The live broadcast life of Lao Linzi in Northeast China

Chapter 274 The Most Precious Duck (Subscribe)
Hu Kai stared at the figure in the water, and nodded involuntarily.

"After you said that, I also realized that the duck's feet are really orange!"

"But what kind of duck is a Chinese merganser? Why haven't I heard of it?"

Li Yuan: "The Chinese merganser belongs to the genus Merganser of the Anatidae family. It also has a common name, called the scaly-flanked merganser. It is a unique species in my country."

The beak shape of the merganser is flat on the side, and the front end is pointed out, which is very different from the common flat beak shape, and the beak, legs and feet of the Chinese merganser are all red.

The head and upper back of the male duck are black, the lower back is white, the waist and tail are covered with white feathers, and there are white wing mirrors on the wings. .

There are black markings on the feathers of the merganser, the tail is generally gray, and the wing mirror composed of large area feathers, tertiary flight feathers and primary flight feathers is white.

The long, narrow and nearly red beak is flat on the sides, pointed at the front end, and has a hook at the tip, which is very different from the flat beak shape of other species of Anatidae.

"Look, the black head of the Merganser is covered with a thick crest, the underparts are off-white, the pinnae on both flanks are white, and the feather edges and rachis are black to form characteristic scales."

"And it is also the eye-catching feature of the black scales on the feathers of these two flanks, so the name of the scaly-flanked merganser first appeared."

"But later, ornithologists discovered that their origin is the Changbai Mountain region in the northeast, and their distribution range is narrow. Only sporadic individuals occasionally fly to North Korea and the Russian Far East, so they renamed it the Chinese Merganser."

"In addition, the crested head and the two tufts of crest feathers behind the head are also its unique signs."

The flock of Chinese mergansers were too far away just now, so Li Yuan didn't pay attention, thinking they were ordinary teals.

It was only after the group of mergansers walked in that Li Yuan discovered that these ducks turned out to be Chinese mergansers!
Although they are all ducks, the status of the teal ducks raised at home and the group of Chinese mergansers in front of them is completely different!

Studio.

"Chinese merganser? Isn't it just a duck?"

"No, it's a better-looking duck!"

"This duck looks really good-looking, a bit like a bird."

"This Chinese merganser is so precious! I never expected to see it in the live broadcast room of Mr. Li's family!"

"Is this thing rare?"

"Of course! The Chinese merganser is a national first-class protected animal, and its number is extremely small. It is an internationally endangered animal that is even rarer than the Chinese alligator!"

"Damn it, is it true?"

Li Yuan nodded.

"The Chinese merganser is indeed precious, and its history is quite long."

"The Chinese merganser is a species that survived the Tertiary Ice Age. It has a history of at least 1000 million years. It is a rare bird native to my country."

"Generally, this kind of Chinese merganser has the habit of going to warm places to overwinter, and the distribution points are very scattered, and they are generally small groups or sporadic individuals. It is rare to see more than 10 Chinese mergansers in the same place. A group of sand ducks."

At this time, there were not many mergansers in the river in front of Li Yuan, only six.

It's just that these six Chinese mergansers are already quite rare!
You must know that although there are Chinese mergansers in China, only after investigations in recent years, there are only a thousand of them.

The Northeast has just discovered the existence of this kind of Chinese merganser in recent years, but the number is very rare.

Even if the Chinese merganser found today is in Yiyang and Wuyuan in the northeast of Jiangxi, large wintering flocks of Chinese merganser have been discovered one after another, with a total number of just over 100.

Fortunately, under the control and protection of the state, the number and distribution of these Chinese mergansers have temporarily remained stable, but even so, the Chinese mergansers are still in danger of extinction.

Hu Kai on the side was surprised to hear that the Chinese merganser had a history of more than 1000 million years.

"More than 1000... ten thousand years?!"

"I'm going, is it true? This Chinese merganser has lived for so long?"

Li Yuan nodded.

"Of course, otherwise, how could it be so precious, and it is also listed as a first-class protected animal."

"The Chinese merganser generally likes to appear in the rushing rivers in the forest area, as well as those open lakes, while the streams, river valleys, meadows, ponds and grasslands in broad-leaved forests or mixed coniferous forests, that is, their habitat."

"And this kind of merganser usually moves in pairs, or in a family. The six in front of me...presumably should be a family."

Although there was still some distance from the Chinese merganser on the river, Li Yuan could vaguely see that only two of the six ducks were adult ducks, and their coat color was brighter.

The other ones seem to be slightly smaller in size.

The total length of the Chinese merganser is generally between 49 and 63 cm. The nostrils are located in the middle of the mouth peak, and the feather crest is long and obvious, forming a double crown.

The male's head and upper back and shoulder feathers are black, and the lower back, waist and tail are covered with white feathers.

The head and neck of the female bird are brown.

The upper back is brown, and the lower back, waist and tail coverts gradually change from brown to gray with white horizontal spots.The tail is dark brown with a touch of grey.

The lower body of the merganser is white, with scaly spots on the shoulders and sides of the lower body, and the color is generally darker.

The biggest difference between the Chinese merganser and the red-breasted merganser is that the side of the body has a coaxial, gray wide and black narrow band pattern.

It was through these differences that Li Yuan speculated that these Chinese mergansers should belong to the same family.

Studio.

"Anchor, you observe carefully, it's really like this!"

"Isn't this an endangered animal? How do you know it so well, anchor?"

"Damn, you are amazing, the anchor! That merganser looks exactly like what you said!"

"Then this duck...should be very valuable, right?"

"Worth it? The value of the Chinese Merganser cannot be measured by money!"

Li Yuan nodded.

"Yes, the Chinese merganser is very precious, and the value of these rare animals to human civilization cannot be measured by money."

At this time, those few mergansers were playing freely in the water.

Occasionally dive into the water to look for food, and occasionally play together, it is quite pleasant to watch.

Studio.

"Anchor, can you bring these mergansers closer? It's still a bit hard to see from such a distance!"

"So, our luck is very good? To see such a precious merganser?"

"I have a question... what does this merganser sound like? Is it the same as other ducks?"

(End of this chapter)