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Wawushan is a bizarre type of mountain – it’s nearly flat on the high. In actual fact, it’s the world’s second-largest desk mountain with a most altitude of 3,522 meters.
In some ways, birding Wawushan is a nightmare for a solitary and crowd-hating birder like me. It’s a Chinese language vacationer place – the crowds will not be enormous by Chinese language requirements (there are in all probability twenty instances as many vacationers at close by Emei Shan on the similar time), however there isn’t any means of escaping them. An unnamed chook information known as them “avoidless vacationers”, which sums it up slightly properly. Most of them had introduced youngsters alongside as effectively (in all probability amongst my least favourite mammals), which have been pulled on gaudily coloured snowboarding sleds by their hapless dad and mom, creating a continuing raucous noise.
Add to this that in the entire about 4 km walkway on high of the mountain, there have been fixed loudspeaker messages warning of the hazards of slipping on the icy path, and the primary (and second and third) impressions of Wawushan have been decidedly unfavorable.
Luckily, security gave the impression to be a precedence at Wawushan. So, for instance, there was ample warning of the hazard of snow.
Elsewhere, ongoing building forged some doubts about the way forward for the place.
A pity, as total the habitat seemed slightly good (I’ve discovered that to pose as an skilled birder, it helps to steadily touch upon presumed habitat high quality).
So, all this makes birding this place an often lower than nice expertise. Nonetheless, it’s nonetheless value it, if just for the parrotbills, 4 of which I encountered right here inside just a few hours.
A number of common phrases about parrotbills to meet my instructional obligation in the direction of you, the valued reader. The household has about 37 species, however that features a number of fulvettas – solely 21 of the species have “parrotbill” of their names (and admittedly, the payments of fulvettas don’t appear like these of parrots in any respect).
Up to now, when making an attempt to uncover the evolutionary relationship of parrotbills, Bearded Reedlings have been used as research objects, as apparently this species is simpler to pay money for (supply). The drawback is that this isn’t a typical parrotbill in any respect – it’s a bit just like the outdated joke of looking for your keys not the place you misplaced them, however the place there may be loads of mild to facilitate the analysis.
The Wikipedia entry on parrotbills has a protracted part on their battle to keep away from being parasitized by cuckoos. One fascinating paper argues that opposite to what might sound logical, cuckoos don’t intention to put eggs particularly into the nests of these parrotbills whose egg colour and sample match their very own. The rationale consists of the pace of the laying (too quick to examine for colour matches) and the low variety of egg-laying makes an attempt (i.e., it’s uncommon {that a} feminine cuckoo decides to not deposit an egg, which needs to be frequent if egg matching was an vital side). The paper concludes that “cuckoo egg laying, primarily based on the looks of their very own eggs, is maladaptive for host choice”. (I just like the phrase “maladaptive” and can attempt to sneak it into my on a regular basis dialog sooner or later – even when solely speaking to my cats. “Cease biting me, Wolfie – that is maladaptive conduct!”).
So, 4 species of parrotbill right here, presumably additionally vocalizing, although this can’t be heard as a result of loud noise of the plastic sleds grinding over ice and sand, and loud dad and mom with their louder youngsters.
My favourite right here was the Fulvous Parrotbill, one of many smaller and extra colourful parrotbills. It was a tremendous sight to have a flock of about 50 of them flying immediately towards me, although ultimately skillfully avoiding me to succeed in the opposite aspect of the highway, like a military of extremely subtle, quick, and colourful drones.
A paper on breeding of the species was really researched proper right here at Wawushan. Sadly, their total nesting success was solely 18%. The authors speculate that “human disturbance (i.e. vacationer mountain climbing on paths near nest websites) may immediate nest desertion inflicting the low reproductive success of fulvous parrotbill within the reserve”.
My guess is that there have been far fewer vacationers in 2014, when the paper was researched, than in 2023 …
Based on the HBW, the Brown Parrotbill differs from the very comparable Three-toed Parrotbill “primarily in having darker crown, brow not noticeably paler, blacker supercilium (significantly behind eye), darker and hotter upperparts, warmer-looking wings, browner tail, darker-looking head aspect with extra contrasting pinkish-silver streaks or mottling, paler throat, greyer and paler underparts”. That’s the type of detailed description I personally discover extra complicated than useful, revealing my limitations as a birder. Extra memorably, and extra useful to me, Bella from Alpinebirding (my information at Wawushan) instructed me that the Brown Parrotbill appears extra aggressive to her.
Some Chinese language researchers discovered one (1) nest of a Brown Parrotbill at Gaoligongshan and wrote a paper on it. Environment friendly use of the restricted useful resource parrotbill nests, I suppose.
The Three-toed Parrotbill is the one passerine with solely three toes, in accordance with the HBW.
Typically, at parrotbill household conventions, an uncle from this species shocks the chicks of different parrotbill species by displaying them his ft. By no means fails to startle them.
“See, solely three!”
As soon as they’ve recovered from their preliminary shock, the uncle explains to them that his Latin species identify paradoxus (“unusual, unimaginable, extraordinary”) might be additionally derived from this peculiarity.
The Nice Parrotbill lately unsuccessfully petitioned to be renamed to Big Parrotbill, citing the panda instance as proof of the advantages of getting this identify. Nonetheless, it was identified to the chook that the recognition of the Big Panda is predicated extra on its similarity to plush toys, its relative rarity, and its remarked incapability to steer a wholesome intercourse life than on its particular identify.
It’d extra sense to ask for its Latin species identify to be modified – “Conostoma aemodium” to me feels like an sickness or therapy for a digestion drawback, although in actuality aemodium just isn’t a diarrhea therapy however means “of the Himalayas”. Nonetheless, I might perceive a chook caring in regards to the affiliation.
In 1980, an American with no highschool diploma was 2.6 instances extra more likely to be married inside his or her personal group than random matching would predict. By 2013, this ratio had elevated to 7.2 (supply). Paraphrasing from this supply, as a consequence of this stronger assortative mating on the backside of the tutorial distribution, extra youngsters are born into households the place each dad and mom are negatively chosen when it comes to human capital, which can in flip end in elevated inequality. In Elliot’s Laughingthrush, assortative mating can also be noticed.
Certainly, optimistic assortative mating, primarily based on culmen size, tarsus size, and physique mass, was discovered throughout breeding pairs.
Or in different phrases, “The wealthy get richer and the poor get poorer” (Shelley), or regardless of the equal of wealth is in avian phrases (you may inform I’ve written about Elliot’s Laughingthrush earlier than and am operating out of fascinating issues to say in regards to the species).
Hemoglobin is a key molecule in transporting oxygen from the lungs to the person cells requiring it for his or her metabolism. Apparently (significantly for a chemist like me), there are variations throughout the hemoglobin of the identical chook species relying on whether or not the species lives at excessive or low altitudes. Particularly, Gray-crested residing at excessive altitudes have been proven to have a extra environment friendly hemoglobin variant (supply).
At Wawushans 3500 meters of altitude, you higher use good hemoglobin.
The attractive purple eyes of the species are additionally value mentioning, I believe …
The one who got here up with the Latin species identify apparently did so after a protracted day of tedious work, thus missing any inspiration or specificity. This resulted in “dichrous“, or two-colored.
And naturally, there have been quite a few Rufous-vented. Nonetheless, as the primary a part of the species identify makes it more durable to crack dangerous jokes, I can’t additional touch upon this chook on this submit.
That leaves the Gray-hooded Fulvetta, a chook that to me appears way more engaging than the identify or the eBird description (“small brown chook with a bulbous grey head and staring white eyes”) suggests.
Really, the HBW description is even much less interesting: “Small brownish, plain-headed and nondescript fulvetta”, once more main me to consider that a number of the HBW contributors could be happier switching to different jobs which can be much less centered on birds.
Non-intuitively (not less than to me), the Gray-hooded Fulvetta can also be a member of the parrotbill household, the Paradoxornithidae. Not less than till the following reorganization of the avian household tree.
Whereas Big Pandas are celebrated in at present’s China, this was not at all times the case. In pre-communist China, Big Pandas have been thought-about the aristocrats amongst Chinese language mammals. Predictably, that obtained them into bother through the cultural revolution – they have been denounced as belonging to the “5 Black Classes” (although it was by no means precisely clarified to which of the 5 undesirable classes they belonged to – the landlords, wealthy farmers, counter-revolutionaries, dangerous influencers or right-wingers). Many Big Pandas have been despatched to the countryside for reeducation. And for a lot of of them, it worked- they rehabilitated themselves, tailored, and gave up a few of their grandiose postures and lazy life-style in addition to their aristocratic black-and-white look. To point and acknowledge these adjustments, these pandas have been henceforth given the honorary new identify “Pink Panda”.
After all, now that China has modified and Big Pandas are again in vogue and even celebrated, some Pink Pandas remorse their transformation. They now have to seek out their very own meals whereas many Big Pandas lead an opulent life, being fed fastidiously chosen bamboo and watching panda all day.