Original title: The "Smurfs" in the mountain chickens dance in the snow and form a group to check in Qilian Mountain.
Recently, the staff of the Zhangye Branch of the Gansu Provincial Administration of Qilian Mountain National Park photographed the scene of the national second-class protected wild animal Blue Horse Chicken foraging and frolicking during the mountain patrol.
The head side of the blue horse chicken is crimson, the ear feathers are white, protruding on the top of the neck, the whole body is blue-gray, and the tail feathers are long and upturned. The tail feathers are scattered and drooping like a horse's tail, hence the name blue horse chicken.
In winter, the blue horse chickens fly down to the foot of the mountain in flocks to feed, and the blue feather red top walking in the snow is particularly eye-catching, and a large number of blue horse chickens have become the appearance of wild mountain chickens in Qilian Mountain.
When foraging, the blue horse chicken often uses its claws to dig moss and forest edge grass in the forest glade to look for fallen spruce seeds, and the process of planing will expose the soil, which is convenient for spruce seeds to take root and germinate, and promote the natural regeneration of spruce forests.
In recent years, Qilian Mountain National Park has continuously strengthened the protection of the ecological environment and wild animals, and has achieved remarkable results. According to incomplete statistics, at present, there are 359 species of wild vertebrates in 29 orders, 80 families in the region, including 23 species of snow leopard, white-lipped deer, Tibetan wild ass, musk deer, etc., and 64 species of national second-class protected animals, and forest resources and biodiversity have entered a virtuous cycle. (Main station reporter An Wenjian).
*: CCTV news client.