Professor Chen Yu was very excited.
A single Steller's sea eagle can only collect some data samples at most and does not have much scientific research value.
Because the Steller's sea eagle is not a solitary creature.
A pair is needed to allow researchers to study their living habits well.
Xiang Yang was still looking up at the sky in disbelief, "They are actually two Steller's sea eagles."
"They are indeed two Steller's sea eagles." Professor Chen Yu said with a proud smile, "Eagles are very lazy. I was wondering how a single Steller's sea eagle could possibly build a nest. This is totally unscientific."
Xiang Yang looked up at the two small gray dots in the sky, then turned back to look at Professor Chen Yu in surprise, "Teacher, you can see clearly that they are two Steller's sea eagles from such a distance."
"Yes." Professor Chen Yu nodded and said with a smile: "Teacher is old, and his eyes have a little astigmatism and farsightedness. He needs to wear glasses to see things close up, but when he sees things far away, he can see them clearly at a glance."
"Comrades, come and gather on the deck." Professor Chen Yu turned and shouted towards the cabin.
The members of the scientific research team walked out of the cabin one by one. An old biologist with gray hair complained: "Old Chen, I just closed my eyes for a while and you woke me up."
"Look up at the sky. If you still want to sleep later, I allow you to sleep for a day." Professor Chen Yu said with a smile.
"The sky? What's there to see? Aliens?" The old biologist muttered, looking up at the sky, then lowered his head and said, "There's nothing in the sky... Huh?"
The old man was halfway through his words when he suddenly felt something was wrong and quickly looked up at the sky again.
"This, is this a Steller's sea eagle?" the old biologist exclaimed.
The number of Steller's sea eagles has been decreasing year by year in recent years. It has long been listed in the World Red List of Endangered Species. It is very precious in countries around the world and is the highest level of protected animal in my country. Many fishermen on the coast may never see a Steller's sea eagle in their entire lives, which shows how precious it is.
"This, this, this is a rare species even rarer than the humpback whale."
"I'm so lucky. This trip is worth it regardless of whether I find humpback whales or not. I actually saw Steller's sea eagles, and a very rare group of them. As far as I know, pairs of Steller's sea eagles are almost only seen when young birds have just grown into adults. At this time, the young birds are driven out of the territory by their parents to survive independently and form a new family. Once the family is formed, the female bird is responsible for building nests and feeding the offspring, while the male bird is responsible for hunting and patrolling the territory. I didn't expect to see a group of them today."
An old man took out his cell phone and pointed it at the sky to take pictures frantically. He pressed the camera button dozens of times in a row. Then he turned around and shouted to the person next to him, "Where's the camera? Where is the camera? Such precious scientific research data, are you going to let an old man like me take pictures with a cell phone?"
The people around him immediately became flustered.
At this time, Professor Chen Yu spoke up, "Don't be in a hurry, don't rush to take pictures, and don't use the flash even if you want to take pictures. Let's wait for these two Steller's sea eagles to come down, and don't disturb them."
Everyone looked at Chen Yu in shock. "Wait for the Steller's sea eagle to fly down? What kind of joke is this? How could a creature like a Steller's sea eagle land on a boat in broad daylight?"
The old biologist at the beginning even said, "Old Chen, are you seasick?"
"Mr. He, I'm serious." Chen Yu smiled and pointed to the top of the cabin, "Look what's that?"
Mr. He stared at the top of the cabin for a long time and said uncertainly: "This looks like a man-made bird's nest."
Why do we say it is a man-made bird's nest
Because half of the bird's nest was clearly covered with something like a worn cotton jacket, and the top was specially covered with a shed to keep out the rain.
Why do you say it’s as if
Because the other half of the bird's nest really has a structure similar to a bird's nest, with branches, some animal fur, etc.
"Yes, that is a man-made bird's nest, the nest of the two Steller's sea eagles." said Professor Chen Yu.
Mr. He: “… ”
Let’s not talk about whether Steller’s sea eagles will build a nest before raising their offspring.
Even if they built a nest, they would not build it on a fishing boat.
Looking at the Steller's sea eagles discovered in previous studies, all of them built their nests on cliffs, or at least on tall branches.
"Chiu—"
"Chiu—"
At this time, two low and loud eagle cries were heard.
Two Steller's sea eagles circled less than ten meters above the fishing boat. The two Steller's sea eagles were almost the same size. When they spread their wings, they really looked like the big eagle in the TV series The Return of the Condor Heroes. They looked extremely heroic, and when they spread their wings and soared, they exuded a kingly demeanor.
"So impressive," Fang Youqun exclaimed. It was also the first time for him to see a Steller's sea eagle circling low in the sky. Before, when a Steller's sea eagle was flying on the deck with its wings on its back, it looked like a funny duck that couldn't walk steadily and had its neck tilted forward.
Once the Steller's sea eagle takes off, it basically flies to a height so high that you can't see it even if you look up. It has never circled at such a low altitude before.
Mr. He looked at the crude and extremely ugly bird's nest, then at the two Steller's sea eagles circling above the fishing boat, and whispered, "Could that really be the bird's nest of these two Steller's sea eagles?"
Xiang Yang looked up at the Steller's sea eagles in the sky. The two Steller's sea eagles were almost the same size, but one of them was fatter. Comparing the two, Xiang Yang immediately recognized that the fatter Steller's sea eagle was the one he knew.
In the Steller's sea eagle community, there are certain differences in appearance between the female and male eagles because of the different division of labor between the two.
Male eagles are generally smaller in size because they are responsible for patrolling the territory and hunting prey. They need a lighter and more flexible body to fight prey and enemies.
The female eagle is generally larger than the male eagle because the female eagle is responsible for feeding the offspring and needs a larger body to hatch the offspring. It also needs a larger body to protect the newborn chicks from wind and rain. At the same time, it also needs to take on the responsibility of building a nest.
Eagle nests are generally not fixed, but a pair of eagles usually has more than one nest.
They will choose a territory and then build many eagle nests in that territory. Then, based on factors such as weather and climate, they will choose which nest to live in today. They will not let the eagle nests they do not live in be abandoned and will continue to build them.
"Tiger head." Xiang Yang called out loudly towards the sky.
"Chiu—"
The fat-legged Steller's sea eagle responded to Xiang Yang with a powerful eagle cry. The sound was like metal and had great penetrating power.