According to the latest data from ornithologists, more and more wild ducks, who master the warm pores of city ponds and other bodies of water in parks and squares, prefer to stay in the city in the winter as well. They do not leave the limits of their habitat. Why this happens, where and how ducks winter, we will discuss in this article.
Wintering birds
Everyone knows the picture of the 19th century Russian artist Alexei Savrasov "Rooks Have Arrived". This painting was painted by Savrasov under the impression of the coming spring, the messengers of which traditionally returned from the south feathered residents. Birds that arrived home — rooks, carduelis, finches, and, of course, the same representatives of the Utin family — informed people about their imminent warmth, about spring, which is already on the doorstep. Even if there was still snow around, the frost pinched playing children by the nose, decorated the glass of windows with birds with fancy patterns, birds flying in from the south, proclaimed the end of winter with their twitter.
But today, many of our modern birds, who have already understood what it means to live next to humans, increasingly prefer to stay in the cities for the winter. Even in the cold season, they successfully find their livelihood near human housing, visiting the feeders that the townspeople set up, supermarkets and city dumps. Apart from pigeons and sparrows that have never been migratory, today can be considered sedentary, for example, gulls, rooks, crows and ducks. Of course, we are talking about those bird populations that live within the boundaries of human settlements - cities, towns, etc.
Why do birds need wintering?
With the shortening of daylight hours, the birds come into the so-called "migratory anxiety" state, while the incentive to migration is an additional factor in the form of adverse weather changes and a decrease in the amount of available food.
However, among the ducks there are also "permanent residents" - those birds that have long passed to a settled lifestyle. Among ducks living in the southern regions of the country and in the Kaliningrad region, there have long been such settled populations of mallard ducks (and when talking about a duck, they mean, first of all, this particular species, as the most common). But now these birds wintering in cities are found in Moscow, and in St. Petersburg, and Perm, and in other settlements, whose climate can hardly be called southern.
Despite all the obvious explanations (the presence of food supply and ice-free water bodies), ornithologists do not fully understand the mechanism of extinction of the migratory instinct of ducks. This is a phenomenon, according to ornithologists, while poorly understood.
Where does wild mallard winter?
Here we will talk about ducks living in the wild and not meeting people who are ready to feed them bread. Ornithology tells us that ducks are migratory birds. The natural area of their habitat consists of three zones:
- nesting range - in fact, where the duck brings offspring and lives in favorable times of the year;
- areas where ducks fly away to winter, that is, a wintering place;
- those places over which the bird flies, migrating to the south (migration zones).
And where are the ducks from Russia wintering? For wintering, mallard from the European part of Russia always flies, as a rule, on the coasts of southern or southwestern Europe. And Siberian and Far Eastern ducks can fly to the shores of the Caspian Sea, to India, China or Japan. But they are not tied to a specific route. Depending on climatic conditions, the geographical areas where mallard ducks winter can be replaced by warmer ones - for example, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, North Africa.
Ducks fly with a wedge, without rushing, at low speed (as measured, about 50 km / h in calm weather), usually at night, so as not to be attacked by birds of prey. At the head of the wedge, usually an experienced drake flies. In the afternoon, birds rest and feed, stopping in favorable places of migration zones.
Where is returning?
Mallards are not attached to specific nesting sites, like other birds. Therefore, returning from wintering, they are often "distracted" from the traditional course of following the water bodies they like, and sometimes they join other people's flocks. Mallards in this regard are very quick-witted birds - during the construction and filling of a new reservoir, they are the first to “inhabit” and settle in new lands. This explains the fact that it is mallards that become the most common inhabitants of ponds in the city.
The first city ducks
The justification of the first mallards in the cities, and specifically the Moscow population, is attributed by biologists to the celebration of the World Festival of Youth and Students, which was held in Moscow in 1957. Then, by order of the Moscow City Executive Committee, city ponds “revived” - they settled waterfowl in them. Previously, the mallards had their wings trimmed so that they could not fly south. But, as it turned out, this event was completely in vain - the new Moscow ducks successfully took root and even lured flying wild relatives to themselves.
In addition, as you know, ducks are bred in hunting farms and on farms, which are released before the season. It is possible that some of these birds also join living on ponds and in other urban bodies of water.
But a genetically wintering duck, according to scientific research, is closest to a wild, migratory duck. This fact allowed zoologists to conclude that the Moscow population for the most part consists of wild ducks brought before the festival, which, in turn, lured flying "strangers".
First duck count
As early as 1981, the first census (otherwise called “census”) of waterfowl that remained for the winter in the city was carried out. The initiator of the study and calculation of the characteristics of these birds was the Union of Bird Protection of Russia and specifically the zoologist Konstantin Nikolaevich Dobrosklonov. Today, this census is conducted at the Faculty of Biology of Moscow State University. Lomonosov.
This year the accounting was carried out for the 25th time and took place on January 18. The census showed that only in Moscow 25 thousand individuals of various species of waterfowls were wintering. Of these, of course, the majority were mallards (the scientific name is Anas platyrhynchos). There were more than 23 thousand of them. In addition, new species of birds appeared among the “wintering people”, and the general data for the recorded years showed that their number is constantly growing.
Of course, it was difficult to inspect all the routes in one day, even only in Moscow (and this must be done at the same time for the purity of research), therefore, all lovers of wildlife, volunteers, students and schoolchildren are invited to the routes laid specifically for this purpose. The total number of places where ducks winter in the city are 27 Moscow routes, and their length is about 300 km. But this is in the capital, and in other cities - from St. Petersburg to Novosibirsk - such events began to be held only in recent years.
According to science
What was useful in carrying out censuses:
- Firstly, it showed that the number of waterfowl is constantly (with slight fluctuations over the years) increasing: for example, the number of mallards, when the census had just begun, was only about 13 thousand.
- The number of species of birds remaining for the winter in the urban environment is increasing.
- The study also showed an increase in the amount of water surface suitable for bird habitat.
At the same time, urban wintering birds as a natural phenomenon remains a poorly studied phenomenon that awaits its researchers.
By the way, scientists have found a direct correlation between the economic well-being of urban residents and the number of urban ducks in ponds. After the crisis of the 90s, the total number of individuals in the duck population in urban ponds began to decline and reached the level of 7 with a small thousand mallards in 1997. But then the population began to grow again. Currently, it has reached its maximum value. But, according to the assumptions of zoologists, this is not the limit.
What do ducks eat?
The diet of all mallards is mostly plant food. But still they are not pure vegetarians, since on occasion they do not disdain larvae of aquatic insects, earthworms and crustaceans. Mallards, unlike other duck species, do not like to dive, preferring to reach for the food that is nearby, on the surface of the water. True, sometimes lovers of feeding ducks can observe how birds, turning upside down, get something from the bottom. But such scenes are possible only in shallow areas.
The beak of ducks is arranged in a special way: along its edges there are horn plates, a kind of denticles that help filter water and liquid sludge - this way the duck receives small aquatic plants and crustaceans from the water. But ducks are happy to pluck young leaves from thickets on the shore.
Animal food is very important for ducks during the breeding season, that is, in the summer, and in winter they eat plant foods, preferring high-calorie foods. Citizens feeding birds with bread come in handy here.
Urban and "urban"
The census results also revealed another interesting phenomenon. As it turned out, there are two urban groups of ducks.
For some, the ponds and small rivers where ducks winter from Russia and where they live and raise chicks have become quite a familiar place. They are completely familiar to the person and his handouts.
But how do ducks winter in the pond? These birds tolerate cold well if there is enough food, and if the water of the reservoir in which they live does not freeze. As a rule, this does not happen, but still, a reduction in the surface area of the water can lead to the fact that some birds become prey for stray dogs.
The second duck population lives in more open waters near cities. These birds are rather timid and not particularly supportive of humans, but nevertheless they try to stay closer to the city buildings, fearing hunters who hunt in the countryside. But how do wild ducks winter? Usually, when we have ceased to be especially frosty winter huts we have enough food, but the bird's flying instinct is still on guard - and in adverse climatic periods they are able to migrate farther south without long-distance flights.
To feed or not to feed?
Ducks and, in particular, mallards decorate the city landscape, which does not pamper us with bright natural colors. Elegant drakes, modest brownish ducks and fluffy colorful ducklings - all of them do not leave indifferent neither children nor adults. But here in many American parks hang ads with the requirements not to feed the birds - because they are wild, and do not make them too dependent on people. Watch, they say, the birds as much as you like. For birdwatchers (bird watchers) in many parks there are even special platforms - the so-called "observation shelters".
Indeed, the "feeding" of ducks, perhaps, leads to the fact that birds do not tend to leave their usual habitats and fly for wintering with the onset of winter cold. This instinct was originally laid in them by nature. However, scientists are not completely convinced that only the treat of ducks was the final factor in this behavior, or rather, its absence. Partly proof of this can be considered the presence of populations of pseudo-urban birds, which no one feeds. In addition, in the coldest time of the year, ducks left for the winter in any park pond simply cannot survive without human support.
What to feed?
It is definitely not recommended to feed ducks wintering in the pond with fresh bread or confectionery. The cause of many diseases of birds can be fermentation processes, which develop due to the presence of yeast in fresh baked goods. Sugar and various additives are also not good for the bird. You can not give peanuts and fried seeds, as well as cereals.
Ducks are fed with grain or grain mixtures, oatmeal, cottage cheese, fresh or boiled chopped vegetables, fruits, grated cheese. Do not throw treats for birds into a pond, polluting it. It is better to leave it on the shore near the water.
We told you about where and how wild ducks winter.