On March 24, Changchun Yitong River received distinguished guests from afar for the first time— spotted merganser duck, ribbed duck and spoonbill. The simultaneous appearance of these three endangered species in the Itong River proves that the Itong River has the living environment needed by these precious species, “This is the first time that these birds have been seen in the Itong River.” Because of their preciousness, photographer Wang Yue followed and filmed for more than seven hours in order to leave their silhouettes, leaving a group of precious images of endangered species visiting the Yitong River.
The spot-headed merganser duck (scientific name: Mergellus albellus), also known as the panda duck, is a water duck in the genus Mergellus of the duck family. The total length is about 420 mm. The male body plumage is mainly black and white. The eye area, occipital area, dorsal black, waist and tail gray. The wings are grey-black. The female has blackish-brown upperparts and white underparts. The top of the head is maroon. It inhabits lakes, rivers and ponds, and is good at swimming and diving. Feeds on fish, invertebrates and small amounts of plant food.
The spoonbill duck (Anas clypeata) is a medium-sized duck that is slightly smaller than the mallard, with a body length of 43-51 cm and a weight of about 0.5 kg. The male duck has a dull green and shiny head to the upper neck, a black back, white white shoulder feathers on both sides of the back and lateral shoulder feathers and thorax , metallic green wings, chestnut belly and two flanks, orange-red feet, black beak, large and flattened, and enlarged into a spade-shaped apex, with a very distinctive shape. Females are slightly smaller than males , less pronounced in appearance than males , and have large , spade-shaped beaks.
The ribbed duck (Anas falcata) is a medium-sized duck that is slightly smaller than the domestic duck, measuring 40–52 cm in length and weighing 0.4–1 kg. The male duck breeds with a dark chestnut crown on the head, neck and crown, and a white spot at the base of the forehead; The chin and throat are white , with a black transverse band at the base of the neck. The third-order flight feathers are very long, drooping downwards, and sickle-shaped; The underparts are mixed with black and white wavy fine lines; There is a triangular creamy yellow spot on each side of the lower tail. It is clearly different from other ducks and is easy to identify in the wild. Females are slightly smaller than males , with black-brown upperparts covered with pale brownish-red ‘U’ shaped spots. The underparts are brownish-white with dark spots. It mainly feeds on plant foods such as algae, young leaves of aquatic plants, seeds, grasses, and grass leaves.
Damei Jilin and Beautiful Changchun are willing to accept these distinguished guests to settle here.
Author: Britney
Photography: Wang Yue
Editor: Liu Ying