The "lone hero" in the desert - the brown-tailed hawk: Not only is my name crazy, I am really crazy!

The picture shows a brown-tailed hawk photographed in the Dashanbao Black-necked Crane National Nature Reserve in Yunnan. Photo by Li Shijun

Recently, the Dashanbao Black-necked Crane National Nature Reserve in Yunnan Province recorded for the first time the Rufous-tailed Hawk, a national second-class key protected wild animal. According to experts, the number of Rufous-tailed Hawks is very small and very rare. So, what kind of animal is the Rufous-tailed Hawk? Why is there the word "Kuang" in its name?

Unique, the Lone Ranger in the Wilderness

The Rufous-tailed Hawk is a medium-to-large raptor of the genus Buteo in the family Accipitridae. It is commonly known as the big leopard or pigeon tiger. It can reach a length of 65 cm and weigh about 1,000 grams when it is an adult. Most of its body feathers are brown, with lighter feathers on the head and chest, and darker colors near the abdomen. The Rufous-tailed Hawk looks similar to other Buteo raptors, and can be divided into light and dark types. The difference is that its tail feathers are light rust to orange-yellow, and this seemingly brown tail has become the name of the Rufous-tailed Hawk. When flying, its wings are spread out with obvious white wide stripes, and its tail is spread out in a fan shape. When soaring with the airflow, the two wings are slightly raised in a "V" shape.

In our impression, eagles should live on the top of mountains, in the depths of canyons, and soar over open grasslands and wastelands. However, the Brown-tailed Hawk is different. It likes to live in dry wasteland environments, often inhabiting semi-deserts, deserts, grasslands and mountainous environments at an altitude of 2,000 to 4,000 meters. It chooses to act alone, like a "lone hero" in the desert - a lone ranger. In winter, it occasionally goes to farmland areas to forage for food, but is unwilling to appear in forest areas.

With its own "invisibility", hunting relies on surprise attacks

It has been observed that the brown-tailed hawk prefers the "assault tactic". Its feathers are like brown and white camouflage uniforms, and it uses the "invisibility technique" of its feather color similar to the surrounding environment to hide itself using the natural terrain.

During the hunting process, the brown-tailed hawk stands like a sculpture in a high place, its body motionless, quietly waiting for the prey to appear, and then suddenly attack to complete their hunting. Therefore, they often occupy rocks, mounds and piles of weeds. They will also fly to telephone poles, branches or hover in the sky, with sharp eyes staring at the ground from a high altitude, and when they find prey, they will take the opportunity to dive and catch it. Hares, mice, frogs, lizards, snakes, pheasants, and other small birds are all its prey.

Since prey is relatively scarce in the wilderness, in order to satisfy hunger, the brown-tailed hawk sometimes searches for and catches invertebrates such as beetles on the grass for food, and also eats bird eggs. Finally, when it is desperate, it also eats dead fish and other animal carcasses.

The Rufous-tailed Hawk is naturally distributed in Asia, Europe and Africa, mainly in Central Asia, West Asia, Eastern Europe and the vast areas of central and northern Africa. In China, the breeding grounds of the Rufous-tailed Hawk are in Kashgar, Urumqi and Tianshan areas in Xinjiang. In winter, it migrates south to Gansu, Tibet, Yunnan and other places. The breeding season is from April to July, with 3 to 5 eggs laid in each nest. The incubation period is about 28 to 31 days. Both parents are responsible for incubation and raising chicks. The chicks fly away after more than 40 days of raising. Due to the relative lack of food, the Rufous-tailed Hawk has been subjected to harsh survival training since childhood, and even siblings will kill each other when food is scarce.

It is ferocious by nature and is known as the "leopard among birds".

Buzzard is a large family with more than 20 members. This word has the same pronunciation as "狂". This bird has very ferocious habits and is indeed worthy of the name "狂". Therefore, buzzard is also called "the leopard among birds". In addition to the brown-tailed buzzard, there are also large buzzards, common buzzards and hairy-footed buzzards naturally distributed in my country. They also have their own leopard names. The brown-tailed buzzard is called the big leopard, the large buzzard is called the flower leopard, the common buzzard is called the earth leopard, and the hairy-footed buzzard is called the snow-white leopard.

The color of the buteo's feathers varies greatly, and it is known as the "variable buteo". In addition to dark and light colors, there are also various shades of color between dark and light colors. Although the feather color characteristics of each bird are often used as the key points for species identification, their changes also bring many difficulties to identification in the wild. For example, the feather color of the buteo varies a lot, and it is necessary to take photos to record them and then compare them with other identification characteristics to accurately distinguish them.

As one of the species at the top of the food chain, the buzzard plays a very important role in the ecosystem. However, with environmental changes, interference from human activities and habitat destruction, the population is decreasing. It has been included in the list of national key protected animals. In order to protect biodiversity, my country has taken protective measures such as establishing national parks and nature reserves, strengthening supervision and cracking down on illegal capture. However, to save the tragic fate of the brown-tailed buzzard, we need to act together to protect this unique "lone hero".

(The author is deputy director of the Beijing Biodiversity Conservation Research Center)