my country's first field image of Southern Tibet subspecies of Horned pheasant
This paper, Beijing, July 30. Reporter Qi Fang
learned from the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, that the researchers of the institute photographed a wild pheasant bird during a field investigation in Beibeng Township, Medog County, Tibet Autonomous Region.
After scientific appraisal by experts from the Tibet Autonomous Region Forestry Investigation and Planning Institute and other units, it was confirmed as an adult male bird of Southern Tibet subspecies.
This is the first time that my country has captured a live image of the southern Tibet subspecies of wild scorpion pheasant in a natural habitat. It is also a direct evidence that the southern Tibet subspecies of scorpion pheasant is currently in the natural habitat of my country. It has important scientific research value.
According to reports, Gray-bellied Horned Pheasant is a national first-level protected wild animal, which is very rare in the wild.
In 1914, British ornithologist Baker named the Southern Tibetan pheasant based on specimens collected in the Tawang area of Tibet. In the 107 years thereafter, there is no exact observation record to prove that this species still survives in the natural habitat of southeastern Tibet in my country.
When the researchers discovered the bird, the surrounding wild environment was a subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest with dense understory vegetation.
The bird’s forehead, top of the head, ear feathers, and neck side are connected with band-shaped black patches; neck feathers are dark orange-red; face exposed is golden yellow; skirts under the throat are yellow; body color feathers are in brown circles Set of small white round spots, each feather end has olive-brown or black edges, and the tail end is obvious black; the abdominal feathers are all smoky gray.
The habitat of S. griseus is distributed at an altitude of 600~2800 meters. It is active in warm and humid subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest or coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forest. It is often active in pairs or small groups, with green leaves, berries, and seeds. And insects for food.
Crested pheasant belongs to the Phasianidae (Phasianidae) genus of Galliformes (Galliformes).
It is distributed abroad in eastern Bhutan, Myanmar and Assam, India.
Domestically distributed in northwestern Yunnan and southeastern Tibet.
There are two subspecies of scorpionfish. The named subspecies have a lighter body color and a wider upper breast red. They are only distributed in the mountainous areas of northwestern Yunnan in China. The southern Tibet subspecies have a darker body color and a narrow upper breast red. In China, it is mainly distributed in southeastern Tibet.
At present, there are very limited studies on the ecology and subspecies classification of this species. The real images taken in the field provide direct evidence for the distribution of scorpionfish in Tibet.
Medog County is located in the Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon Water Vapor Channel. The warm and humid Indian Ocean flows north along this channel, bringing abundant precipitation and heat. The Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon area with Medog as the core has formed a rich primitive Forests provide a diverse habitat for wildlife. Crested scorpionfish has high requirements for the authenticity of the habitat. The images and photos show that the ecological environment of Medog County is conducive to the survival and reproduction of wild scorpionfish. Researchers suggest that the population survey, habitat protection, and related ecological research work of Medog County and its surrounding areas should be further strengthened to understand the distribution range, habitat types, ecological habits and population numbers of the Grizzly Scorpionfish. .