The first time I saw a goldfinch flying in winter.

Photography: Zhuang m

Knowing this lively and lovely little guy is completely unintentional, just like meeting an ordinary kingfisher and a red-billed blue magpie for the first time, and they flew into my lens by themselves.

Not long after I learned to watch birds last winter, on a weekend afternoon, the warm sunshine in winter shone on the earth, and Shan Ye was more lazy and desolate. All kinds of shrubs had withered, wormwood was brown and withered, and even evergreen eucalyptus and cypress seemed to hibernate quickly, and the dense green leaves were listless. I walked along a road with a telescope, looking for birds. On the left are shallow wheat seedlings, and on the right side of the hillside are sparse Woods, which are blocked by newly reorganized land and people far away.

Suddenly, a bird I had never seen before stood on the bare branch of Vitex negundo. It was a goldfinch! Beautiful goldfinch! The bright yellow on his wings is too eye-catching, which is his symbol as a "golden" winged finch; His whole wings are beautiful, just like a flowing serenade. The outer edge of each feather attached to the lower back is light white and black, sliding to the black tail feather layer by layer, rhythmic and beautiful; The dorsal root and caudal root under the wings are also bright yellow, but they are completely covered by wings when they live. When he flies, this yellow color echoes the large yellow spread on his wings. How beautiful under the blue sky!

His gray-green head is still like a waterfall on a girl's head, pouring down to her neck; The brown upper back is like a teenager in a gorgeous cloak; Even the yellow-green abdomen is so striking.

His short, thick and distinctive red lips sparkled in the sun.

It is really difficult to find a place to do it, and there is no strength at all!

He stopped on the branch, very quiet, like a turtledove. If you want to see it, I'll let you see enough. It's a pity that he is too young for me to push my luck. I can only invade bit by bit. I can clearly see that there is a deep feather groove in the middle of his yellow-green abdomen, just like the African Rift Valley that runs through the whole African continent. The buttocks under its tail are also intoxicating bright yellow, and its tail feathers are excessively grayish yellow.

He walked on the branches, gliding fast and parallel like a parrot, which was funny and lovely. He looks a bit like a mini parrot.

At this time, I saw that they were a large group, there should be dozens of them, and there were eucalyptus trees, shrubs and wormwood that had already been broken on the ground. Some pecked at the seeds of grass, wheat, rape and other plants on the ground, some pecked at the seeds of Vitex negundo on the branches (it was later learned that they also like to eat the fruits of other plants), some looked around, some combed their feathers, some stayed quietly on the branches, not knowing what they were thinking, and some looked at the distance in a daze.

I approached quietly, approached. There are only them and me here, and my China garden dog Yukitaro is waiting for me in front. Every time I go out to watch birds, it stays with me all the way. It always goes forward and then walks away. When it found that its owner didn't keep up, it immediately came back to me. When it saw me watching birds quietly, it stood there quietly waiting for me. The chirping of other birds disappeared. At this moment, I just want to see them clearly.

Finally, a goldfinch who was pecking on the ground turned his head and suddenly found the "monster" behind him. He screamed and flew to the eucalyptus tree. Above the bush is a large eucalyptus forest. These eucalyptus trees are tall and dense, and the gray-green leaves at the top of the trees are denser. The frightened birds hid in these leaves and couldn't see any leaves.

The next morning, I went there to see them again. I approached the target quietly, but there was no shadow of a goldfinch in front of the bush. I only heard a thin, small chirp from the tree. I looked up and saw those little figures shooting at the branches like swords and whistling at them. They are very lively and active. Only one flew to a branch near me and settled on it. Before I could see it clearly, he quickly shot at another higher tree.

They like activities on eucalyptus very much. I thought they only like eucalyptus. The next weekend, I went there to look for them, but I never saw them there again. Later, they can be seen in large groups in trees, wires and Woods by the water, especially in Fule Mountain Park, as well as crickets.

As small passerine (65,438+0.3 cm) woodbirds, they only like to inhabit shrubs, wilderness, plantations, gardens and forest margins in southeastern Siberia, Mongolia, Japan, eastern China and Viet Nam, reaching a height of 2,400 meters, and never live in cities. It seems that they only like the vast countryside and the fresh air in the forest.

Goldfinch is also a resident bird that we can see all year round. Nesting in coniferous forest, broad-leaved forest and bamboo forest, the nest is bowl-shaped. The husband and wife have a clear division of labor. Father bird is responsible for collecting and transporting materials, and mother bird is responsible for building them, which can be completed in one week. It can breed 2-3 nests a year, with 4-5 eggs in each nest, and the husband and wife hatch chickens together.

? April 7, 1965 438+07

References:

Handbook of Wild Birds in China;

Wang Changda edited and filmed "Xiqiang Charm-Mianyang Wild Birds"