Recently, seven staff members from Futang Town, Lianshan Zhuang and Yao Autonomous County began their daily mountain patrol and forest protection work dutifully at night. This work is boring but necessary. After all, despite the country’s vigorous crackdown on poaching and deforestation, Deforestation is indiscriminate, but there are always people who take risks for profit. I really don’t understand why these people go against the law.

The staff thought today was another ordinary day, but when they walked near the Futang Conservation Station of the Bijiashan Provincial Nature Reserve in Lianshan, Guangdong, they suddenly saw a bird on the ground. The people accompanying them unexpectedly They didn't recognize the bird. After determining that the bird could not take off, they asked the Lianshan Forestry Bureau and the Futang Conservation Station of the reserve to send professionals to rescue it.

Having never seen it before and coupled with its appearance, the staff felt that this bird was a protected animal at first glance. The feathers on its body are all dark brown, and the feathers on its wings seem to be lighter in color, appearing gray and even have a green metallic sheen under the flashlight, with some white spots as embellishments.

That night, the Lianshan Forestry Bureau sent someone to send the bird to the Qingyuan Wildlife Rescue Center. After identification, it was confirmed that the bird's true identity was the Hainan tiger tabby, a national first-level protected animal. The injury was not serious, but it could not recover immediately. It had to be disinfected and treated. The rescue center adopted it and would not release it into the wild until the right time.

This bird is one of the 30 most endangered bird species in the world and has been called "the most mysterious bird in the world", but its mystery is not just due to its rarity. Today, let’s talk about this bird.

Hainan Tiger Tapper

It is true that most people have never seen this kind of bird. Although I know that many people will say that they have seen it, I am sure that these birds People just admit they were wrong. As a medium-sized wading bird with a body length of 54-56 cm, they are often confused with other heron families, such as Chinese Pond Heron, Night Heron Nestling, etc.

Hainan tiger scorpion has many layers of buffs on its body. They are the least known, most strictly nocturnal, smallest and overall rarest heron bird. Although very mysterious, their colors are quite bold. The male has black head and nape feathers, white stripes behind the eyes, stripes on the cheeks that extend to the throat, a ring of yellow around the eyes, and white spots on the back and wings. This series of hugely different colors makes them like an artistic play on Halloween.

However, most of the feathers on the female and young birds are brown, and they also have white spots on their bodies, but other characteristics are not obvious. The male and female may even be considered two types of birds.

Hainan tiger plaice is distributed in southern my country and northeastern Vietnam. Scientists know very little about its life history, and some current information is relatively lagging behind. In April 2007, my country launched a study on the breeding habits of Hainan tiger plaice, which lasted until July 2015. The study found that all nests of the Hainan tiger turtle are built on two intersecting branches of masson pine at an altitude of 123-248m. Most pairs of Hainan tiger flathead start breeding in March and finish breeding in July; they lay an average of three eggs.

Tree felling and human interference are the two most important factors affecting the breeding success of Hainan tiger plaice.

Why is it so mysterious?

The reasons that lead to the rarity of animals are actually the same. They are nothing more than the reduction and fragmentation of the natural habitats of wild animals under the influence of humans, environmental pollution, the use of pesticides, poaching, etc. This indeed makes the Hainanese tiger flathead extremely rare. Currently, there are only about 1,000 adult Hainan tiger flathead individuals in the wild. However, the reason why they are unknown is also due to some of their own habits.

They are strictly nocturnal birds, which makes it difficult to observe them. They are rarely seen in the first place, and observation at night is very limited; they are extremely vigilant, and as long as they are in their habitat If they accidentally encounter a dangerous situation nearby, such as the approach of humans, they will immediately flee and even abandon the nest and the eggs in it.

Postscript

In recent years, there seem to be more and more sightings of Hainan tiger flathead, but in fact the statistics are not too many, and it does not exclude some that have been observed repeatedly. "Unlucky guy", the Hainan tiger tabby is still a critically endangered species.

It feels unlucky to have the title of "the most mysterious bird in the world". If there is no better progress in their protection, maybe this mysterious bird will disappear silently. Take everything you have into heaven silently, and let your title be retained forever.