Kingfisher site possible sample collection and Horus hatching from the egg.
Fengguan means "phoenix crown", a name that originates from its adornments: phoenixes made of inlaid kingfisher feathers, as well as gold dragons, beaded pheasants, pearls, and other gemstones. One of the earliest phoenix crowns that has been excavated belonged to Empress Xiao of the Sui dynasty.[1] The type became most popular during the Ming Dynasty[citation needed], with many changes made over time.
The Horus swift breeds in old burrows of bee-eaters, ground woodpeckers, kingfishers and martins, which are typically in natural or artificial sandy banks. The flat nest of vegetation and hair, glued with saliva is built at the end of the tunnel and 1-4 eggs are laid. The eggs are incubated for 28 days to hatching, and the fledging period is about 6 weeks. This species is not colonial, but the nature of its breeding habitat means that a number of pairs may be scattered through a bee-eater or banded martin colony. It feeds at middle levels over adjacent habitats, but avoids large towns.
The Horus swift is 13–15 cm long and quite bulky. It appears entirely blackish except for a white patch on the chin and a white rump. It has a medium length forked tail. It has a fluttering flight like little swift. Little swift has a square tail, and more extensive white on the rump than Horus, and white-rumped swift has a more deeply forked tail and a narrower white band. The call is a buzzing peeeeooo, peeeeooo. The paler subspecies A. h. fuscobrunneus of southwestern Angola has a small grey throat patch and a brown rump. The form toulsoni of northwestern Angola and Zimbabwe is a dark morph of nominate A. h. horus, with a dark rump and small throat patch. Both dark forms have sometimes been split as separate species.
Horus, whose name this bird commemorates, was the ancient Egyptian god of the sun, son of Osiris and Isis.
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