shrimp, frogs, locusts, crickets and other animals. China Egrets are summer migratory birds in southern China, and some of them will stay for the winter.

Little Egret: slender and milky white: when Stephane adult birds breed, there are two long, narrow and soft spear feathers on their pillows, which look like double braids; There are withered feathers on the shoulders and chest. In winter, all the withered feathers often fall off and the iris turns yellow. The bare part of the face.

Yellow-green, black mouth, pale yellow at the mouth crack and the bottom of the lower mouth base; The calves and feet are black, and the toes are angular and yellow-green. Usually referred to as egret for short. Small egret farms inhabit paddy fields, swamps, ponds and mangroves in coastal shallows. Always bend one foot under the abdomen and stand alone with only one foot. Feeding during the day, eat small fish, frogs, shrimps, insects. The breeding season is from March to July. Breeding in groups, often with other herons, both males and females participate in nesting, and often go to the nest to repair and use in the next year. Eggs are blue-green, and their shells are slippery. Males and females hold eggs together. Eggs hatch after 23 days.

Egret with yellow mouth:

Yellow-billed Egret, also known as Bailao and Tang Egret, is a medium-sized wading bird with a body length of 46-65cm and a weight of 320-650g g.. The female is a little smaller. Its posture is very elegant, its body is slender and slender, its mouth, neck and feet are very long, and its body is light, which is conducive to flying. It is covered with ivory feathers, spotless and looks proud and elegant. But the color of feathers also changes greatly in summer and winter. In summer, the mouth is orange, the feet are black, the toes are yellow, and the eyes are blue first. There are many long, slender white feathers on the pillow, the longest of which are more than 10 cm long, like a pair of thin braids, fluttering in the wind and beautiful. There are long and wilting feathers on the back, shoulders and the lower part of the front neck, and the feathers are scattered. Because they look like wilting clothes, they are called "wilting feathers". They extend backward beyond the tail end, and the withered feathers at the root of the front neck hang down to the lower chest, just like silk thread. In the chest, waist and thigh roots, there is also a special feather that turns into powder and can grow continuously. The tips of feathers are constantly broken into powder particles, which, like talcum powder, can remove pollutants such as fish mucus attached to body feathers and play a role in cleaning feathers. In winter, the mouth turns dark brown, the base of the lower mouth is yellow, the eyes are yellow-green, and the feet are yellow-green. The withered feathers on the back, shoulders and front neck disappeared.

The ancestors of the yellow-billed egret appeared in the Miocene 7 million years ago, and the current population has no subspecies differentiation. Abroad, it is found in Russia, Japan, North Korea, Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia, and domestically distributed in Hebei, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Jilin, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Taiwan Province, Shandong, Henan, Guangdong, Hong Kong and Hainan, among which Liaoning and Jilin.

Egrets in Huangkou inhabit coastal islands, coasts, bays, estuaries, rivers, lakes, ponds, streams, rice fields and swamps near the coast. You can see individual, paired or integrated small group activities, and occasionally dozens of large groups are together. Fly to streams, rivers, salt fields and rice fields near the coast for activities and foraging during the day, and fly to coastal mountainous areas for rest at night. Often one foot stands in the water, the other foot bends under the abdomen, the head shrinks back into a hunchback shape, and stands still for a long time, with light and steady steps, which makes it look leisurely. When flying, the head retracts to the shoulder, the neck bends downward into a bag shape, the feet are straight back, far protruding behind the short tail feather, and the two wide wings slowly encourage the flight, making the action look leisurely and graceful. In China's ancient "Shi Mao Zhou Song", it was used to "inspire the heron to fly and make the west harmonious" to describe its extraordinary momentum when flying. Spring and autumn migration activities are carried out in April and June of each year165438+1October. Mainly feed on all kinds of small fish, and also eat animal food such as shrimp, crab, tadpole and aquatic insects. It is usually pecked while walking by the river, salt field or paddy field. Its long mouth, long neck and long legs are very convenient for preying on animals in the water. When it preys, it wades gently, keeping its eyes on the small animals moving in the water, and then suddenly pecks into the water with its long mouth, pecking the food into its mouth accurately. Sometimes I often stand by in the water and wait for an opportunity.

Prey on passing fish.

The breeding season is from May to July every year, and nests are built on islands near the coast and rocks hanging along the coast or between short branches. I like to build nests together in groups. Someone once found 14 nests on a rock top with only about 20 square meters of hanging rock, and 1 1 nests on an adjacent rock top with only 10 square meters of hanging rock, and the distance between each nest was only 14-76 cm. Once upon a time, in Taiwan Province Province, there was a phenomenon that yellow-billed egrets and egrets, cattle-backed egrets, night herons and herons mixed to nest in groups. Its nest is shallow dish-shaped and simple in structure, mainly composed of hay stems and grass leaves. Nests are built on short trees, and the maximum height from the ground is no more than 1 m, and some nests are built in the grass under short trees. Each nest lays 2-4 eggs, which are oval and light blue. The incubation period is 24-26 days.

The yellow-billed egret was once a common summer migratory bird along the southern coast of China, especially in the coastal areas from Shantou, Guangdong to Fuzhou, Fujian. It was also seen in the Yalu River in the northeast and Hunchun in the east of Jilin Province in the 1960s. In the early 1980s, more than 200-300 pairs of nesting populations were found in Liaodong Peninsula and coastal islands, and dozens of large groups were often seen foraging in coastal waters. However, due to the destruction of the environment and human interference, especially because its pure white hairy feathers and withered feathers are extremely precious decorations, a large number of them are hunted every year, so the population has decreased obviously recently. Therefore, its number is decreasing day by day, which has become very rare. According to the midwinter waterfowl survey in Asia organized by 1990 and 1992, 1992 saw only 143 waterfowl in China and 448 in Southeast Asia. At present, the yellow-billed egret has been listed in the Red Book of Endangered Birds in the World by the International Committee for the Protection of Birds (ICBP) and listed as a national second-class protected animal in China.

Rock Heron: It is black all over, so it is also called black heron in Taiwan Province Province. Feather crest, slender withered feathers on the chest and back, white cheeks, yellow mouth and dark brown front end. Dark green feet. The mouth is about 85 mm long. This species is white in the south. On the east coast of Xiamen (across the sea from Jinmen and Penghu Island in Taiwan Province Province), the rock heron found in recent years is gray Kuroha color, which is the same as that found in other parts of Chinese mainland and Hong Kong and Taiwan, and is a representative of subtropical areas. In the past, the foraging activity of rock herons was at the seaside of Qianpu. Rock herons are used to living on rocks and breeding in crevices. When flying, the speed is slow, and it often flies at low altitude on the sea and rocks.

Natural protection situation

The great egret belongs to the species listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. Egrets have been listed in the Agreement between the Government of People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Japanese Government on the Protection of Migratory Birds and Habitats, and little egrets are the most common kind of egrets, usually referred to as egrets for short, and belong to the list of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. Yellow-billed egret and rock heron are both national second-class key protected animals. The yellow-billed egret is an internationally endangered species. Rock heron is one of the highly endangered birds in China 1 1, and it is a rare bird in China, which is in an endangered state. Rock herons have been listed in the Annex List of the Agreement between People's Republic of China (PRC) and Australian Governments on the Protection of Migratory Birds and Habitats. The yellow-billed egret is a new species collected by Robert Swinhoe in Xiamen on 1860.

Distribution of egrets

There are 20 species of egrets in China, among which egrets are the most precious. Sanduoqiao Village, Yi Baishi Town, Jiulongpo District, Chongqing has the first egret nature reserve in China. There are more than 20,000 herons of all kinds in this area. There are herons 10 species in Xiamen, accounting for 50% of the total number of herons in China. Among them, 5 species of egrets are complete, which reflects that Xiamen's geographical location and wetland environment are typical and representative in the distribution of egrets resources. In recent years, the number of egrets in Xiamen is as high as 30,000 every year. According to international standards, it shows that the intertidal zone in Xiamen sea area and the habitat of lakes around the sea are important wetlands for egrets at home and abroad.