本期的主角和湿地息息相关，它就是捕鱼能手-鹗（è）。

    The 2021 UN BIODICERSITY CONFERENCE  (COP15) will be held in Kunming next May. With this opportunity, the Management Center of Baoshan Qinghuahai National Wetland Park will issue the series of “The Beauty of  Biodiversity in Qinghuahai” to show the wildlife in Qinghuahai.

     The protagonist of this issue is closely related to wetlands. It is master fisherman - the Osprey.

 Osprey ( Pandion haliaetus )

     Vertebrate, Aves, Accipitriformes, Pandionidae, Pandion. The second protected wild bird of national importance. It is widely distributed all over the world and in all provinces of China. The photo is taken in The Qinghuahai National Wetland Park in Baoshan city, Yunnan province.

      Osprey is recognized as the best raptor of taking fish, and they are the only raptor that catch fish in the water. Fish are their main food and they eat almost only live fish. They usually foraging in shallow water, where fish are the most plentiful and most available. When fishing, the Osprey often hovers over the surface of the lake before a sudden descent with wings half furled in order to catch fish close to the water surface. They usually hover quite high, using a series of short pauses to descent and then quickly extending their claws and diving into the water to catch fish. The reversible outer toes, and spiculate soles allow them to tightly catch slippery fish. They usually don’t plunder food, but their food may be plundered by other raptors or even herons (Ardeidae).

      Osprey is one of the most recognizable raptors. They are medium-sized raptor, with large wings that can stretch to 1.5-1.8 metres, and they often hovers and loops over the water to catch fish. From the looks of it, the Osprey has dark brown back, and their chest and abdomen are mostly white. With a large white inverted triangle under the wing, it also have white head and a broad dark brown line across the eyes. Females are larger on average than males and have fuller, darker breast-bands (speckling). In flight, the Osprey's wings are curved in a distinctive "M" shape, which can be well distinguished from other raptors.

      Osprey is widely distributed, lakes, rivers, coastal waters, where fish are abundant, there you can find them. Osprey breed in the northeast China in summer and wintering in the east and southeast. An Osprey nesting in a northern region and overwintering south of the equator might fly more than 200,000 kilometers during its 15 to 20-year lifetime.

     They mainly inhabit in trees or prominent positions such as telephone poles, and nest on the top of the tree, cliffs and crags, etc, but now many of them also nest on the artificial structures. In the United States, because of the use of pesticides, the populations of  Osprey once declined dramatically. With the publication of Silent Spring and studies of Osprey, persistent pesticides were forbidden to use, then the populations of Osprey recovered rapidly. This can be said a successful example of conservation.