There are forty different types of gulls in the world. These birds have long wings and a square-like tail. Seagulls live everywhere where the sea adjoins to land, and some species are found far from the sea coast.
The seagull is a symbol of freedom, it is the first association with the sea and represents the embodiment of all the beauty and extraordinary tenderness of a bird's flight. The blue-headed gull, or screeching gull, is one of the species of birds belonging to the large family of gulls. This bird can be seen on the banks of our rivers and other bodies of water. Sometimes it is called a seabird, because it also settles near the sea.
Gull (Larus canus): description
This bird has similarities to May Day, but some differences are observed between them. Adult individuals, unlike T-shirts, have white spots on the black pattern of the wings. The gray-headed gull, the description of which you are reading now, has a body length of 40–43 cm, the wingspan of this beauty is from 110 to 130 cm, and body weight varies from 270 to 480 grams.
The plumage color resembles a southern silver gull. She looks very elegant. The gray gull is a medium-sized gull. It has a plain white lower body, and the plumage of the upper part is light gray. The wings on the upper side are gray; white spots are located on their black ends. A thin beak and paws of a greenish-yellow hue. The appearance of the female and male is no different. Young individuals acquire a permanent color of plumage only after reaching three years.
Area
The blue-headed gulls belong to the migratory and nomadic species. They are distributed in the northern part of Eurasia, as well as in North America. Some subspecies of these birds during the wintering season fly to ponds and fields of the Mediterranean, sometimes to North Africa, where they form entire colonies.
The breeding range of birds ranges from Iceland to Kamchatka itself. Southern nesting sites are in Switzerland. The blue-headed gulls also move to Italy for the winter period, where there are up to 5000 individuals. The usual species winters in the Black, Baltic and Caspian Seas. There are gray gulls that remain wintering in ponds that are not covered with ice, located in urban areas.
In the European range, the gray silver cousin begins to be replaced by the gray silver gull, as a result of which its number is gradually decreasing. This is facilitated by the appearance of predators and the results of human activities.
Gray gull: habitat
At first, these birds lived on PSL in separate pairs, being in colonies along with lake gulls. Then the fields were liquidated, after which the gray-haired beauties began to nest with river terns, and sometimes they lived separately.
The place where the nest of the gull of this species is placed is noticeably more plastic than that of the lake relative. In addition to the natural elements that represent hummocks, broken cattail and rafts, the blue-headed gull builds its nest on a flat roof and on man-made islands of stone. The bird gradually gets used to communicating with people if they do not pursue and harm it.
Lifestyle
During a sharp and mournful cry, the seagull makes the sounds “ki-e” and “ki-a”. These birds are mainly daytime. The protective functions of the behavior are as follows:
- At the sight of the enemy, overflights are carried out, which are accompanied by alarming screams.
- Dousing and diving predators that are on the ground, and people who cause distrust.
- Attack of predators in the air.
- All sorts of distracting demonstrative actions.
Gray gulls are flock of birds. During the procurement of food, they come into association with other brothers. In such a society, they can be found in garbage cans and arable lands. The yelp of a shrieker often reaches 25 years.
Diet
The main part of the diet of blue-headed gulls are invertebrates, despite the fact that it belongs to omnivorous birds. The appetite of this feathered bird is very ordinary, and in order to provide herself with plenty of food, the beauty uses all her extraordinary quick wits. A screech can haunt small birds for a long time, forcing them to leave their food.
To people of gray-headed gulls are without much fear, being at close range, they ask for fish or pieces of bread. Inhabited in urban conditions, birds feed on products of anthropogenic origin, which are obtained in landfills. The blue-headed gull feeds its babies with invertebrates, small fish, frogs and mice, and it eats these products itself. The main prey for blue-eyed gulls is fish. Bird can often be found on coasts and shoals. In these places, she searches for crabs and worms, and she picks up fish thrown by the tides.
Breeding
The blue-headed gulls multiply when they reach 2-4 years. Pairs among themselves more often form young birds. In the formation of a feathered family, the male is very active, in the future he begins to protect the nesting site, a place for which he also chooses. It often happens that the female and male spend the wintering in different places, and they only occur in spring at the nesting site. The female behaves in a pointed manner, begging food from her chosen one, he begins to take care of its feeding. Partners in pairing in 72% of cases are those that were in the past year.
Both future parents are engaged in the construction of the nest. It can be a hole in the soil or a rough construction of tree branches, stems of vegetation, moss and lichen. The gull of a bluish gull always builds in a humid place. In some cases, its birds are located on tree branches or on stumps.
Females begin to lay eggs in May-June, usually 2-3 eggs of olive color with brown spots. Both parents hatch offspring in turn for three to four weeks. Seagulls produce one clutch per year.
Offspring
Both parents are also responsible for feeding their babies. Little chicks eat gluttonous food, which they are presented with six times a day. The first days after the birth of the chicks are heated by dad and mother, on the third day of life, thermoregulation is already established in the down jackets. Kids begin to walk on the site, leaving a nest at the age of 10-12 days. The first flight is made one month later and 5 days after leaving the egg. Young blue-headed gulls come together in flocks and begin to roam the lakes and swamps to find food for themselves.
Saving view
Observations of the life of the blue-headed gulls showed that the death of their chicks is observed in the Barents Sea. The reason for this was the great hypothermia and the difficult exit of the kids from under the dense vegetation to the open area. The second reason is malnutrition. On the White Sea, gulls also have to fight for survival. Their offspring are attacked by ermine, foxes and gray ravens. Adults, like young ones, are threatened by a peregrine falcon and a white-tailed eagle. Seagulls often become their victims.
These birds do not represent any special economic significance, and no specially designed measures for their protection are provided. On the territory of the capital of the Russian Federation and in the region the gray-headed gull is taken under special protection. This species of birds was listed in the Red Book of Moscow in 2001.