Recently, a low and long sound appeared in the mountains of Weining County, Guizhou Province. Some people thought it was like a dragon's roar, while others thought it was like a tiger's roar. According to the Beijing News, in order to clarify the source of the unknown sound, bird expert Ran Jingcheng rushed to the scene to investigate and verify, and initially determined that the sound was caused by a bird called the yellow-legged three-toed quail.
Birds have a variety of calls, some are melodious, some are weird, and some are loud. The call of the yellow-footed three-toed quail is loud, low, and long, and it sounds like a cow. . It is this peculiar bird song that comes from the mountains and is mistaken for "dragon roar" or "tiger roar".
The yellow-footed three-toed quail is a small bird belonging to the family Tetrapidae and the genus Tetrapidae. It is a summer migratory bird in Guizhou and inhabits shrub grasslands in low mountains and hills, and also appears in farmland.
01 Weird: weighing less than half a catty, but barking loudly like a cow
The yellow-footed three-toed quail has many aliases, including ground quail, three-clawed quail, water quail, and ground quail. It is petite in size, with the female bird weighing about 40-120 grams and the male bird weighing about 35-70 grams, less than 1 pound.
They have no elegant body shape or beautiful feathers. Their shoulders and back are covered with gray-brown feathers dotted with small black or brown markings; their tails are not long and are also gray-brown; their wings are sandy brown and covered with Large black round spots.
Their mouths are yellow and their feet are golden, and they look quite gorgeous. It has three toes on its feet and can run quickly and flexibly.
The female bird is similar to the male bird in appearance, but the female bird is larger and the color of its feathers is relatively brighter.
In the world of birds, there are many birds with beautiful appearances and beautiful sounds, but even the inconspicuous yellow-legged three-toed quail makes a sound like a large animal cow, and is even mistaken for " Dragon Roar". Especially during the breeding season, the call of the yellow-footed three-toed quail will be deeper and longer.
02 Two Monsters: Find a shallow pit anywhere to make a nest, there is no fixed "home"
Yellow-footed three-toed quail is active in low mountain areas and feeds mainly on plant shoots, berries, grass seeds, grains, insects and other small invertebrates.
It is good at running but not good at flying. It often runs on the ground, always looking for food while walking, pecking at plants or small insects in the ground.
Whether it is foraging or wandering, the yellow-footed three-toed quail usually moves alone and does not like too much excitement. If it encounters enemies, it will run quickly, hide in the bushes, and escape with the help of dense plants.
It only takes off when it is frightened. It doesn't fly very high but it flies quite fast. Generally, it will fly in a straight line along the ground and fall into the grass before flying very far.
In terms of housing, yellow-footed three-toed quails are very picky. They will just find a shallow hole anywhere to nest, and they will not build it carefully. Instead, they just put some dry grass in the shallow hole.
Precisely because it is so easy to build a nest and can live anywhere, the yellow-footed three-toed quail does not settle in a certain place and lives very casually without a fixed "home".
03 Three Monsters: Female birds roam around to mate, while male birds are responsible for incubating eggs and raising babies
Under normal circumstances, yellow-footed three-toed quail calls less often. During the breeding season from May to August, the call becomes louder, deeper and more frequent.
In many birds, males court females, but yellow-footed three-toed quails court females, and one female mates with multiple males. During the breeding season, female birds will emit low and long calls in shrubs, grasslands, cornfields, and farmlands to attract male birds.
In front of the male bird, the female bird will show itself by spreading its wings, wagging its tail and other actions, and will also circle around the male bird, and gain the male bird's favor through these behaviors.
If other female birds arrive, there will be fights over mates. In many birds, males court and compete for females. The courtship behavior of the yellow-footed three-toed quail is exactly the opposite of that of most birds.
But the female bird is not an "infatuated" guy. After mating with the male bird, she lays the eggs in a simple "shallow pit" on the ground, and then walks away. She is neither responsible for the male bird nor responsible for the consequences. The hatchlings are responsible.
The female will continue to look for the next "target", wander around to court, and then mate and lay eggs. At this time, the male bird has to shoulder the important responsibility of incubating eggs and raising babies.
Why does the yellow-footed three-toed quail have such strange breeding habits? Female birds travel around to mate, which can reduce the risk of being preyed on; they lay eggs in multiple places, increasing the success rate of breeding offspring.
This is also a kind of survival wisdom!
Xuelinggu Animal Laboratory/Produced
Reference materials: National Museum of Zoology, Knowledge is Power Magazine, Ornithology of China, Beijing News
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