In the cold winter season, walking through the park trails such as Daqing Urban Forest and Sabei Lake Woodland, the squeaky sound of "kowtow machine" is faintly heard in the forest. At an opportune time, small flocks of birds of different sizes and colors suddenly appeared in the trees, noisily skimming over the trees, and disappeared into the forest in less than a minute, leaving only the sound of the "kowtow machine" turning. It turns out that this is a mixed group of birds composed of great, swamp, northern long-tailed and great spotted woodpeckers, etc., which together interpret a different scenery of the oil city in winter.
Common group members - alert, agile big, provided by bird-watching enthusiasts, the same below).
According to Mr. Zhang, a bird watching enthusiast, a mixed-species bird flock refers to a group of two or more species of birds, which appear in a relatively concentrated spatial range at the same time, and move and forage in a common direction.
The largest member of the flock - the great spotted woodpecker).
This phenomenon is mainly due to the two tendencies of avoiding food and improving feeding efficiency, adjacent members are generally within 25 meters of each other, and they are very compact and consistent when feeding, and have behavioral characteristics such as alerting potential natural enemies, coordinating rest in the group, and combing feathers.
A member of the flock that likes to forage outside the canopy - the northern long-tailed).
Different birds have different levels of developed sensory systems, and mixed flocks are usually better at spotting predators. The frequency of occurrence and feeding niche of each bird differed, which constituted a rational allocation of food resources: swamp foraged mainly in the middle of the canopy, northern long-tailed mainly foraged on the outside of the canopy, and the whirling wood finch and common finch foraged at different heights and parts of the trunk.
Occasional members of the group - swamp).
The great is alert and quick by nature, and the "high octave" song has certain advantages, and is good at attracting other bird species to join through the song, guiding the movement direction of the group, and sounding the alarm when predators such as kestrel and sparrowhawk appear.
Common group members - ordinary people who are in charge of guarding the periphery).
The larger chickadees usually play a central dominant role in the flock, while the great spotted woodpecker, common and spinning woodpecker are followers, but they also play an important role. The Great Spotted Woodpecker uses its chisel and tweezer-like beak to peck at the tree for insects, and other members can obtain food that the woodpecker misses. Ordinary In the periphery of the group, it is active and fast, and when it encounters enemies, it will constantly chirp and signal to other members.
Common group member - lively, fast brown-headed).
This collaborative approach allows flock members to focus more on finding food, reducing the chance of injury and gaining enough body fat to cope with the long winters.
Common flock members - low-key, quiet whirling woodfinches).
In recent years, the relevant departments of Daqing City have severely cracked down on illegal hunting of wild animals, strengthened the publicity of wildlife protection laws and regulations, and continuously improved the atmosphere of bird love and bird protection in the city, and the living environment of birds has continued to improve.
A corner of the urban forest in winter).
We hope that these birds that complement each other and advance and retreat together for survival will successfully survive the cold winter, continue to multiply, and continue to dress up the beautiful oil city of Daqing with their natural magic.