According to statistics, more than 60 species of birds live in Russia, flying to warmer climes for wintering. Seasonal migrations are the prerogative of all migratory birds without exception. Migration takes place both over long and fairly close distances. To understand which species of birds are migratory, it is necessary to understand that their migrations depend on what they actually eat. Most of all in the nature of insectivorous birds. They are balanced by carnivorous and granivorous birds.
With the onset of cold weather, all insects that many birds enjoy eating disappear. In this regard, birds have to fly away to where there is never snow, where the abundance of tasty insects does not end all year round. Such migratory birds include robins, thrushes, finches, jackdaws, rooks and, of course, “spring messengers” - swallows.
Swallows feed on fairly large insects, including dragonflies and May beetles. They catch them on the fly. They winter on the Mediterranean coast. It is curious that some of them generally fly to hot Africa. Therefore, it is simply impossible to meet swallows in Russia in winter.
In winter, rivers and lakes freeze, which poses a great threat, for example, to carnivorous herons that feed on frogs and fish. They also have to leave their homelands. The “vegetarians” who eat herbs and seeds also suffer, because in winter all this is covered with a white sheet of snow. One of the most famous "herbivorous" migratory birds are heat-loving cranes.
If you carefully observe the cranes, you can see that already in September they are preparing to fly away. At this relatively early time for relocation, they are already gathering in flocks. Cranes leave their native lands until spring, saying goodbye to people with their beautiful guttural cry. For complete objectivity, it should be noted that not all types of cranes fly away. This is done only by those who are forced to nest and breed in the northern regions of Russia.
Who stays for the winter?
Only those birds that managed to “find a common language” with humans remain wintering. They are called settled. The most famous of them are pigeons, sparrows, tits. The fact is that they have adapted to eat waste found in landfills and garbage cans. In addition, a person feeds them using special feeders.
Bird "compass"
Scientists have proven that migratory birds are perfectly oriented in the geography of their migrations. They can feel not only latitude, but also longitude, guided by the sun and stars. This is one of the versions of this bird phenomenon.
According to another version, migratory birds return to their permanent nesting sites, focusing on the Earth's magnetic field. A corresponding article was published in the journal Nature on this topic. In addition, this has been documented by ornithologists who ring migratory birds and then observe them in the same places for several years in a row.
However, despite this, there is still no consensus among ornithologists and researchers about the work of the so-called bird "compass".
Twice a year, residents of the northern latitudes witness such a natural phenomenon as the arrival and departure of migratory birds. At the beginning of the year, this event is a symbol of the onset of spring, and in autumn - the approach of cold and frost. In fact, there is no unequivocal answer to the question why every year birds fly south, not even the ornithologists. There are several versions explaining the reasons for this phenomenon.
Instruction
For example, O. Bondarenko, a scientist working in the fields of natural science and non-academic philosophy, connects the constant flights of birds with the earth's magnetic field. He explains this by the fact that biological processes occur in the body of birds at an increased speed. This is what provides their high muscle mass and allows them to fly. Those processes that occur annually - incubation and feeding of chicks, loss of fat mass and a change in the balance between fat and muscle, make them fly to the equator, where the influence of the earth's magnetic field is less noticeable. Having gained weight in winter, they begin to feel discomfort in a low magnetic field and are forced to fly north again.
But the theory seems more reliable that most birds simply have nothing to eat in winter and, moreover, not all of them can survive the cold. Therefore, wild waterfowl birds, swallows, thrushes, starlings that feed on insects are simply deprived of food that is so necessary for them in winter. This is indirectly confirmed by the fact that those species that can provide food for themselves do not fly away.
Those forest birds, which feed on insect larvae hiding in the bark of trees, or berries growing wild on bushes, may well feed in the winter months. Some species have adapted to life in cities, and their food does not depend on the season at all. These are pigeons, crows, sparrows and tits. They have adapted to life next to humans and now do not lack food either in winter or in summer.
Some ornithologists believe that the factor that influenced the adaptability of birds to living conditions in cold weather is the risk of survival. Those species of birds in which the number of individuals surviving during the flight will be greater than during frosty wintering have chosen this method of preserving the species. Others, those for whom the flight threatens with a great loss of individuals, chose to spend the winter in their homeland.
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- O. Bondarenko. Why do birds fly south?
Autumn and spring in temperate and northern latitudes are also characterized by the fact that many species of birds travel to distant lands or, conversely, return to their nesting sites. Some fly very far, the path of others is only a hundred or two kilometers, and others simply move from place to place within the same region. There are among the birds and sedentary. On the road, birds go mainly in search of food.
The body temperature of the bird is about 41°C. This is quite enough so that the bird does not freeze even in a very cold winter, but only on condition that there is a source of vital energy nearby. As a rule, feathered inhabitants of the northern latitudes go to distant lands. Almost all birds fly away from the tundra, about three-quarters from the taiga.
Seasonal changes in the conditions in which a particular species lives are very important. Birds that live next to people can always find food for themselves. Therefore, they do not aspire to distant countries. Even in the most severe winter, pigeons, sparrows, and tits remain in cities and villages. There are many sedentary and among forest birds. But the inhabitants of the fields and swamps, as a rule, fly away. Another important factor is diet. Insectivorous birds mostly fly away, many granivorous birds, predators and scavengers remain.
Among migratory birds there are record holders. For example, the Arctic tern. When winter sets in in the northern hemisphere, this bird travels halfway across the globe to Antarctica, returning a few months later. As for the birds of central Russia, their departure begins at the end of August. The cuckoo is the first to disappear from Russian forests. By the way, this is one of the few birds that make a long journey alone. Then swallows and swifts go on wanderings. They wait out the cold period in the African tropics. Orioles, nightingales, corncrakes and hoopoes also go to Africa, they prefer the savannah. Storks fly to South Africa.
The wintering place for starlings, thrushes, rooks, finches, wagtails is Southern Europe. They go to Italy and the countries of the Iberian Peninsula. Geese fly relatively close, their favorite place for wintering is the Crimea and the shores of the Caspian Sea. The Black Sea coast and the Mediterranean attract river gulls.
The list of migratory birds is quite large. It includes different types of warblers and warblers, flycatchers, thrushes, swallows, bunting, robin, crane, lark and a number of other birds. Sedentary birds include woodpeckers, crows, jackdaws, jays, magpies, waxwings, etc. But the concept of settled way of life in relation to birds is relative. Even birds that constantly live in the same climatic conditions periodically move from place to place. Such birds are called nomadic. Their flights are not related to the seasons, they are completely dependent on how available food sources are.
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It is hard to imagine that in cold weather a bird can breed its chicks, but it is true. And it's not even penguins. These birds live in Russia, and among the coniferous forests they form pairs and build nests. The thing is that in the course of evolution they adapted in a special way to heat their homes and offspring, so they are not afraid of the cold.
Instruction
In Russia in winter, in frosts, chicks are hatched by very interesting birds - crossbills. Babies appear most often in January-March. Scientists largely explain such strange timing for reproduction by the diet of crossbills. The fact is that these birds eat seeds that they extract from cones. In winter, there are a lot of cones in the forest, so crossbills prefer to breed at this harsh time. The beak of crossbills looks like ticks. Hence the name of this bird. With such a beak it is very convenient to get seeds from the cones of coniferous trees.
Everyone knows that the temperature in Russia in winter often drops below minus 20-30oC. Breeding offspring and keeping them warm in such conditions is incredibly difficult. Crossbills nests outwardly resemble baskets, birds carefully insulate them from the inside. For this crossbills use moss and various plant fibers, they weave all this into the bottom and walls of the nest.
Another feature of the crossbills, which helps them get healthy offspring in the winter season, is that the female tirelessly warms the masonry with the heat of her body. As soon as she lays the first egg, she practically does not leave the nest anymore, and this does not depend on the timing of the appearance of subsequent eggs. Crossbills do not wait until the end of laying, they immediately begin to hatch chicks.
The care of the father-klest about his family is also striking. Throughout the entire time of incubation of eggs, it is he who obtains food for himself and brings it to the female. Even at a time when the chicks have already hatched, but are still too small, the female does not leave the nest, and the caring father continues to feed her and his offspring. Crossbills chicks stay in the nest for quite a long time, about three to four weeks. There they warm each other with the warmth of their bodies. Crossbill parents diligently feed their precious offspring with gruel from seeds, which is formed in birds in the goiter.
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note
Due to the fact that the crossbills feed on the seeds of coniferous trees, the percentage of resin in their body is very high. After death, the corpse of a bird practically does not decompose, but turns into a kind of tiny mummy.
Migratory birds are those representatives of birds that fly south from their usual habitats for wintering. Moreover, the same species can be considered both migratory and sedentary.
Instruction
All wild birds are conditionally divided into two groups: sedentary and migratory. You may notice that the settled ones stay for the winter in their usual habitat, and the migratory ones go south with the onset of cold weather. What birds are considered migratory?
Migratory birds move regularly between nesting and wintering grounds. Moreover, birds can fly both over short distances and at quite distant ones, located thousands of kilometers from their usual habitat. The smaller the size of the bird, the less distance it can cover at a time, although even the most starling. It is known about 12 species of these birds that fly to Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Yugoslavia, Turkey, India and Pakistan for the winter. However, the common starling, or as it is also called the blue jay, can move south in the same territory in winter, or can live settled, so it cannot be unequivocally attributed to migratory birds.
Almost simultaneously with the starlings, the rooks return to their lands. You also cannot classify this bird from the genus of crows as migratory, since the rook in the southern part of Eurasia is considered sedentary, and in the northern part it is migratory. Swallows are considered migratory birds. They fly to Africa, Indonesia and South America for wintering. At the end of March, you may notice the appearance of finches, and by the end of April, thrushes. In the first half of May, a nightingale can tell about its return. This bird is known for its enchanting song, which can be enjoyed all day long and from dusk to dawn.
Migratory birds include the lapwing, wagtail, robin, redstart, oriole, forest pipit, and chiffchaff. Most migratory birds leave us in flocks, but there are some that fly singly or in small groups. Cranes fly very beautifully, lining up in a wedge. Crows form an ordinary chain. In some representatives of the birds, the young "break" ahead of time, and in some, the males catch up with the females that have flown ahead. But the most important thing is that they always return, marking the arrival of spring.
Animals with an average body temperature of 40°C. When the cold comes to the region, some birds experience a lack of warmth, as their feathers and down are not enough to survive the severe frosts. But not all birds freeze in winter! For example, crows, sparrows, tits, pigeons are not afraid of cold weather. They are sedentary, i.e. do not leave their native northern latitudes, but winter with humans. Such birds find food near garbage cans, in feeders, eat winter berries on trees, etc. The fact is that the amount of subcutaneous fat and feathers, as well as the structure of their body, are somewhat different from the physiology of migratory birds.
Most migratory birds are insectivorous creatures whose diet in winter is reduced to zero. That is why migratory birds go to places where snow never falls, and their food remains complete. Migratory birds include thrushes, rooks, jackdaws, finches, dawnbirds, warblers, buntings, swallows. In the summer, these birds feed on large insects (May beetles, dragonflies), but in winter it is simply unrealistic to meet them in the northern latitudes. For example, many swallows generally fly to the Mediterranean coast, and the most desperate of them go straight to Africa! The beautiful cranes also fly south. Already in September they are going on a long journey. These beautiful and graceful birds say goodbye to people until the very spring, at which time their beautiful and guttural cry is clearly heard in the sky, spreading throughout the clean and autumn air. , nevertheless, rooks. Ancient return
Orioles, nightingales and swifts leave for wintering already at the end of summer, although the weather at this time is still warm and there is enough food for them. Other migratory birds, such as, for example, ducks and swans, do not fly away until the waters on which they live begin to freeze.
Birds during flights adhere to fixed routes. Every year they fly away for the winter along the same routes, and in the spring they return to their homeland to hatch their chicks.
It has been experimentally established that migratory birds living in cages experience a period of strong disturbance in autumn, and the dates correspond to the period of autumn migration of free birds of the same species. According to scientists, the behavior of migratory birds is due to long-established seasonal alternations in the conditions of their existence. Birds living in tropical areas also migrate from seasonally dry or rainy areas. Thus, flights are instinctive in nature, and they were formed over several million years under the influence of the change of seasons. In spring, the birds return to their native places for nesting.
Woodpecker." A good postman can reach speeds of up to 140 km/h and fly over distances of up to 3,000 kilometers.
Tits, like pigeons, are omnivorous birds. It is curious that although they are sedentary, in the cold season a small part of them can still migrate closer to the south - to cities and villages. They feed on tits and grain, and seeds, and cereals, and pieces of meat, and lard, and various garbage from landfills. Such provisions in winter can only be obtained near human habitation. This is what makes tits leave the forest in winter, settling near the person who feeds them. With the onset of the warm season, some tits again fly into the forest, and some remain near people - in parks, gardens, and groves.
Gray crows are also unpretentious in food. In winter, they feed mainly on carrion or feed on city dumps. Crows did not develop friendship with a person, so they do not have to rely on feeding, unless they take a piece of bread from some sparrow or empty someone else's nest. Throughout the winter, crows nest on the branches of trees, gathering in large flocks. This helps them survive the cold. Some of them even manage to make nests in trees.
Sparrows hibernate side by side with crows. Some of them nest under the beams of house roofs, in the crevices of houses, in empty birdhouses, while others live in open spaces and nest in hollows. In winter, sparrows, like tits, move closer to human habitation. Sparrows are collective creatures. If one sparrow finds food, he will definitely call his relatives. On winter evenings and nights, these brown crumbs gather in flocks and bask. At this time, they look like swollen feathery lumps.
