Information about egrets

Name and year of species: (Linnaeus, 1766)

English common name: Little Egret

As the old saying goes, snow travelers are defeated by egrets, also known as egrets, which are 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 slender legs and necks, long mouths and toes. They are covered with feathers as white as snow, just like a noble egret, especially an egret. 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 performances, 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 clothing and also in western millinery industry. 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, and 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; The feet and beak are pale yellow; Its distribution has expanded from Europe, Africa and Asia to Australia, South America and North America. E. garzetta is distributed in the old world; Body length is about 55 cm (22 inches); Feathers are white, the feathers on the head are strong, and the feathers on the back are lace-like. Hydra is found in the warm coastal areas of North America. It has two colors: white and black. Snow heron is white; Body length is about 60 cm (24 inches); The feathers on the back and head are thin and transparent, and bend backwards; From America to Chile and Argentina.

The taxonomic status of egrets 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 90 cm. Adult birds in Stephane are milky white. Darkmouth; The head has a short crest; There are long withered feathers between the shoulders, which extend backwards, usually more than 10 cm above the tip of the tail feather, and sometimes less 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 and light yellow irises on their heads. This 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 stage, the mouth is yellow, and the eyes are 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 spiny feathers on the back and lower part of the front and neck, with inconspicuous crown feathers and black mouths behind the head. Habitat and activities in rivers, lakes, rice fields, beaches and shallow waters on the banks of ponds. They often act alone, in pairs or groups of three or five, 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 straighten back and exceed the tail, the wings stir slowly, and the flight is slow 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: Adult birds in Stephane have two long, narrow and soft spear feathers on their pillows when they breed, which look like double braids; There are withered feathers on the shoulders and chest. In winter, all withered feathers often fall off and the iris turns yellow. The exposed part of the face is yellow-green, the mouth is black, the crack of the mouth and the base of the lower mouth are pale yellow; Tibia and feet are black, and toes are angular yellow-green. Usually referred to as egret for short. Little Egret Farm inhabits the mangroves in paddy fields, swamps, ponds and coastal shoals. Always bend one foot under the abdomen and stand alone with only one foot. Feeding during the day, eat small fish, frogs, shrimps and insects. The breeding period is from March to July. Breeding in groups, often with other herons, both males and females participate in nesting, and often go to the old nest to repair and use it in the next year. Eggs are blue-green, and the surface of eggshells is slippery. Males and females hold eggs together. Eggs hatch after 23 days.

Yellow-billed Egret, also known as Egret and Tang Egret, is a medium-sized wading bird with a body length of 46-65cm and a weight of 320-650g. The female is slightly 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 spear-shaped long-crowned feathers composed of slender white feathers on the pillow, and the longest two of them are more than 10 cm long, like a pair of thin braids, fluttering in the wind and beautiful. There are long and scattered withered feathers on the back, shoulders and the lower part of the front neck, which are called "withered feathers" because they are shaped like withered clothes. They extend backward beyond the end of the tail feathers, and the withered feathers at the bottom of the front neck hang down to the lower chest like silk threads. There is also a special feather on the chest, waist and bottom of thighs, which will turn into powder and grow continuously. The tips of feathers are constantly broken into powder particles, which, like talcum powder, can remove fish mucus and other pollutants 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. Foreign countries are distributed in Russia, Japan, North Korea, Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia, and domestic countries are 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 are distributed.

Egrets with yellow mouths inhabit coastal islands, coasts, bays, estuaries, rivers, lakes, ponds, streams, rice fields and swamps near the coast. You can see small group activities alone, in pairs or in combination, and occasionally dozens of large groups get together. During the day, they fly to streams, rivers, salt fields and rice fields near the coast to move and feed, and at night they fly to the coastal mountains to rest. Often, one foot stands in the water, the other foot bends under the abdomen, and the head contracts backwards in a hunchback shape, standing still for a long time, walking lightly and steadily, revealing leisure. When flying, the head retracts to the shoulder, the neck bends downward into a bag shape, the feet are straight back, and they protrude far behind the short tail feathers. Two wide wings slowly encourage flying, making the movements look leisurely and graceful. In China's ancient "Shi Mao Zhou Song", it was used to "inspire herons to fly and be in harmony with the West." To describe its extraordinary impulse when flying. Migration activities in spring and autumn are carried out in April and June165438+1October every year. It mainly feeds on all kinds of small fish, and also eats animal food such as shrimp, crab, tadpole and aquatic insects. Usually walking along the river, salt fields or rice fields while pecking, 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, and pecks the food into its mouth accurately. Sometimes they often stand by in the water, waiting for an opportunity to prey on passing fish.

The breeding season is from May to July every year, and it nests on islands near the coast and rocks hanging between the coast or 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 is 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 built nests in mixed 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, with the highest height from the ground not exceeding 1 m, and some nest 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 can also be seen in the Yalu River in the northeast and Hunchun in the east of Jilin 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 the 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. As a result, its population is decreasing day by day, which has become very rare. According to the survey of Asian waterfowl organized by the International Waterbird Research Bureau in 1990 and 1992, only 143 waterfowl were seen in China in 1992, 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 it has been 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 Island 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 activities of rock herons were mostly seen in Qianpu seaside. 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. The great egret belongs to the species listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. Egret has been listed in the Agreement between the Government of People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Government of Japan on the Protection of Migratory Birds and Habitats, and little egret is the most common egret, usually abbreviated as egret, which belongs 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 included 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 1860.

This species has been included in the List of Terrestrial Wild Animals under National Key Protection or with Important Economic and Scientific Research Value issued by the State Forestry Administration at 5438+0 on August 6th, 2000.