The hut is a bird belonging to the family of passerines, that is, the closest relative of this bird is an ordinary sparrow. However, unlike sparrows, huts do not live in temperate latitudes, preferring the tropics and equatorial jungle of Australia and New Guinea to them.
Description
Outwardly, arbor birds, or huts, vaguely resemble our sparrows, but the differences are still quite large.
So, females are really similar to them, because they have a meager, dim color of dark shades of gray and brown with slight tints of green and blue. They are also covered with black specks.
Males, by their external color, are very different from females. They have almost monophonic bright black feathers, which in the light shimmer with blue and blue colors. In general, the color of the birds is not too bright. However, males of many species have crests on their heads. The huts are notable for their appearance, but for their behavior. In general, in comparison with most tropical bird species, huts differ in a rather modest color and appearance in general.
The sizes of the hut (bird) are small. In length, they reach about 20-35 cm. Males are slightly larger than females. In Australia and New Guinea, there are almost twenty species of this bird, and the total number of bird genera is only eight.
Appearance Features
As mentioned above, females have a feather color, where a greenish hue prevails, and males are darker, with a predominance of bluish hues. As for the chicks, they, as a rule, at birth have a color identical to their mother.
As the chicks grow older, their color can change greatly and become not only brighter than their mother's, but even more catchy than their fatherโs colors.
Bird hut: lifestyle
Males and females of this species are naturally polygamous, having several partners each. At the same time, males achieve the arrangement of females in various ways, one of the main is mating. Huts during the current attract the opposite sex, not only through dance.
The main way to get the location of the females are nests, due to which they were called bird huts. Males build nests from branches, leaves, and other small objects that can be found in the forest.
From improvised means they build completely unprecedented nests, which sometimes have a very unusual shape. They are located right on the ground and most often have the form of a hut or something resembling an arch.
As a rule, a hut is decorated with various bright objects to attract as much attention as possible. It can be berries, fruits, mushrooms and flowers. Any bright object can pass for decorating a home. The brighter the hut, the greater the chance of success.
Although these huts are often mistaken for bird nests, this is actually not the case. This place is intended exclusively for mating, and directly nests for feeding offspring are arranged on trees.
Birdhouse. Interesting Facts
It is an interesting fact that the European colonialists, who first arrived in Australia, were extremely surprised to see huts of uncertain origin in the forest. For a long time no one could understand what it was and why.
Various theories of their origin were put forward, because, of course, it never occurred to anyone that such structures could be made by birds. The most common assumption was the opinion of Captain Stokes, who thought that the huts were the work of the locals who made them to entertain their children.
There was also an opinion put forward by the Governor, Sir George Gray, who believed that the huts were building a kangaroo. It is not known exactly what Gray was guided by, making such an assumption. Most likely, the kangaroo seemed to him so strange creatures that he believed they were capable of anything.
Problems
The natural habitat of birds is the rainforests of northeastern Australia and New Guinea. Therefore, it is not surprising that deforestation is the main environmental problem for the hut.
This problem is acute today for the Australian government, because not only the huts, but many other endemic animals of the continent suffer from this.
Of course, in addition to reducing the natural habitat of birds, there are other problems. For example, air pollution, which also negatively affects birds. This primarily affects the reproduction of animals, which have become much less offspring than before.
Breeding
Sexual maturity in male huts occurs at about the age of 6-7 years. Females mature much faster and are ready for mating and breeding already in 2-3 years.
The breeding season in birds lasts about one and a half to two months in the interval from October to December, when spring is in the southern hemisphere of the Earth.
At one time, the female hut can lay up to three eggs (usually 1-2), and the hatching process takes about three weeks. Then comes the period of feeding. The female grows chicks alone, the male does not take part in their upbringing.
Two months later, the chicks learn to fly and leave the nest, starting to lead an independent adult life. They are already fully prepared for life outside the parental nest. However, they will not be able to reproduce soon, so the population of these birds is growing extremely slowly, and due to environmental problems, the number of birds is constantly decreasing.
Under natural conditions, the life expectancy of hut birds is usually about 8-10 years. In zoos and other places where birds are under human observation, they can live much more.
Conclusion
Huts are unique birds that are found only on the territory of one continent. Their behavior is also extraordinary, since almost no one in the animal world builds such structures.
The exotic nature of this bird makes it very interesting for the study of ornithologists from all over the world, therefore scientists from all over the world regularly come to Australia and New Guinea to conduct observations and study huts.
Due to not the best ecological situation, the population of these birds is rapidly declining. The country's authorities are actively struggling with this problem, but the situation of birds remains rather critical. Today, many zoos and ornithological centers are happy to purchase these birds on their list.
Perhaps a set of measures undertaken by various state and private structures to save these species will lead to the fact that the birds cease to be on the verge of extinction, and their populations stabilize.
It is difficult to imagine how important the existence, and, accordingly, the conservation of this species of birds is, after all, an endemic animal.