A small duck with a “haircut” on its head was called “crested blacken”. The people sometimes call her chernushka or the white-faced, these names also to some extent describe her appearance. For a comfortable stay, she needs a pond rich in vegetation. To get its own food, this bird dives to a depth sometimes reaching 10 meters. Therefore, it is better for her if the pond is deep. In it, crested blackened produce more diverse food. Under water, the bird takes out mollusks, which are its main food. In addition, she eats crustaceans, small fish, and insect larvae. In hungry times, it does not disdain to use plants as an additive to the main diet. They attribute this duck to diving, it dives quickly, but it takes off hard and only after a run on the water.
Where does he live
The crested blackened dwells in Karelia, as well as on the Kola Peninsula and the Far East. Its nesting occurs in Bashkortostan, Trans-Urals, Northern Siberia, Northern Kazakhstan, and the Middle Volga. She lives in London, where she willingly settles in city ponds. Often the wintering of these birds is located in the northern part of France, Germany, Belgium, Holland. Most people prefer to spend the cold season at sea. They can be found in Morocco, Egypt, off the coast of the Black and Azov Seas. Even in Vietnam, India, Iraq, Japan, they are familiar with these representatives of the fauna.
What does it look like
Hunters clearly see this duck on the water, thanks to the bright plumage of the male, and distinguish it from other species by the crest on its head. The female looks uglier than her "spouse." Instead of black plumage, she has a brownish-red, and the decoration on her head is smaller. The male, on the contrary, has a contrasting white-black plumage and a large crest. Eyes are yellow, beak is blue, legs are gray. They hunt this bird reluctantly, since its meat is inferior in taste to the meat of other representatives of this species of birds - it strongly gives off to fish or has a fatty taste. But if it was already possible to get it, then you can use fluff and feather. There are regions where it is mined in large quantities. When hunting, stuffed animals and special whistles are most often used, with the help of which they imitate the duck's cry.
Nesting
The crested blackening always creates a strong pair, in which ducks are faithful to each other throughout life. In order to “get acquainted” with the lady of his heart, the male performs a mating dance, during which he flaps his wings and throws back his head. Tufted blackened nests near water. For this, islands or floating heaps of reeds or branches are suitable for ducks, sometimes they also settle in hollows of trees. The crested blackening, the photo of which is presented in this article, uses dry grass or fresh stems and leaves to equip the nest. The place for the house may be wet. In this case, the nest twisted by the duck will resemble a bowl with sides 9-10 centimeters high. If the place is dry, then the bird digs a hole to hide the masonry, and covers it from above with down. The offspring of a happy couple appears in this nest. Crested black eggs of olive color, have about 5 cm in diameter, in one clutch of them from 9 to 13 pieces.
Nimble kids
The female is caring for future and already hatching chicks. The male does not help her take care of the offspring. Hatching lasts 25-26 days. Ducklings, like other representatives of this species of birds, are initially covered with down. But they do not have to stay long in one place. Already a day after their birth, they, under the leadership of mother ducks, descend into the water and even try to dive. Usually crested blacken begins to nest in May, and offspring appears in June-July. Kids, although they have several days of age, already know how to hide among aquatic plants, coastal thickets and roots, to escape from danger. Moreover, the mother protects them from a surprise attack, diverting the attention of the enemy to herself, rising into the air and grunting. The family will be together until in August the ducklings begin to cover themselves with real feathers. Adults will molt at this time. They will completely get rid of old feathers and acquire new ones. After this, the flock prepares for a long-haul flight, which lasts from September to November, depending on the nesting site.
Do not kill this small bird. Moreover, there is little good in such production. Small in weight and tasteless crested blacken is more suitable for breeding in urban conditions to improve the aesthetic appearance of water bodies, moreover, it is not afraid of human proximity.