Snow Bird

 

Snow Bird

 

I don’t know what year, month or time a strange thing happened.

On the banks of the Qingshui River in the beautiful snow-covered Shuiyun Village, Dunjiashu was fishing leisurely. Suddenly, he heard the cry of a crane coming from the grass, and the sound sounded very sad.

Dunjiashu put down his fishing rod, walked to the grass, and saw the crane falling from the sky.

Dunjiashu is a famous animal linguist. He understands the language of the crane. It turns out that this is an injured female black-necked crane. The body feathers of the black-necked crane are gray-white, and the skin on the top of the head is blood red and covered with sparse hair-like feathers. Except for a small white or off-white spot behind and under the eyes, the rest of the head and about 2/3 of the upper part of the neck are black, so it is called the black-necked crane. Its primary flight feathers and the innermost extended secondary flight feathers are black, and the latter are covered on the tail feathers. The outer secondary flight feathers and tail feathers are black, and the upper tail coverts are gray. Iris yellow. The corners of the mouth are olive green to gray at the corners, and the ends are yellow. The appendages and toes are black, similar in both sexes.

The black-necked crane is the only crane in the world that grows and breeds on the plateau. It is also the "wind vane" of snow-covered plateau wetlands. The precious black-necked crane is known as the "bird panda".

Black-necked cranes migrate to their breeding grounds in mid-to-late March every year. They often inhabit swamps, lakes, river beaches and other areas. It is late April and early May, and the black-necked cranes have entered the breeding season. Pairs of "couples" migrating from south to north leave the group and look for relatively secluded hay mounds or reed bushes isolated by water to build nests. After the oval nest made of withered grass is completed, pairs of black-necked cranes will often sit near the hidden nest area, facing each other, stretching and shaking their wings, dancing gracefully with loud calls, and courting and mating. Egg laying begins at the end of May, and most eggs are laid in a clutch. The next work is to focus on the female cranes and take turns hatching them. After 30 days, the chicks hatch. The tiny baby crane can walk independently and enter the water as soon as its feathers are dry. Young cranes are brownish-yellow, with slightly darker neck, back and wings, lighter color on the abdomen, and fleshy red beak and legs.

In mid-to-late October, black-necked cranes migrate south to their wintering grounds. From early November to mid-December every year, it is the winter migration season of black-necked cranes. They travel between the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, creating a "visual feast brought by flying and dancing." The golden sunshine shines over the swamps, lakes, or the surrounding snow fields. Cranes are singing in the mountain stream, and their cries pass overhead. Black-necked cranes hover over the wetlands, and then stop not far away, swimming leisurely. Playing in the water, foraging, and dancing happily, the beautiful pictures of the Crane Dance Plateau are frozen in the snowy winter like a dream.

To protect themselves from the cold, black-necked cranes have a strange way of flying, tucking their legs into their feathers to keep warm when the weather is cold. Their legs fold over their abdomen. This is the reason why black-necked cranes fly with "broken legs" in cold environments.

Dunjiashu also knows many legendary stories about black-necked cranes.

Legend has it that the mother of a black-necked crane was accidentally injured and could no longer go to the south with her family. Winter has passed, but the black-necked crane mother can no longer fly. When spring comes, the mother and father of the black-necked crane finally meet again. At this time, they choose to cross their necks and die. Their loyalty is shocking.

The black-necked crane is loyal to love, which is often amazing! Under normal circumstances, after a pair of black-necked cranes fall in love, they stay together for life and grow old together. If one of them dies, the other often dies of depression. From the day they met and fell in love, their fates were firmly connected and would never be separated.

Tibetan people love black-necked cranes very much. It is a symbol of good luck, happiness and longevity, and is known as the "snowy sacred bird". In the long Tibetan epic "The Biography of King Gesar", there are many touching stories about cranes delivering messages.

Dunjiashu met this black-necked crane by the grass and was very excited. The popular song "Black-necked Crane from the North" sung by singer Aluazo rang in his ears:

 

Black-necked crane flying from the north

Please come to Caohai as a guest

The lake here is the sweetest

There are the most fish and shrimps here

The folks here are the most affectionate

I like you most when you dance and sing

 

Come fly, come fly, dear black-necked crane

Come fly, come fly, dear black-necked crane

 

spread your white wings

Falling gently Falling gently

Falling gently