The Common Grasshopper Warbler (Pheasant Bird) – Actually a Great Cuckoo, a Parasitic Nesting Bird
In rural areas, there are various wild animals, especially some birds because of abundant food and suitable environment are increasingly common. The most frequently heard is 'pheasant bird', this bird is always elusive, always able to hear its 'coo, coo' sound, very loud, the sound can be transmitted very far, also is the origin of its name. However, very few people can actually see its true appearance, it is a relatively timid bird, as soon as someone gets close it will fly away directly.
Classifying, the common name of the pheasant bird is Great Cuckoo, belongs to a subspecies of common cuckoo, often appears on high trees in farmland and residential areas. Pheasant birds also have many aliases, the people often say 'sublime bird', 'du yu bird', 'gong public bird' also refers to it. The size of the pheasant bird is about the same as a pigeon, with a gray body and brown wings, with a black tail, looks very beautiful. The appearance of male and female is similar, but the whole body is gray with brown, in fact they are the same kind of bird, just male and female are different.
Pheasant birds are very helpful in agriculture, the village elders will also use the behavior habits of pheasant birds to predict the season. Pheasant birds are mainly summer migrants, they will migrate over in May and June. When you hear the sound of pheasant birds, it means the weather is about to warm up. People say 'Pheasant bird sound continuously, the weather will soon warm up', if you hear pheasant birds constantly, it means the weather is gradually warming, which is also a good time for wheat maturity. There is also the saying 'Pheasant, pheasant, harvest grain'.
Furthermore, pheasant birds mainly feed on various insects, such as pine caterpillars, dancing poisonous moths, grasshoppers, head-butting bugs and various insects, and they have a very large appetite, which plays a very active role in eliminating agricultural pests, which is also why people like pheasant birds. There are also many legends about pheasant birds, the most famous of which is 'Pheasant encourages farming'. When you hear its sound, it's like reminding people to farm quickly.
Pheasant birds have always given people a solemn impression, in fact, pheasant is a 'nest parasitic' bird, the people often say 'sparrow occupies cuckoo' nest is also related to pheasant birds. Pheasant birds rarely build nests and do not raise offspring, rely on other birds to complete the breeding task. They will take advantage of other birds' nests to steal eggs and lay their own eggs, out of the instinct of raising chicks, other birds will diligently raise them for rearing, generally every year can parasitize 10-15 eggs, so the hatching success rate of other bird nests is higher, maintaining the continuation of the species.
The incubation period of pheasant bird eggs is very short, they are often the first to hatch, at this time out of instinct, they will push other unhatched eggs and chicks out of the nest, so that they can get more food. At this time, a fun phenomenon will be discovered, the chicks will become bigger than their own bodies later. In fact, pheasant birds do this completely based on 'survival of the fittest', we cannot criticize them for this.
