The list of birds in Russia is quite extensive. Swifts, ducks, pigeons and tits, sparrows and crows, which can be seen on every street, in every park and square, live here. There are also rarer representatives of the world of birds. These are storks, cranes, eagle owls, felts, partridges and many others. Each of them is interesting in its own way and is an excellent object for study.
Birds of Central Russia
In this part of the country there is just a huge number of birds. And every year an increasing number of birds remains here for the winter. They settle in parks and squares, under the roofs of houses. Often, residents feed feathered neighbors, and this allows them to heartily winter. You can often find here cuckoo, kestrel, Oriole and nuthatch. These birds began to settle more often closer to people. In city parks, ponds and ponds, you can see many ducks and even swans. And at night you can hear the howl of an owl and the piercing scream of a little fellow.
Birds of the middle strip are more than 70 nomadic and settled species, as well as more than 60 species of migratory birds. In the warm season, they live here, and with the advent of cold weather they go to Asia and Africa.
City birds
Many birds in central Russia prefer to settle near human housing. In this region, there are at least 36 species of urban birds. Some of them settle directly in urban buildings. Others prefer parks and squares, make their nests on trees and shrubs. Watching the city birds, you can find out interesting facts and features of their life. For example, you can find such intellectual abilities of birds, about which we did not even suspect before. It is only necessary to raise your eyes to the sky more often and listen carefully to the world around you.
The benefits and harm brought to man
Of course, the benefits of city birds are so obvious that you should not even talk about it. For example, sparrows, whose stock is simply impossible to count, are constantly in search of food. With their small beaks, they exterminate millions of small insects per day, and also peck hundreds of thousands of weed grains. No wonder they are called the orderlies of city garbage dumps and landfills.
It is interesting that the starling is capable of eating up as many bugs, spiders and caterpillars per day as it weighs. And from this he does not get fat at all, because he will spend all his energy in search of new food.
But birds can be harmful.
"Bird" troubles
In places of mass congestion of birds, fleas, flies, ticks and lice-flies begin to multiply. In addition, some birds are the source and carriers of a very dangerous disease - ornithosis. This disease can be transmitted to humans and in some cases is fatal. Also, birds can carry diseases such as encephalitis, pasteurellosis, brucellosis and others.
Quite often, in search of food, small birds, such as sparrows, fly into shops, warehouses and shopping centers. There they spoil the products, peck the packaging and render the product unusable. Bird droppings not only spoil the appearance of buildings and streets, but also cause rust on the metal parts of buildings and structures. Flocks of birds disrupt the operation of power lines, interfere with the normal operation of airports. Destroy crops in gardens, gardens and fields.
Forest birds
Many midland birds still prefer to settle in the forests. Deciduous woodlands are preferred by black grouse, shear, cedar, nightingale and others. Floodplain forests were chosen by other birds: blue tit, quark and blue magpie. Also in the forests there are many insectivorous birds: woodpeckers, flycatchers, pigeons and so on. Here they build their nests and breed.
Coniferous forests are rich in golden eagles, cuckoos, and owls. You can also meet here lentils and a titmouse familiar to everyone. Sometimes it may seem that the coniferous forest is quite lifeless, and there is grave silence in it. This is far from the case. In fact, it is full of inhabitants, especially birds, you just need to learn to listen and hear them.
Lark
One of the most famous migratory birds is the Lark of the field. This small bird weighs only 40 grams, and reaches a length of no more than 19 cm. They arrive very early, as soon as the snow is falling and the first thawed spots appear. He nests a little later, when a lot of green vegetation appears. And at first the bird eats last year's seeds of plants and obtains sleeping insects from under the frozen ground.
The lark of the field lives on the ground and eats there too. But he sings exclusively in the air. Taking off to a height of 150 meters, it floods the louder, the higher it rises. Sometimes it seems that the voiced song comes straight from the blue sky. Decreasing, the bird sings more and more quietly and abruptly, and at a height of 15-20 meters it completely becomes silent.
Heron and cranes
The well-known crane and heron all prefer a near-water lifestyle. In total in nature there are a little more than 60 species of herons of different sizes. The most famous among them:
- big white;
- black
- small blue;
- gray heron.
This is a very recognizable creature, it is impossible to confuse it with another bird. Among the distinguishing features are long graceful legs and a beak, famous for its length and straightness, a small short tail and a long neck.
They live most often near water. They can be found in swamps, small streams, in lakeside meadows. Herons try to avoid large reservoirs of water. These birds feed very peculiarly. In their diet, snakes, frogs, tadpoles, snakes, newts, large insects, fry and fish. Some species of herons prefer to diversify their table with mice and small moles.
Both the crane and the heron are monogamous birds, that is, they form only one pair. But if the cranes "get married" for life, then the heron creates a pair for the season. The male very beautifully looks after the partner - gracefully squats and clicks a beak. The male also undertakes most of the work on arranging the nest. The female is only required to lay the material brought. Herons chicks hatch in turn, and in one clutch there can be up to 7 eggs.
Depending on the species, the heron weight can reach 2 kg, and the wingspan is 175 cm.
Cranes are also quite large birds. The weight of this bird can reach 6 kg, and the wingspan is 2.5 meters. The color of the bird (gray crane) is blue-gray, and the back is darker than the belly. The feathers are white on the sides and back of the neck. The upper part of the head is devoid of plumage, there is only red skin. The paws are dark, and the beak has a light gray color.
Gray cranes migrate in packs of approximately 400 individuals. Feeding birds is very diverse. They enjoy eating stems and seeds, potatoes, berries and tree fruits, leaves, roots and tubers of many plants. In summer, the gray crane diversifies its diet with mice, crayfish, worms and small birds. They also do not disdain dragonflies, snails, spiders and bugs and other animals.
The gray crane is a long-lived bird. In the wild, their lifespan can be 40 years.
Swallows
The swallow spends almost its entire life in flight, only occasionally sitting down somewhere to relax. There are several species of these swift-birds:
- swallow city;
- village;
- shore swallow.
These are only the most famous and familiar types. In general, the family of swallows has about 80 species. Despite this diversity, they are all very similar and lead almost the same lifestyle. All swallows are carnivorous. They eat midges in huge quantities, which greatly helps a person.
In the air, these birds are real aces. They can do many aerobatics, for example, a
loop. In the air, swallows do everything: dive, somersault, plan, even drink and swim, flying over water.
The most interesting is the shore swallow, or the so-called shore shore. Unlike her other brothers, she does not make a nest, but lives in a hole. On a steep cliff near the reservoir, such birds dig a deep, sometimes up to one and a half meters, hole. At the end of it is a small expansion - a nesting chamber. It is there that the shore bank folds its nest out of sticks, twigs, and dried blade of grass.
Pigeons
Who does not know these birds, most often found in the middle lane? The pigeon family has more than 300 species. All of them are very similar to each other, of course, if decorative breeds are excluded from the comparative list. The well-known gray dove is taken as a sample here. It was his domesticated descendants who served the people as postmen. A pigeon is one of the few birds that walk as well as they fly. And many urban individuals are so lazy that they fly into the air only in case of emergency.
Surprisingly, a gray pigeon feeds its chicks. Have you ever heard of bird milk? This is about pigeons. At the moment the chicks are born, a special hormone, prolactin, begins to be produced in the brain of the pigeon. As a result of the action of this substance, the inner surface of the bird's goiter, or rather its mucous membranes, begins to produce a special substance that resembles a milk-curd mass. The softened seeds eaten by the bird join it. The result is a special nutrient mixture, which is the food for the chicks.
One of the smallest species of pigeons is the turtledove. Some believe that the pigeon female is called that. However, it is not. Unlike the cisar pigeon, the dove-deer bird is not a real urbanist. They appear in our area in early May, and in August fly away. They live most often in parks, coppices, in fields and in pine trees. The nests of these birds are located on trees. Although all the pigeons build their houses rather casually, the nest of the Streptopelia, though it looks too openwork, is actually quite strong. Sometimes the Gorlitsyn house is so bright that you can see the eggs lying in it directly from the ground or see the chicks.
Oriole
Another famous inhabitant of Russian forests is the Oriole. Her bright yellow plumage involuntarily makes you smile and feel the warmth of a summer day. The Oriole flies in late May, when everything around begins to turn violently green. These are rather large birds, about 25 cm long and weighing 70–75 grams. But even such a seemingly rather big bird to see in the foliage green is quite difficult.
The nest of the Oriole is also special. This is a kind of deep hammock suspended in the crown of a tree. No matter how the wind rages, the chicks will never fall out of the nest, as it is very durable, although quite elegant.
The Oriole feeds mainly on bugs, butterflies and spiders. At the end of summer, their diet is diversified with raspberries, bird cherry, and berry berries. Already at the beginning of September, these “sun rays” fly away alone for the winter to Africa.
Owl
Eagle owl is a rather large bird. The wingspan can reach one and a half meters. Most often, these representatives of owls have an ocher-red color. The plumage of an eagle owl has a special structure, which allows it to fly absolutely silently. In Russia, there are 5 varieties of these birds. All of them are listed in the Red Book.
An eagle owl lives near ravines, swamps and in old forests. You can recognize him by a kind of wild laughter. The large head of the bird has special feather “ears”, and round eyes are perfectly visible in the dark. The owls have one feature, known, probably, even to children. They are able to turn their heads as much as 270 degrees.
Eagle owl is a bird of prey. The usual food for him are gophers, marmots, mice, chipmunks and other small animals. Even in the diet they may have various insects and, oddly enough, hedgehogs. If an eagle owl flies over a pond, he will enjoy a frog or a fish.
Although an adult eagle owl has no natural enemies, babies can be easy prey for a wolf or fox. But much more, these birds suffer at the hands of man. The fact is that birds often eat rodents living in fields treated with anti-mouse poisons. Having eaten a sick, poisoned mouse, the bird has practically no chance of survival.
Swan
In the middle zone of Russia there are also quite large birds. On migrations, for example, whooper swan is quite common. It winters on the shores of the Azov and Black Seas.
Whooper Swan is a rather heavy bird, so it spends most of its life in water. They are quite similar to their counterparts - small swans. Although there is still a difference. For beggers, the colors of the beak predominate in yellow, while in small swans, black. In all other respects, they are very similar. The length of the whooper body is 1.3–1.7 meters, and the weight can reach 15 kg. They have short legs and a beautiful long neck. The plumage of whoopers is white, very soft and warm, it has a lot of fluff.
Like cranes, swans are monogamous; they create a pair for life. Whoopers nest near water bodies and anxiously guard their territory from the encroachment of strangers.
Wagtail
These small birds appear in our area in early spring. Even the ice has not disappeared, and at the ponds you can already meet slender creatures, constantly shaking their tails. In nature, there are such types of wagtails:
- white
- yellow, or pliska;
- forest horse;
- field horse;
- meadow horse.
Several other types of skates live in our country: steppe, mountain, Siberian and red-throated.
Wagtails spend almost all their time on the ground. They even build nests under the roots of a tree, in a pile of brushwood and grass, and near human habitation they can settle in a shed or a woodpile. They are almost not afraid of people, even when a person appears near the nest, the wagtail does not take off, but continues to run along the path, leading the danger away from its home.
As you can see, the birds of central Russia are quite numerous and diverse. Listed here are only a fraction of the representatives of the local fauna.