自然英‪语‬ 荒野苏州自然频道

A rakish, eye-catching crest really sets some birds apart. Picture the Blue Jaysof the East… or Stetter’s Jays of the West.
Ajay’s crest is made up of a slender array of feathers on top of its head. Thesefeathers are a bit longer and can be spiked up or slicked back, depending onwhat the bird is trying to communicate.
Whenjays are sitting on eggs, feeding their young, or hanging out with their mate,their crests lie low. But in the case of heightened arousal, like in courtshipor conflict, a jay’s sharply raised crest tells a tale.
Thesame goes for Northern Cardinals and, perhaps, most crested birds. Even birdswithout crests, like crows or sparrows, sometimes puff up their short crownfeathers.
Whysome species have crests and others don’t remains a complex evolutionaryquestion dating back to the dinosaurs.

Birdslay eggs. That means they don’t nurse their young… right? Well, have you everheard of something called “pigeon milk?”
Pigeons,one of the most ancient of domesticated birds, feed their nestlings a peculiar,milky liquid- straight from the adult’s beak to the baby’s throat.
It’soften called “crop milk,” because it comes from special cells in the birds’crop. The crop is a section of the lower esophagus in some birds that is usedfor storing food before digestion.
Unlikemilk from mammals, pigeon milk doesn’t come from a mammary gland. But it doescome loaded with antioxidants and immune boosters that help the new hatchlingssurvive.
Acouple of days before their eggs hatch, both pigeon parents start making themilky substance, which they’ll feed their hatchlings over the first ten days oftheir lives. When the special feeding stops, the special crop milk cells returnto normal.
Pigeonsand doves aren’t the only birds that can make this special milk. Flamingos andsome species of penguins can, too.

Hello welcome to wild Suzhou, today I’ll be talking about theblue-spotted ribbon-tail ray
Blue spotted ribbon-tail rays live near the seafloor in coral reefs and inhabit temperate waters. It is able to dig in sand to conceal itself, andit uses this skill to catch prey. Another way it finds food is scooping up thesand into its mouth and filtering out the food. Its diet consists of small seaanimals like sand worms, shrimp, hermit crabs, small fish, and mussels.
 The population of the rays issuffering though due to fishing and habitat loss, like coral reefsdeteriorating. They are also traded as pets or to go to aquariums. Some of theblue spotted ribbon-tail rays predators include hammerhead sharks, orcas, andhuman activity. This ray is quite venomous, and capable of killing a human.Most of the time, these rays live on their own, except when migrating orraising offspring. It is gray, with bright blue spots covering its body, and atthe end of its tails are its stingers.
    For wild Suzhou I’mPalm-tree and thanks for listening.

Thisrollicking song belongs to a Black-headed Grosbeak. Like most birds, the malegrosbeak begins singing in earnest a few days after reaching his traditionalnesting grounds in spring.
And,like most birds, he sings frequently when trying to attract a mate. He’ll singa bit less while he and his mate incubate eggs, but pick up the pace againafter the young hatch. By late summer, his singing will cease.
Everwonder how much a bird sings in one day? Some patient observers have shown thata typical songbird belts out its song between 1,000 and 2,500 times per day.Even though most bird songs last only a few seconds, that’s a lot of warbling!
Onnights with a full moon, male Sage Thrashers have been known to proclaim theirlong-winded songs all night. But the North American record-holder may well bethe Red-eyed Vireo. One such vireo delivered its short song over 22,000 timesin ten hours!

We’veall heard about the “early bird” getting the “worm.” We know it as sound adviceabout initiative and timely action. And we can almost see that robin leaningback and tugging that recalcitrant worm out of the ground. Research shows,however, that birds dining early and heavily may lower their life expectancy. Astudy of three North American woodland bird species found that sociallydominant birds stay lean during the day and then stoke up when it’s mostimportant- later in the day, before a cold night. At night, birds avoidhypothermia by metabolizing fat. And by staying lean through most of the day,dominant birds are more agile in avoiding predators.
Subordinatebirds have to look for food whenever and wherever they can find it, and carryfat on their bodies to hedge against unpredictable rations. Dominant birds,which can push subordinates off food, can choose when they eat and so lessentheir odds of being eaten themselves.
Therefore,at least in the woodland bird’s world, the revised moral might read: “Get the wormlate in the day- you’ll sleep better and live longer.”

Somebirds are very well known. A few are even legendary.
Theancient Greeks and Egyptians described a mythical bird called the Phoenix, amagnificent creature that was a symbol of renewal and rebirth.
Accordingto legend, each Phoenix lived for 500 years, and only one Phoenix lived at atime. Just before its time was up, the Phoenix built a nest and set itself onfire. Then, a new Phoenix would rise from the ashes.
Boththe Greeks and Egyptians associated the phoenix with the sun. One myth says thedawn song of the Phoenix was so beautiful, the sun god Apollo would stop hischariot- and the sun- to listen.
Ancientsources differ on the bird’s size and color. Some say it was the size of aneagle; others, bigger than an ostrich- with bright red and gold or maybe evenpurple feathers. All agree it- definitely had a golden aura. And in everyversion, it was exotic, literally one of a kind.
PoetWallace Stevens imagined the mythical “gold-feathered bird” perched in a palmtree. He wrote:
“Thebird sings. Its feathers shine.
Thepalm stands on the edge of space.
Thewind moves slowly in the branches.
Thebird’s fire-fangled feathers dangle down.”