Chinese Merganser，the Fashon Leader in Birds(January 7th 2022)

  Sweeper head, hedgehog head, punchy braids ...those sweeping trends popular ten years ago were the memory ofmany "post-80s" and "post-90s".

  But doyou know thatthese colorful and extravagant hairstyleswere already popular over10 million years agoonthe Chinese Merganser. Theylook as if they havesprayed a handful of hairsprayon the head, making their sparsehair stand uprightas if electrocuted ,and their red lip is avant -garde even till today.

  The Chinese Merganser is a relict species of the Tertiary Glacial Period, known as the "living fossil in the water" and "the giant panda amongbirds". Its most striking feature is the black scaly pattern on itsflankfeathers, hence the namescaly merganser. Its type specimenswere originallyfrom China, therefore it is called the Chinese Merganser.

  Adult Chinese Merganser can reach about 60 centimeters in length，lookinglike poultrybuthave better flying abilitythan most ducks. Some even build nests on trees seven or eight meters high, most of whichare close to rivers and lakes, sothatthey can quickly spurtinto the water to avoid danger when attacked by the enemy.

  They are mainly distributed in the Far East of Russia, the Changbai Mountains and Xing'an Mountains in China. Theyflyback to the north to breed and roost every spring, and migrate in groups down southto theYangtze River in autumnto avoid the cold.

  The Chinese Merganser are group living species and often flock together，usuallylivingin the forests with rapid rivers andopen lakes.They are skilled fisher, hunting mostly inslow streams anddeep water. They are picky about theliving environment. Only select the nicer place to live, therefore known as the " test paperfor ecology".

  In order to protect this lovely bird, China has establishedtheMerganser protection Allianceand anumber of nature reserves in recent years.

  Along with the improvement of the ecological environment, more and more photographers have captured its beautyin Ya'an, Neijiang, Zigong and Liangshan in Sichuan