“Class Birds. Boar game What birds mutter in the spring buy a hoodie

Quiz for schoolchildren with answers

1. What bird lives from two to four years: eats, drinks, sleeps and mates on the fly? (Common swift)

2. What birds breed on ice at an average temperature of minus twenty degrees Celsius and a wind speed of twenty-five to seventy-five kilometers per hour? (Penguins)

3. In which bird, when running at full speed, each step can be equal to seven meters? (At the African ostrich)

4. What modern bird has the largest wingspan? (The albatross, wandering in the southern seas, has a wingspan of three meters sixty-three centimeters)

5. What birds make the longest flights? (Arctic terns breed in the Arctic Circle, fly to Antarctica for the winter, and then return back, making a flight of thirty-five thousand kilometers)

6. Which bird flaps its wings most often? (Hummingbird. The usual frequency of strokes is ninety strokes per second, during courtship - two hundred strokes per second)

7. In which birds, each feather is equipped with a small muscle that controls its movements: on land, feathers bristle, creating an insulating air gap, and in water they are firmly pressed to the body, like a waterproof barrier? (Penguins have the densest feathers: there are eleven to twelve feathers per square centimeter)

8. Which bird has a beak length of forty-seven centimeters? (At the Australian pelican)

9. What an amazing bird, leaving the nest, does not return to the earth until it is fully ripe, which takes from three to ten years; does she fly all the time, only occasionally resting on the water? (Dark tern)

10. What birds of prey are the most vigilant and able to see a pigeon at a distance of eight kilometers? (Peregrine Falcons)

11. This little bird is making a nest in the hollow. And if someone wants to feast on her chicks, she skillfully portrays a snake - stretches her neck, hisses. For such a virtuoso control of her neck, she got her name. Which? (Wryneck)

12. What bird got its name from a large goiter that enlarges its throat? (Turtle Dove)

13. The finch is not afraid of the cold at all; it arrives in early spring when there is snow in the fields and flies away in late autumn. Why was he called the finch? (He flies away and arrives in a cold, "chilly" time)

14. The beak of this bird is bent crosswise, as if it is compressed, squeezed. For the shape of its instrument-like beak, this bird got its name. Which? (Klest. The Russian word “to cross” meant “to squeeze, squeeze, squeeze.” From this verb came the word “ticks”)

15. The beak of this bird is huge, like a butterfly net. Horseflies, flies, mosquitoes, which disturb livestock so much, will not escape this trap. So this bird flies to where there are a lot of cattle, and feasts on insects. And people thought that she was coming to milk the cattle, that's why they named her ... How? (Nightjar)

16. The name of which wading bird comes from the ancient Russian verb meaning "to move slowly"? ("Heron" from the verb "chapat" - to walk slowly)

17. The name of which bird says that it is shaking with one part of its body? (Wagtail)

18. What family of birds does the peacock belong to? (To the chicken family)

19. What bird can swim better than fly and run? (Penguin)

20. What sacred bird, according to an ancient legend, could be reborn from the ashes, why did it become a symbol of immortality? (Phoenix)

21. Which parrot has a crest? (Cockatoo)

22. The arrival of what birds do we consider the beginning of spring? (Arrival of rooks)

23. What songbird gets its food by diving into the water under the ice? (Dipper)

24. What bird breeds chicks at any time of the year, even among the snow? (Crossbill. Crossbones feed their chicks with pine and spruce seeds)

25. What birds spend the night buried in the snow? (Black grouse, partridges, hazel grouses)

26. Which bird has eyes shifted to the back of the head and why? (A woodcock, because it gets its food by sticking its beak deep into the ground)

27. What flying nocturnal predator appears in our country only in winter? (Polar white owl)

28. What bird makes a bed of fish bones in the nest? (Kingfisher)

29. What forest bird is white in winter and piebald in summer? (White partridge)

30. What are the smallest birds in our country? (Root root (wren) and kinglet. They are almost the same height: smaller than a dragonfly-rocker)

31. Which of our forest birds have yellow males and green females? (At the crossbills)

32. What bird cries like a tattered cat? (Oriole)

33. Which bird "barks"? (The male ptarmigan makes a sound similar to a dog barking during the current in spring)

34. Name the pink bird that the song says it is "the child of the sunset." (Pink flamingo)

35. Hairy caterpillars are covered with poisonous bristles, and birds avoid touching them. Even to humans, these caterpillars are capable of delivering painful sensations if they get on the skin, eyes, mouth or nose. And only one bird eats them with pleasure without harmful consequences for itself. What is this bird? (Cuckoo)

36. Australian radio begins its broadcasts with a very unusual call sign borrowed from the wildlife. Every morning the voice of the kookaburra bird (or kookaburra) is played on the radio. What is unusual about the cries of this bird? (She laughs loudly and infectiously. This sound is intended to give all people who wake up good mood for the whole working day)

37. Which bird is the symbol of pedagogy? (Pelican. It has been noticed that in times of famine, pelicans can selflessly peck meat out of their bodies to feed their chicks)

38. What bird in Russia symbolizes marital fidelity? (Swan. Since a pair of swans, having met once, lives together all their lives)

39. What bird “observes the family hearth”, serves as a symbol of family well-being and takes care of the number of offspring in the family? (Stork)

40. What birds mutter in the spring: “I will buy a hoodie, I will sell a fur coat”, and in the fall: “I will sell a hoodie, I will buy a fur coat”? (Male grouse (kosachi). These words are selected in imitation of the spring and autumn muttering of kosachi)

41. When they say about a bird: "She flew over the sea to die"? (When the hunter "misses" on it)

42. What bird can kill a man with a kick? (Ostrich)

43. Which bird has the longest legs and the longest neck? (A flamingo. It flies, stretched out like an arrow)

44. What are the most birds on the globe? (In the first place in terms of numbers - the detachment of chickens. In the second - passerines)

45. What birds walk most of the way from the south? (Crake, marsh hen)

46. ​​What is a “woodpecker's forge”? (This is the name of the tree in which the woodpecker sticks cones in order to process them with its beak. On the ground under such a "forge" a whole mountain of broken cones often accumulates)

47. What bird got its name from the island on which it lives? (Canary from the Canary Islands)

48. The ancient Indians called this bird parapushta, which means “fed by another”. And what do we call this bird? (Cuckoo)

49. What bird does America's Thanksgiving go without? (No turkey)

50. Which raven bird can fake the voices of other birds? (Jay)

51. This bird became known after the discovery of America, and it is called by the name of an Asian country. What is this bird? (Turkey, turkey)

52. What birds, according to the legend, saved the city of Rome? (Geese)

53. What are the American ostriches called? (To Nanda) And the African ones? (Emu)

54. Why did the raven fall into the category of the wicked, according to the Christian doctrine? (The Bible says that at the end of the rain, Noah's ark stopped at Mount Ararat. Noah was the first to release a raven from the ark, so that it flew around the area and scouted if there were any places where the water came off. search for corpses)

55. What second bird did Noah send from the ark to scout? (Dove. He returned with an oil branch in his beak and was numbered among the sacred birds)

56. According to legend, what birds fed the Babylonian queen Semiramis? (When the mother of Semiramis, the goddess Derketo, refused to raise the girl, she was fed by pigeons, stealing milk from the shepherds)

57. What artist made the drawing "Dove of Peace" in 1947? (Pablo Picasso)

58. The song about which bird did Vasily Ivanovich Chapaev sing with his comrades in the famous film? ("Black raven, black raven, why are you climbing over me? You won't wait for prey. Black raven, I'm not yours ...")

59. Who cuckoos in cuckoos: male or female? (Only male cakes)

60. Tradition says that the famous statesman, archon, strategist and commander Themistocles during the war proposed to include bird fighting in the combat training program of young Athenians. Which ones? (Cockfighting so that the warriors learn from them selflessness, fortitude and courage)

61. Which European country has had a cock's name for a long time? (France used to be called Gaul from the Latin word "gall" - rooster)

62. What birds were mercilessly exterminated in China in 1959 as crop destroyers? (Vorobyov. When these birds were exterminated, the locusts came and ate the entire crop)

63. What kind of birds do the Chinese specially train to capture the fish with their beak and bring it to the owner? (Baklanov)

64. Why doesn't a trained cormorant swallow the caught fish? (A special leash is put on their throats, which does not allow them to do this)

"Class Birds"

Generalizing lesson-quiz (8th grade)

(It is conducted according to the principle of the TV game "Lucky Chance." warm-up and answer questions in case teams find it difficult to answer.)

Warm up

Before the start of the quiz, team members and fans are invited to repeat the bird taxonomy. The presenter names the bird, and the participants - the detachment to which it belongs.

1. Swallow - the Passeriformes order.

2. Swan - order Anseriformes (Lamellar-billed).

3. Owls - a squad of Owls (Nocturnal predators).

4. Capercaillie - Chicken-like order.

5. Heron - order Ankle (Stork).

6. Crane - Crane-like order.

7. Turtle Dove - Pigeon-like detachment.

8. Tit - the Passeriformes detachment.

9. Hawk - order Falconiformes (Daytime birds of prey).

10. The crow - the Passeriformes detachment.

11. Woodpecker - a group of Woodpeckers.

Round I

Questions to the 1st team

1. Why do domestic ducks and geese suddenly start screaming sadly in spring and become very excited? (The ancestors of our domestic geese and ducks were migratory birds. In the spring, during the flight of wild ducks and geese, domestic ones are also drawn to fly somewhere.)

2. What birds “graze” flocks in South Africa? How? (Ostriches. They see predators from afar and by their behavior warn the shepherd about them.)

Questions to the 2nd team

1. Do all birds hatch chicks once a summer? (No. Finches, goldfinches, warblers, tits, pigeons - twice; sparrows, buntings - two or three times.)

2. When does the bird sing louder - in flight or sitting on a branch? Why? (In flight. With the flapping of the wings, the air sacs are stretched and air enters the vocal apparatus with greater force.)

Playing with the audience

Which of our large forest birds, with the onset of spring, mutters as if it says "I will buy a hoodie, I will sell a fur coat", and with the onset of autumn mutters "I will sell a hoodie, I will buy a fur coat"? (Black grouse).

II round

Within a certain period of time, the team should try to answer as many questions as possible.

Questions to the 1st team

1. What bird, living in the taiga and in the tundra, changes the color of its plumage twice a year? (White partridge.)

2. What is the smallest bird in our country? (Kinglet.)

3. Who flies to us earlier - swifts or swallows? (Swallows.)

4. What birds spend the night buried in the snow? (Black grouse, hazel grouse.)

5. What is the largest bird on earth? (African ostrich.)

6. What cities are named after birds? (Eagle, Gus-Khrustalny.)

7. Where do starlings nest, besides birdhouses? (In the hollows.)

8. Why do starlings and jackdaws sit on cows, sheep and horses? (Selected from insect hair.)

9. Which bird, because of the shape of its tail, bears the name of an ancient musical instrument? (Lyre bird or lyrebird.)

10. Who is called a feathered cat? (To the owl.)

Questions to the 2nd team

1. In which songbirds are males red and females greenish or yellowish? (Crossbills, bee-holes, lentils).

2. What bird is like a cat's cry? (Oriole.)

3. Which bird has two toes? (Ostrich.)

4. What bird bears the name of the writer? (Gogol.)

5. Which birds have larger and stronger females than males? (For the predators.)

6. When is a sparrow's body temperature higher - in winter or summer? (Always the same.)

7. What birds hatch chicks in winter? (Crossbones.)

8. What birds do not sit on the ground, or on the water, or on the branches? (Swifts.)

9. Which bird makes fishbone bedding in the nest? (Kingfisher.)

10. What kind of birds and where are they tamed for fishing? (Cormorants in China.)

Question for viewers

In the 60s. a new direction appeared in science - bionics. The goal of this science is to solve engineering and technical problems based on the study of the structure and vital activity of living organisms.

Today we all use a zipper in our everyday life. What is the natural analogue of this clasp found in the "black box"? (A contour feather, the fan of which consists of many thin and narrow plates clinging to each other.)

III round

In 10 seconds, you need to find the error in the proposed statement.

1. Birds belonging to the order of daytime predators: eagle, vulture, falcon, crow, kite. (Crow.)

2. Birds belonging to the order of owls: owl, owl, owl, osprey. (Osprey.)

3. Corvids: crow, pigeon, jackdaw, rook. (Pigeon.)

Round IV

Each team is given a card on which the name of the animal is written. We need to portray it so that the other team will name this animal.

In conclusion, the jury sums up the results of the game.

Natural history quiz for elementary grades.

2015 - 2016 academic year.

1.What day (according to the calendar) does autumn begin? (From September 21 - the day of the autumnal equinox.)
2. What animal will still have cubs in autumn leaves? (At the hare. Late rabbits are called "deciduous".)
3. The leaves of which trees turn red in the fall? (Rowan, aspen, maple.)
4. Do all migrants fly away from us to the south in the fall? (Not all. Some fly away from us to the east (through the Ural ridge), for example, a small songbird, a warbler, a lentil, or a phalarope.)
5. Why are old bull elk called elk? (Pronged - from the word "plow", which the horns of an old elk look like.)
6. What birds mutter in the spring: "I will buy a hoodie, I will sell a fur coat" - and in the fall: "I will sell a hoodie, I will buy a fur coat"? (Kosachi (male black grouse). These words are selected in imitation of his song - muttering. The Kosach mumbles in spring and autumn.)
7. The skeleton of the front paw of which animal is shown here?

(A bat. A skin membrane is strengthened on its long fingers.)

8. Where do butterflies go in the fall? (Most of them die with the first cold weather. Some climb into the crevices of trees, fences, houses, under the bark - and overwinter there.)
9. Sits - turns green, flies - turns yellow, falls - turns black. (Foliage.)

10. How does an ambush spider know that a prey has got into its web? (A spider-spider, sitting in ambush, holds a tightly stretched cobweb with its paw, attached to the snares at its other end.
11. What kind of animals fly? (Bats. A flying squirrel (flying squirrel), a squirrel living in our forests with leathery membranes between its legs, flies a distance of several tens of meters.)
12. What do small birds do when they spot an owl during the day? (They gather in flocks, shout and throw themselves at the owl until they are driven away.)
13. When and how do sciences fly? (On clear autumn days. The wind, together with the cobweb, lifts and carries young spiders through the air.)
14. Why do swifts and swallows fly high in good weather, and above the ground in damp weather? (When swallows fly, they catch midges, mosquitoes and other winged insects. In clear weather, the air is dry, and these insects rise high above the ground. In wet weather, the air is heavy, full of moisture, and does not allow them to rise up.)
15. How to know about the approach of rain by observing an anthill? (Before the rain, the ants hide in the anthill and clog all the entrances to it.)
16. What does the rocker (dragonfly) eat? (Various flying insects - flies, mayflies, caddis flies.)
17. What terrible predatory beast is greedy for raspberries? (Bear)
18. What color is the largest of our woodpeckers? (Black with a red cap.)
19. What is "damn tobacco"? (Spores of a raincoat mushroom ("hare potato"). A ripe raincoat bursts from a light blow, and a cloud of dust (damn tobacco) bursts out of it - spores.)
20. Midday in the yard, head on the table, feet on the field. (Wheat ears: straw in the yard, bread on the table, but the harvest remained in the field.)
21. What is this herb that the blind know? (Nettle.)
22. He sits with bulging eyes, does not speak Russian; was born in water and lives on earth. (Frog)

23. Whose scary head is this pictured here?

(Butterflies (through a magnifying glass).)

24. Where is it more convenient for a hare to run - from a mountain or up a mountain? (Up the hill. The hare's front legs are short, the hind legs are long. Therefore, the hare runs uphill easily, and flies head over heels from a steep mountain.)
25. What bird secrets does leaf fall reveal to us? (On the trees that have flown, one can see bird's nests well hidden in the foliage in summer.)
26. What forest dweller dries mushrooms on his trees? (Squirrel. She drags mushrooms into trees and puts them on twigs, and in winter in a lack of fodder, finds and eats them.)
27. Do birds gather reserves for the winter? (Very few: owls collect dead mice in the hollows for themselves, jay (ridge) - acorns, nuts.)
28. How do ants prepare for winter? (They close all the entrances and exits in the anthill and they all collect themselves in a heap.)
29. What's inside a bird's bones? (Air.)
30. The legs of three different birds... One of these birds lives in trees, another on land, and a third on water. Which - where?

(The legs of each bird are adapted to the conditions in which the bird lives, In a bird living on the ground, the legs are adapted to walking on the ground: straight fingers are wide apart, the leg (metatarsus) is high, In a bird living in trees, the leg is adjusted to the seat on the branches: the toes are close together, crooked and very tenacious, the leg is short. In aquatic birds, the legs are adapted for swimming and serve as oars for the bird: the toes of the duck are connected by membranes, the crested grebe has hard skin flaps on the toes that help to paddle with the foot.)

31. Can science be called an insect? (An insect has six legs, a spider has eight legs, so the spider is not an insect.)
32. Where do frogs disappear for the winter? (They go under the water, get hammered under stones, into pits, into mud or under moss; sometimes - they even climb into the cellars.)
33. Which animal has paws turned out with palms apart and out? (A mole; its paws are adapted for digging the ground, like the fins of a fish for swimming.)
34. Here is the head of a long-eared forest owl. Indicate the owl's ears in the picture.

(The protruding ears of an owl are just tufts of feathers, the ears are placed under those tufts.)

35. Annual grass - above the yard. (Hop.)

36. What happens to a crow in three years? (The fourth year is coming.)
37. I swam in the pond, but stayed dry. (Goose, duck.)
38. Not a princely breed, but walks with a crown; not a rider, but with spurs. He gets up early and does not let others sleep. (Rooster.)

39. Where do crayfish hibernate? (In burrows along the banks of rivers and lakes.)
40. What is more terrible for birds - cold or hunger of winter? (Hunger is worse for birds, Ducks, swans, seagulls, for example, sometimes stay with us all winter if they have something to feed on, if water is not covered with ice somewhere.)
41. If hares started to turn white late, what kind of winter to expect - early or late? (Late.)

42. What is a “woodpecker's forge”? (A woodpecker's smithy is a tree or stump, into the crack of which a woodpecker sticks cones in order to process them with its beak. On the ground under such a smithy, a whole heap of cones torn by a woodpecker often accumulates.)

43. Where do crows sleep in winter and autumn? (In gardens and groves, in trees, where they gather in large flocks in the evening.)
44. Are the eyes of a cat the same day and night? (Not the same. During the day, in the sunlight, the pupils of the cat are small; by night, they dilate greatly.)
45. What kind of animal becomes all white for the winter, except for the tip of its tail? (Ermine.)
46. ​​Skulls of a herbivore and predatory beast are drawn here. How can you tell them apart by the teeth?

(The jaw of a predatory animal can be easily distinguished by its large, strongly protruding canines; the canines serve as a predator for tearing meat, while the teeth of a herbivore are used to pluck and grind plants:
canines in herbivores do not stand out, but in herbivores the incisors are stronger
(front teeth).)

47. Blacker than soot, whiter than snow, above the house, below the grass. (Magpie.)
48. There is a heap in the middle of the yard; a pitchfork in front, a broom in the back. (Cow)
49. He walks on the ground, does not see the sky, nothing hurts, but everything groans. (Pig.)
50. No windows, no doors, the upper room is full of people. (Cucumber.)
51. It grew, grew, climbed out of the bush, rolled up and down the hands, found itself on the teeth. (Nut.)

Used material from the book "Forest Newspaper" by V. V. Bianki

JULY - the top of summer - does not know tired, tidies everything up. Rzhitsa-mother orders to bow to the ground. The oats are already in the caftan, but on the buck there is no shirt either.

Green plants made their bodies out of sunlight. We store the golden ocean of ripe rye and wheat for the whole year. We are stocking hay for the cattle: the forests of grasses have already fallen, mountains of haystacks have risen.

Little birds start to fall silent: they are not up to songs. There are chicks in all nests. They will be born naked mole rats and need the care of their parents for a long time. But the land, water, forest, even air - everything is full now of food for the little ones, they will get enough for everyone!

The forests are full of small juicy fruits everywhere: strawberries, blueberries, blueberries, currants; in the north - golden cloudberries ... The meadows have changed their golden dress for chamomile: the white color of the petals reflects the hot rays of the sun. The creator of life - the Yarilo-sun at this time is not joking: his caresses can burn him.

FOREST KIDS

HOW MANY CHILDREN?

A young moose cow lives in a large forest outside the town of Lomonosov. She has one calf born this year.

The white-tailed eagle has a nest in the same forest. There are two eagles in the nest.

Siskin, chaffinch, and oatmeal have five chicks each.

The vertihead has eight. The long-tailed tit (long-tailed tit) has twelve.

The gray partridge has twenty. At the stickleback in the nest, each egg hatched a stickleback fry, a total of a hundred sticklebacks. The bream has hundreds of thousands. The cod is countless: probably a million fry.

UNPRECEDENTED

Bream and cod do not care about their children at all. We swept away the eggs and left. And let the children themselves, as they know, hatch, live and feed. But what if you have hundreds of thousands of children? You cannot see behind everyone.

The frog has only one thousand children - and even then it does not think about them.

Of course, life is not easy for homeless people. There are many gluttonous monsters under the water, and all of them are susceptible to tasty fish and frog caviar, to small fish and frogs.

How many fish fry and tadpoles die, how many dangers they face, until they grow into large fish and frogs - it's scary to think directly!

CARING PARENTS

The elk and all the mother birds are really caring parents.

The elk is ready to give its life for its only cub. Try to attack it even by the bear itself: it will start kicking with both its front and hind legs, so it will trim it with its hooves, that next time the bear will not stick close to the calf.

Our reporters found Kuropatkin's son in the field: he jumped out from under their feet and rushed into the grass to hide.

They caught him, and he will squeak! Out of nowhere - a mother partridge. I saw my son in the hands of people - she rushed about, clucked, fell to the ground, dragging her wing.

The correspondents thought: she was wounded. The partridge was thrown, and they chased after her.

The partridge waddles along the ground - just about to grab it with your hand; but as soon as you stretch out your hand - it is to the side. They chased, chased the partridge, suddenly it flapped its wings, rose above the ground - and flew away as if nothing had happened.

Our correspondents returned back, for the partridge, and his trace was gone. It was on purpose that the mother of the wounded was pretending to take her away from her son in order to save him. She stands up for each of her cubs like that: after all, she has only twenty of them.

COLONY ON THE ISLAND

Small seagulls live at the dacha on the sandbank of the island.

At night, they sleep in sandy holes (holes) - three per hole. All the shallows in the holes are such a large colony of gulls.

During the day, they learn to fly, swim and catch small fish under the guidance of their elders.

Old seagulls teach and vigilantly guard their children.

When the enemy approaches, they flock and rush at him with such a shout and clamor that everyone will be afraid.

Even a huge white-tailed sea eagle hurries to get away from them.

WHAT ARE BEKAS AND SARYCH'S CHILDREN BREED OUT?

Here is a portrait of a little hawk just hatched from an egg. He has a white lump on his nose. This is the "egg tooth". It is for them that the chick breaks the shell when it is time for him to come out of the egg.

The little sap will grow up and become a bloodthirsty predator - a thunderstorm of rodents.

And now he is a funny kid, covered in fluff, half-blind.

He is so helpless, such a sissy: he cannot take a step without dad and mom. He would have starved to death if they hadn't fed him.

And there are fighting guys among the chicks: as soon as they hatch out of the egg, they will now jump on their feet - and please: they get food for themselves, and they are not afraid of water, and they hide from enemies.

Two snipe are sitting here. They are only a day out of an egg, and they have left their nest and are looking for worms for themselves.

That is why the snipe had such large eggs that the snipe can grow up in them. (See "Lesnaya Gazeta" No. 4.)

Kuropatkin's son, about whom we have just talked, is also a fighting man. Just born, and already running as fast.

Here's another wild duck - the merganser.

He, as soon as he was born, immediately hobbled to the river, dumped into the water - and began to swim. He already knows how to dive and stretches, rising on the water - just like a big one.

And the pika's daughter is a terrible sissy. She spent two whole weeks in the nest, now she flew out and sits on a tree stump.

This is how she pouted: she was unhappy that her mother did not fly with food for a long time.

Soon it’s already three weeks, and is still beeping and demanding that her mother stuff caterpillars and other delicacies into her mouth.

INSIDE OUT

From different places of our vast country, they write to us about meetings with an amazing bird. We saw her this month both near Moscow and in Altai, on the Kama River and on the Baltic Sea, in Yakutia and in Kazakhstan.

A very cute and elegant bird, similar to those bright floats that are sold to young anglers in cities. And so trusting that if you come at least five steps, it will float in front of you at the very shore, not at all afraid.

All other birds now sit on nests or lead chicks, and these will gather in flocks and travel throughout the country.

It's amazing that these bright, pretty birds are females. In all other birds, males are brighter, more beautiful than females, and in these, on the contrary: males are gray, and females are motley.

It is even more surprising that these females do not care about their children at all. Far to the north, in the tundra, they laid their testicles in a hole - and goodbye! And the males stayed there to incubate eggs, feed and take care of the chicks.

All topsy-turvy!

This bird is called round-nosed phalarope.

You can meet her everywhere: here today, and there tomorrow.

SCARY BIRD

The slender, delicate wagtails in the nest hatched six tiny naked chicks. Five are chicks like chicks, and the sixth is a freak: all some kind of rough, sinewy, big-headed, eyes closed with a film protrude, and the beak opens - you recoil: there a whole mouth will open - a breakthrough.

The first day he lay quietly in the nest. Only when the wagtails flew up with food, with difficulty raised his heavy, thick head, weakly squeaked and opened his mouth: feed!

The next day, in the morning chill, when the parents flew away for food, he stirred. He lowered his head, rested it on the floor of the nest, spread his legs wide apart and began to back away.

I hit my little brother-chick backwards and started digging under him. He threw back his crooked naked stump-wings, grabbed his little brother with them, squeezed it like pincers, and with the chick on the backs, everything backwards, backwards began to move towards the wall.

In the hole at the end of his back, the little brother-chick - small, weak, blind - floundered as if in a spoon. And the freak, resting his head and legs, lifted him higher and higher, until the chick was at the very edge.

Then, all tensed up, the freak suddenly threw up its backwards - and the chick flew out of the nest.

The nest of wagtails was in the cliff above the river bank.

A tiny naked wagtail plopped down on the pebbles below - and crashed to death.

And the evil freak, himself almost falling out of the nest, swayed, swayed on the edge of it, but the fat head outweighed - and he fell back into the nest.

This whole terrible thing lasted two or three minutes.

Then the freak, exhausted, lay motionless in the nest for a quarter of an hour.

The parents arrived. He raised his heavy, blind head on his sinewy neck and, as if nothing had happened, opened his mouth, squealed - feed!

I ate, rested - and began to drive up under the other brother.

He could not cope with this so easily: the chick floundered and rolled off his back. But the freak did not stop.

And five days later, when his eyes were cut through, he saw that he was lying alone in the nest: he threw all five chicks-brothers away and killed.

Only on the twelfth day from birth did he finally become covered with feathers - and then it became clear that the wagtails on the mountain had fed themselves a foundling - a cuckoo.

But he squeaked so pitifully, so much like their own dead children, so sweetly, trembling with his wings, asked for food that thin, tender birds could not refuse him, could not leave him to starve to death.

Themselves living from hand to mouth, in trouble not having time to eat their fill, from sunrise to sunset they dragged him fat caterpillars and, diving head-first into his wide mouth, poked food into his gluttonous throat-hole.

By the fall, they had fed him. He flew away from them and never met them again in his life.

BERRIES

Many different berries ripened. Raspberries, red and black currants and gooseberries are harvested in the gardens.

Raspberries are also found in the forest. It grows in thickets. You can't get through without breaking its fragile stems. Everything crackles underfoot. But for raspberries, this is not a loss. These stems, on which the berries are now hanging, will only survive until winter. And here is their change. That's how many young stems have crawled out of the ground from the rhizomes. Shaggy, all studded with thorns. Next summer it will be their turn to bloom and grow berries.

Lingonberries ripen through bushes and bumps, in clearings near stumps, berries already with a red barrel.

They are in lingonberries in heaps on the tops of the stems. On some bushes, these heaps are so large, dense, heavy, bent down and lie on the moss.

I would like to dig out such a bush, transplant it to myself and take care of it - will the berries become even larger? But so far the lingonberry "in captivity" has failed. And she's an interesting berry. Its berries can be stored for eating all winter, just pour boiled water or ceiling so that the juice comes out.

Why doesn't it rot? Mothballed herself. It contains benzoic acid. And benzoic acid prevents the berries from rotting.

N. Pavlova

BATHING BEARS

Our acquaintance hunter was walking along the bank of a forest river and suddenly heard a loud crackling of branches. He got scared and climbed a tree.

A large brown bear came out of the thicket, with her two funny bear cubs and a pestun - her one-year-old son, a bear nurse.

The bear sat down.

Pestun grabbed one teddy bear by the collar with his teeth and let’s dip it into the river.

The bear squealed and floundered, but the pestun would not let him go until he had thoroughly rinsed it in the water.

Another bear cub got scared of the cold bath and started to run away into the forest.

Pestun caught up with him, slapped him, and then into the water, like the first.

Rinsed, rinsed it, but inadvertently and dropped it into the water. How the teddy bear screams! Then, in an instant, a bear jumped up, pulled her son to the shore, and slapped the pestun so much that he, poor man, howled.

Once again on the ground, both teddy bears were very pleased with the bathing: the day was sultry and they were very hot in thick, shaggy fur coats. The water refreshed them well.

After bathing, the bears disappeared into the forest again, and the hunter climbed down from the tree and went home.

KOSHKIN FATHERING

Our cat had kittens in the spring, but they were taken away from her. Just on that day, we caught a little hare in the forest.

We took it and planted it on the cat. The cat had a lot of milk, and she willingly began to feed the hare.

So the hare grew up on cat milk. They became very good friends and even always sleep together.

The funniest thing is that the cat taught the trickster hare to fight dogs. As soon as the dog runs into our yard, the cat rushes at it and scratches violently. And a hare runs up behind her and drumming with its front paws so that the dog's hair flies in tufts. All the dogs around are afraid of our cat and her foster-hare.

FOCUS OF SMALL TYPE HEADS

Our cat saw a hollow in the tree and thought that there was a bird's nest there. She wanted to eat the chicks, climbed up a tree, stuck her head into the hollow and sees: at the bottom of the hollow, vipers swarm and wriggle. How they will hiss! The cat got cold feet, jumped from the tree, just to get away with it!

And in the hollow, they were not vipers at all, but the chicks of the twist-head (turtle-necks). They have such a trick to defend themselves from enemies: they twist their heads, twirl their necks - their necks, like snakes, wriggle. Moreover, they also hiss like a viper. Everyone is afraid of poisonous vipers. Here are the little twistheads and imitate the viper to scare the enemies.

LEFT WITH A NOSE

A big buzzard spotted a grouse with a whole brood of yellow fluffy goslings.

“Here,” he thinks, “I’ll have lunch.”

He was already aiming to hit them from above, but then the grouse noticed him.

She shouted - and all the grouse disappeared in an instant. Sarich looked and looked - there was not a single one, as they fell through the ground! Flew off to look for another prey for lunch.

Then the grouse shouted again - and around her little yellow fluffy goslings jumped up on their legs. They did not fall anywhere, but immediately lay, firmly clung to the ground. Go and distinguish them from above from leaves, grass and clods of earth!

PREDATORY FLOWER

A mosquito flew and flew in the forest above the swamp - and was tired, wanted to drink. Sees: a flower; the stem is green, at the top there are small white bells, at the bottom there are round crimson leaves with a rosette around the stem. There are cilia on the leaves, light dew drops glisten on the cilia.

The mosquito sat down on the leaf, dropped his nose into a drop, and the drop was sticky, sticky, the mosquito nose got stuck.

Suddenly, the cilia all stirred, stretched like tentacles, grabbed the mosquito. A round leaf is closed - and there is no mosquito.

And when then the leaf opened again, an empty mosquito skin fell to the ground: the flower drank all the mosquito blood.

This is a terrible flower, a predatory flower - a sundew. He catches small insects and eats them.

TIR

ANSWER AT THE TARGET! COMPETITION FIVE

1. When do birds have a tooth?

2. At what time of the year do predatory animals and birds live the most satisfyingly?

3. Who is born twice, dies once?

4. Who will be born three times before becoming an adult?

5. Why do they say: "like water off a duck's back"?

6. What bird's chicks don't know their mother?

7. What bird's chicks hiss out of the hollow like snakes?

8. What kind of fish takes care of their children until they grow up?

9. Where is the “face” of the sunflower head at noon?

10. Do we have carnivorous plants?

11. There is a tour in the mountains, and a tour in the boundaries; the tour will shout, and the turikha will blink.

12. In the morning the field is blue, in the afternoon it is green.

13. The old men are standing red-hats. Whoever comes up will bow down.

14. Sits on a stick in a red shirt, a light abdomen, stuffed with pebbles.

15. Sleeps on the ground, and disappears in the morning.

16. Who in the forest without axes builds a hut without corners?

17. The eyes are on the horns, and the house is on the back.

18. Flowers are angelic, and devil's claws.

FOREST NEWSPAPER No. 6
MONTH OF PACK (THIRD MONTH OF SUMMER)

Sun enters the sign of Virgo

YEAR - SOLAR POEM IN 12 MONTHS

August is the lightning. At night, the forests are silently illuminated by rapid lightning.

The last time in the summer, the meadows change their outfit: now it is motley, the flowers on it are more and more dark - blue, purple. The sun-Yarilo begins to weaken, it is necessary to collect, store its farewell rays.

Large fruits ripen: vegetables, fruits. Late berries also ripen: lingonberry; cranberries ripen in the swamp, on the tree - rowan.

Old people are born - those who do not like the hot sun, those who hide from it in the cool shade - mushrooms. And the trees stop growing and get fat.

NEW FOREST HABITS

The forest children grew up and crawled out of their nests.

The birds that each couple lived in their own area in the spring are now wandering with the children throughout the forest.

Forest dwellers visit each other.

Even animals and birds of prey are not so strictly guarding their hunting grounds. There is a lot of game everywhere. Enough for everyone.

A marten, a weasel, an ermine roam all over the forest - and everywhere it is easy for them: stupid chicks, inexperienced rabbits, careless mice.

Songbirds huddle in flocks, wander through the bushes and trees.

The pack has its own custom.

The custom is this:

ONE FOR ALL AND ALL FOR ONE

Whoever saw the enemy first should squeak or whistle - to warn everyone so that the flock has time to scatter. If one is in trouble, the flock raises screams and din to fear the enemies.

One hundred pairs of eyes and one hundred pairs of ears guard the enemy, one hundred beaks are ready to repel the attack. The more broods adjoin the flock, the better.

For the guys in the pack, there is a law: imitate your elders in everything. The elders calmly peck the grains - and you peck. The elders raised their heads and did not move - and you freeze. Elders run away - and you run away.

LEARNING SITES

And cranes and black grouses have real training grounds for young people.

Black grouses - in the forest. Young kosachi will gather and see what the old tokovik will do.

The Tokovik will mumble, and the young will mumble. Tokovik chuffyknet, and the young chuffykat - in thin voices.

Only now the tokovik is not muttering as much as in the spring. In the spring he muttered: "I will sell a fur coat, I will buy a hoodie." And now: "I will sell a hoodie, I will sell a hoodie, I will buy a fur coat."

Young cranes fly to the site in detachments. Learn to fly in the correct formation - a triangle. This must be learned in order to conserve strength when flying long distances.

The strongest old crane flies first in the triangle. It is more difficult for him, as a leader, to cut through the air.

When he gets tired, he goes to the tail of the squad, and his place is taken by another, with fresh forces.

Behind the leading ones - head to tail, head to tail - the young fly in time with their wings flapping. Who is stronger - in front, weaker - behind. Waves of air run from the corner of the triangle, as if a boat was cutting the water with its bow.

Flying spiders

There are no wings - how will you fly?

But (you have to contrive!) Some spiders turned into aeronaut pilots.

A spider from the abdomen will release a thin cobweb, hook it to the bush, the wind will pick it up, tear it back and forth, but cannot tear it: it is strong like a silk thread.

The spider sits on the ground. A cobweb between the ground and a branch winds in the air. The spider sits and rolls the cobweb. Itself will get confused - all as in a silk ball - and it lets go of the cobweb more and more.

The cobweb is getting longer - the wind tears it more.

The spider is holding on to the ground with its feet, grabbing it tightly.

One two Three! - the spider went against the wind. Bit off the attached end. It exploded in a gust, tore the spider off the ground. We flew. Unwind the cobweb live!

A balloon rises ... Flies high above the grass, above the bushes.

The pilot looks from above: where to go down?

Here is a courtyard, flies hovering over a pile of manure. Stop! Way down!

The pilot unwinds the cobweb under him, rolls his paws into a ball. The balloon is getting lower, lower ... Done: landing!

The tip of the cobweb caught on the grass - landed!

Here you can safely heal with your house.

When many such spiders and their cobwebs fly through the air - and this happens in autumn in good dry weather - in the villages they say: Indian summer has come. The gray hair of autumn is silvery ...

COVERED THE ROBBER

Little yellow warblers wandered in a flock through the forest. From tree to tree, from bush to bush. Every tree, every bush will be crawled, ransacked from top to bottom. Where is a worm, where is a bug, a butterfly will be found under a leaf, on the bark, in a well - they will pick up everything, pull it out.

“Tyuit! Tyuit! " - one of the birds squeaked anxiously. Everyone immediately became alert and saw: below, hiding between the roots of trees, now flickering with a dark back, now disappearing into the dead wood, a predatory ermine is sneaking. His narrow body wriggles like a snake, evil eyes sparkle in the shadows like sparks.

“Tyuit! Tyuit! " - squealed from all sides, and the whole flock hastily took off from the tree.

It's good when it's light. Let someone see the enemy, and everyone will be saved. And at night the birds nestle under the branches, sleep. But enemies do not sleep. Silently spreading the air with its soft wings, an owl will fly up, look out - and hop! Frightened sleepy babies will splash in all directions, and two or three of them are fighting in the iron hooks of the robber. It's bad when it's dark!

From tree to tree, from bush to bush, a flock makes its way deeper and deeper into the forest. Light birds scamper all over the foliage, climb into the most mysterious corners.

In the middle of the thicket there is a thick stump. On the stump is an ugly tree mushroom.

One warbler flew very close to him: are there any snails here?

Suddenly, the mushroom's gray eyelids rose slowly. Two round eyes lit up under them.

Only then did a warbler make out a round, like a cat's, face and on it a predatory curved beak.

Frightened, she jumped to the side. “Tyuit! Tyuit! " - the flock was alarmed. But nobody flies away. Everyone gathers around the scary stump:

"Owl! Owl! Owl! For help! For help!"

The owl just angrily clicked its beak: “Found it! They won't give you a good sleep! "

And small birds flock from all sides to the alarm signal of warblers.

The robber is covered!

Tiny yellow-headed beasts descended from the tall firs. Lively tits jumped out of the bushes and boldly rushed to the attack; so they curl, and circle in front of the owl's very nose, mockingly shout to her:

“Come on, touch, come on, catch, catch up, grab! Try it in the sun, you vile night robber! "

The owl only clicks with its beak and blinks: during the day, what can it do?

And the birds keep coming and coming. The squeak and noise of warblers and tits attracted a whole flock of brave and strong forest ravens - blue-winged jays into the thicket.

The owl got scared, flapped its wings - and took off! Take your feet while you are safe; will hammer the jays with their beaks.

Jays behind her. They chased, chased, until they were completely kicked out of the forest.

The chiffchaffs will sleep peacefully this night: after such a beat, the owl will not soon dare to return to its old place.

BEAR DISEASE

In the evening, the hunter returned late from the forest to the village. He reached an oat field, looked: what is there, in the oats, the dark tossing and turning?

Have the cattle wandered where they should not?

Looked closely - priests, a bear in oats! Lies on its belly, grabbed ears of corn with its front paws, pulled it under itself and sucks. Collapsed, snoring with pleasure; apparently he tastes oat milk.

The hunter didn’t have a bullet. One small fraction (went to the bird). Yes, the guy was brave.

“Eh,” he thinks, “I wasn’t: I’ll fire into the air. Do not let Toptygin ruin the collective farmers. If you do not hurt, he will not touch. "

Attached - how it bangs over the very ear of the beast!

The bear will jump up in surprise! There was a pile of brushwood at the edge of the strip, so the bear jumped over it like a bird.

Head over heels, over your head, back on your feet - and into the forest without looking back.

The hunter laughed at the bear's courage and went home.

And in the morning he thinks: "Let me see, did Toptygin crumble a lot of oats on the strip?" I came to the place and saw: the bear’s stomach was upset with fright - this is how the trail stretches into the forest.

METELICA

Yesterday we had a blizzard over the lake. Light white flakes floated in the air, descended to the water, rose again, circled, poured from a height. The sky was clear. The sun was hot. Hot air flowed quietly under its incandescent rays; there was no wind at all. But a blizzard raged over the lake.

And this morning, the whole lake and its shores are strewn with flakes of dry dead snow.

This snow is strange: it does not melt under the hot sun, does not sparkle with sparks under its rays; it is warm and brittle.

We went to see it, and when we came to the shore, we saw that it was not snow at all, but thousands, thousands of small winged insects - mayflies.

Yesterday they flew out of the lake. For three whole years they lived in the dark depths. They were then ugly little grubs and swarmed in the silt at the bottom of the lake.

They ate rotten, stinking ooze and never saw the sun.

Three years passed in this way - a whole thousand days.

And yesterday the larvae got out on the shore, threw off the disgusting skins-masks, spread their light wings, spread their tails - three thin long strings - and took off into the air.

Only one day is given to mayflies to rejoice and dance in the air. Therefore, they are still called ephemeral.

All day they danced in the sunlight, ran and swirled in the air like light flakes of snow. Females sank into the water and dropped their tiny testicles into the water.

Then, when the sun went down and night fell, the dead bodies of the one-day-olds littered the shore and the water.

Larvae will hatch from the testes of mayflies. And again, a thousand days will pass in the muddy depths of the lake, until the merry winged ephemera fly over the water.

EDIBLE MUSHROOMS

After the rains, mushrooms came again.

The best mushroom is the white one that grew in the forest.

Porcini mushrooms - boletus - plump, dense sturdy. Their hats are dark brown. And they smell something especially pleasant.

On forest roads, among the low grass, sometimes right in the rut, butter days grow. They are good when they are still young, they look like a ball. They are good, but very slimy, and something will always stick to them: now a dry leaf, now a blade of grass.

In the same forest, there are mushrooms on the lawns. These boar mushrooms are very red, you will see from afar. And there are a lot of them here! The old ones were almost as small as a saucer, the hats were perforated with worms, the plates turned green. Medium is best, a little more than a nickel. These are strong, their cap is concave in the middle, and tucked up at the edges.

There are also many mushrooms in the spruce forest. And porcini mushrooms grow under the trees, and mushrooms, but here they are different than in the forest. In porcini mushrooms, the cap is light, yellowish, the leg is thinner and higher. And the saffron milk caps are painted quite differently than in the forest - not a red hat on top of them, but a bluish-greenish one, and there are circles along it, like on a stump.

Under the birches, aspens - their mushrooms. So they are called - birch and boletus. But the birch will grow far from the birch, and the boletus is tightly connected with the aspen. A beautiful boletus mushroom, slender, neat.

N. Pavlova

FUNCTIONS

A lot of toadstools also developed after the rains. In edible mushrooms, the main one is white. Toadstools have a pale toadstool. Watch out for her! It contains the most powerful of all mushroom poisons. A piece of pale toadstool eaten is stronger than a snake bite. He is deadly. Few have recovered after being poisoned by this mushroom.

Fortunately, it is not difficult to recognize the pale toadstool. It differs from all edible mushrooms in that its leg seems to crawl out of the neck of a wide pot. They say that a pale toadstool can be confused with a champignon (both have white hats), but a champignon has a leg like a leg - no one would think that it is inserted into a pot.

Most of all, the pale grebe resembles a fly agaric. It is sometimes even called a white fly agaric.

And if you draw it with a pencil, you can't guess whether it is a fly agaric or she. Just like the fly agaric, there are white scraps on the hat, and a collar on the leg.

There are two more dangerous toadstools, they can be mistaken for a porcini mushroom. These poisonous mushrooms are called: bile and satanic.

They differ from the porcini mushroom in that their underside of the cap is not white or yellowish, like that of a porcini mushroom, but pink or even red. And then, if you break the hat of the porcini mushroom, it will remain white, and the broken caps of the bile and satanic mushrooms will first turn red, then turn black.

N. Pavlova

PRINCELING

A flock of mallard ducks sank into the middle of the lake.

Watching them from the shore, I was surprised to notice among the monotonous gray drakes and ducks in the summer pass, one of a striking light color. She kept herself in the middle of the pack.

Raising my binoculars, I took a good look at it in every detail. She was all pale fawn, from beak to tail. When the bright morning sun came out from behind the clouds, she flashed suddenly intolerably bright whiteness, sharply standing out among her dark gray companions. In all other respects, she was not at all different from them.

In fifty years of hunting, I first saw in front of me an albino duck, or, as the people call albino birds and animals, a prince. These animals lack pigment - a dye in the blood; they are born and remain completely white or only slightly colored for the rest of their lives, devoid of such a saving in nature, the so-called patronizing, or protective, color, which makes them invisible where they live.

Of course, I passionately wanted to get this rare bird, miraculously survived from the claws of predators. But now it was simply impossible: for this a flock of ducks sits down to rest in the middle of the lake, so that one cannot get close to them for a shot. And I completely lost my peace: I had to wait for a chance when the prince would come across to me somewhere near the coast.

And such a case turned up sooner than I expected.

I walked along the shore of Uzmen - a narrow bay of the lake. Suddenly, several mallards burst out of the grass, and among them was a prince. I shot him offhand. But at the very moment of the shot, one of the gray ducks obscured the white one. And she fell, struck by my shot. And the prince dashed off with the others.

Was it an accident? Undoubtedly! But I saw this prince that summer several more times in the middle of the lake and in the bays, but always accompanied by several ducks, as if under their escort. And naturally, ordinary gray ducks unwittingly took on the hunter's shot, and the prince flew away safe and sound under their protection.

At least I never got it.

It was on Lake Piros - on the very border of Novgorod and Kalinin (now Tver. - Approx. ed.) areas.

TIR

ANSWER AT THE TARGET! COMPETITION SIX

1. What animals fly?

2. What do small birds do when they spot an owl during the day?

3. When and how do spiders fly?

4. Which insect (adult) has no mouth?

5. Why do swifts and swallows fly high in good weather, and above the ground in damp weather?

6. How to know about the approach of rain by observing an anthill?

7. What terrible predatory animal is greedy for raspberries?

8. Where is the best place to observe bird tracks in summer?

9. What is "damn tobacco"?

10. Earring in the yard, head on the table, feet on the field.

11. A peasant is lying in a gold caftan, girded with a belt, cannot stand up - people are raising him.

1. No one scares, but the whole trembles.

2. What is this herb that the blind know?

3. He sits with bulging eyes, does not speak Russian; was born in water and lives on earth.

This article will focus on upland game. Hunters usually include wood grouse, hazel grouse, black grouse, white and tundra partridges, and sometimes woodcock to her list. You will learn about the habitat, habits, nutrition, breeding and nesting features of the upland bird, and you can also see photos from the hunt for this type of game.

Common wood grouse

The wood grouse is a typical taiga bird. Leads a sedentary lifestyle, only occasionally, irregularly and not far away in the autumn-winter period. Distributed in the forest belt of Europe, western and central Siberia (up to Baikal).

Begins to show even before the appearance of the first thawed patches. The current male spreads its tail like a fan, quietly clicks, chirps. Where wood grouses are few, males go singly. The height of the current coincides with the intense melting of snow in the forest. After the mating period, the wood grouse begins to molt, and they hide in dense and littered areas of the forest.

Only the female participates in raising the offspring. Chicks hatch in mid-June and later. In the early days, they feed on ants and other insects, later they begin to peck at plants - green shoots, inflorescences, berries and seeds. In winter, wood grouses feed almost exclusively on needles.

The larch forests of Eastern Siberia are inhabited by stone capercaillie- a close relative of the common wood grouse, with which it sometimes forms hybrids. The stone capercaillie differs from the common one in its smaller size, black beak, and long tail. It walks on the ground (although it often begins to sing on a tree) and does not stall at the same time. His song also sounds different - without clicking and chirping.

The catch of this bird is widespread in Russia and abroad. On onOn our website you can find a detailed overview of ways to hunt wood grouse.

Grouse

This type of upland bird is distributed from the western border of the CIS to the coast of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk. Inhabits spruce and mixed forests with dense undergrowth. A sedentary bird, occasionally and irregularly roams in winter. It willingly settles along the valleys of streams and small taiga rivers. Puberty occurs at the age of one year. During the mating season, which begins in late March - early April, hazel grouses can form pairs.

The male is always near the hatching female, and then the brood. Usually eggs no more than 10, rarely up to 15. They are brilliant brown with rare reddish specks and strokes, sometimes without them. The female sits firmly in the nest, flies up from under her feet and sometimes allows herself to be taken with her hands. Incubation lasts about three weeks. Young hazel grouses, barely dry, leave the nest and together with the female go to forest glades and edges, where they find food in abundance. The first broods are seen in mid-June. Three-week-old hazel grouses already spend the night in trees, and in August they are already indistinguishable from adults. They feed on insects, mollusks, berries, alder and birch leaves, peck at tree buds, birch inflorescences and young shoots. Broods break up in autumn. The hazel grouses spend winter in pairs or alone in the same places where they nest.

Hunting for hazel grouse with the help of various peepers and decoys is extremely exciting. In addition, game is hunted with hunting dogs - mainly with cops and huskies.

Black grouse

Kosach lives in the forest and forest-steppe zones of Europe and Asia. Prefers edges, clearings, sparse deciduous forests, alternating with fields; avoids the dense taiga. A sedentary bird, only occasionally undertaking long migrations in winter in search of places rich in food. In the past, when there were many black grouses, nomadic flocks of 300-500 birds were not uncommon even for the European part of the country, but now their winter flocks do not exceed several dozen.

Winter food for black grouse consists mainly of plant buds, primarily birch. During the day, the flock feeds in the trees, at night it buries itself in the snow and sleeps there. In frost and blizzard, black grouse can sit under the snow for a long time, until noon, but usually they fly out to feed at dawn. If at night the thaw is replaced by frost, those who spend the night under the snow of the black grouse in the morning find themselves in an ice trap. This is one of the reasons for the death of black grouse in winter.

In spring - in March - grouse currents begin with the first thawed patches. The place for the currents is chosen on the edges, among the swamps. The cocks who have flown here "chufykat", "mutter", spread their tail like a fan, and fight. Where there are few black grouses, they walk one by one, sometimes in the middle of the field, far from the edges or in the trees, without going down to the ground. The peak of the currents occurs in April. Black grouse do not form permanent pairs, and males do not take part in incubating and caring for offspring. Nests are arranged under a bush or small tree, not far from the currents and near the berry fields. If the eggs of the first clutch die, the female lays 2-4 more eggs. In June - early July, chicks hatch from the eggs, and after a week, feathers on their wings grow. In the morning, they feed on berry fields, in fries and unmown meadows and glades; when the bread is ripe, the birds visit them regularly.

In late August and early September, young black grouse fight off the female and lead an independent life. Summer food for black grouse - berries, grains of cereals, inflorescences of forest grasses, partly insects.

Caucasian black grouse

lives in the alpine belt of the Main Caucasian ridge and the Lesser Caucasus. It differs from the ordinary one in its smaller size; in males the braids of the tail are bent downward, in females there is a smaller “streaky” pattern on the chest. In winter, it descends from the mountains into tall fir forests.

Partridge

The Central Russian subspecies of the ptarmigan is listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation). The distribution area of ​​this bird occupies the north of the European part, Siberia, Northern Kazakhstan. In the tundra it nests on moss bogs and burned-out areas, in the southern parts of its range - along river valleys and willow thickets. In winter, it makes irregular migrations, the length of which depends on the yield of forage. In the alpine belt of mountains and tundra, partridges wander, moving to places more suitable for wintering.

These birds are interesting for the protective plumage change. In winter, they are snow-white, with a black beak and black extreme tail feathers, in summer they have a reddish-brown plumage. Various combinations of red-brown and white are characteristic of the spring and autumn plumage of these birds.

In winter, a flock of partridges keeps among shrub willows and birches, occasionally flies up to trees and pecks up the buds. At night, the birds crawl under the snow. Their paws are densely covered with feathers, so the birds move easily through the soft snow, almost without falling through. In addition to buds, in winter, partridges feed on shoots and berries dug out from under the snow.

In early spring, even before thawed patches, males begin to mourn. Then the birds are divided into pairs and placed in the nesting areas, which are vigilantly guarded from other males. At this time, fights are common among the cockerels.

The nest is arranged in a fairly secluded place and is well camouflaged. An important condition of the chosen location is the possibility of a quick take-off and good overview... In the tundra, where humans do not bother birds, there are openly located nests. The incubating female sits very tightly. Only the female incubates, but the male is near the nest.

Chicks hatch in late June - early July (depending on weather and terrain). Barely dry, they leave the nest and with both parents go to the dense bushes, to the berry fields, where they stay until the youngsters rise on the wing. It is not uncommon for several families to join together.

For partridges, several molts are characteristic: three for the female and four for the male. The ptarmigan is a herbivorous bird. Grass shoots, tree buds, plant seeds and berries form the basis of her food. Chicks, moreover, willingly eat insects.

Tundra partridge

This partridge is medium in size. The build is dense, the head is small, the relative length of the wings is somewhat longer than that of other grouse birds, the tail is relatively short and slightly rounded. In winter, the toes are fully feathered.

The tundra partridge lives in the arctic and moss tundra, subalpine and alpine mountain belts, and to the north it penetrates further than other grouse birds. Like the ptarmigan, this species has a circumpolar distribution, but its range is less extensive and has a more complex configuration. The tundra partridge lives in the north of the Kola Peninsula, the northern parts of the Ural Mountains and the Yamal and Gydan peninsulas, in Taimyr and in the Yakut tundra. Further, the northern border of the area runs mostly along the coast of the mother ka, and the southern border covers the Verkhoyansk ridge and the Aldan Upland and along the southern slopes of the Stanovoy ridge it goes to the coast of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk. Within the indicated boundaries, there are no partridges in the low-lying areas of Kamchatka, the Anadyr and Penzhina valleys, and the tundra of the lower reaches of the Kolyma and Alazeya. The tundra partridge also inhabits the mountain systems of Altai, Sayan and Khamar-Daban, occurs on the Commander and Kuril Islands and Franz Josef Land. This species lives in North America, Greenland, Iceland, Svalbard, northern parts of Great Britain and Scandinavia, and the Alps and Pyrenees. Within the range, 26 subspecies are distinguished in partridges.

The color of the plumage in winter is white, with the exception of black tail feathers (at their ends there are white apical stripes), black beak and dark claws. The cores of the primary flight feathers are also dark. Males have a so-called "bridle" - a black stripe running along the sides of the head from the corner of the mouth through the eye. Females do not have such stripes; only some individuals have individual black feathers in these places.

In the spring, males acquire a mating outfit characterized by the presence of brown feathers scattered over the head, neck and shoulders. Females have no spring dress. The summer outfit is motley: the coloration of most of the body is formed by gray feathers with transverse black, white and yellowish stripes, the belly and wings remain white.

The autumn outfit is similar to the summer one, but white winter feathers are already appearing in it. The winter molt is extended, which is an adaptation of birds to habitat in landscapes where snowless areas of the tundra alternate with areas covered with snow.

Overall for outward appearance the tundra partridge is very similar to its relative, the ptarmigan, and in field conditions(especially in winter) it is not easy to distinguish between them. The tundryanka differs from the latter by a more gray color of plumage during the snowless period, dark claws and shafts of primary primary feathers, the presence of a "bridle" in males, a thinner and more graceful beak and somewhat smaller size.

The tundra partridge predominantly leads a terrestrial life and moves well both on hard ground and on loose snow. Like ptarmigan, birds sometimes fly up trees when feeding, but this behavior is observed much less frequently in tundra women. The periods of feeding activity are morning and evening. In winter, when daylight hours are short and feeding time is limited, daytime rest is weak.

In winter, tundra partridges keep in flocks, which, however, are smaller in size than that of whites, and, as a rule, do not exceed 60-90 individuals. The most common flocks of 5-10 birds. In places of cohabitation, white and tundra partridges often keep in the same flocks; the ratio of species is, as a rule, in favor of the former. Living in mixed flocks, the tundra birds in many respects adopt the behavioral traits of the willow grouse: they stay in stages that are not typical for them - willows, become more cautious and, in case of danger, are guided by the reaction of their more "vigilant" relatives. The tundra partridges themselves are very gullible birds: even a relatively large flock of them in every second case can be completely openly approached 40-50 meters before they begin to show signs of anxiety. Single birds let a person come even closer, and quite often it is possible to approach them by 5-10 m. If you do not make sudden movements, the birds do not take off, but try to escape.

Tundra partridges are silent. Only during the breeding season or on the eve of it can you hear the voice of the male, reminiscent of the rolling "Crrrr ...". The female makes soft moaning sounds.

The favorite habitats of tundra partridges are stony tundras, characterized by alternating stone placers and areas with grassy, ​​moss, lichen, or sparse shrub cover. In the flat tundra, partridges usually keep on the tops and slopes of hills. These birds avoid thickets of bushes during the snowless period. In winter, the distribution of partridges is determined by areas of the tundra exposed from snow, where birds can find food. In many areas, they migrate from the nesting area. In wintering places, they adhere to shrubs (alders, dwarf birches, thickets of dwarf cedar, less often willows), since their buds and catkins form the basis of bird nutrition during this period.

The food of tundra partridges within the range is very diverse. In the snowless period, the basis of the diet is the seeds of various plants, flowers and leaves of blueberries, blueberries, andromeda, bulbs of viviparous buckwheat, berries, leaves and stems of crows, blueberries, lingonberries and bearberries, dryad leaves, etc. different types willows, bolls of mosses. In the north of the Far East, along with the listed feeds, birds eat cedar dwarf nuts. Animal food in the diet of adult partridges is rare, in chicks - more often, although in their diet they are not as important as in other grouse birds.

Tundra partridges are monogamous. Birds become sexually mature by the end of the first year of life. In the spring, the male occupies the nesting site, which protects from the invasion of others. First of all, the birds occupy the territories freed from snow. As a rule, males march in the morning and evening hours.

The timing of nesting is determined by the geographic location of the area and the weather conditions in spring. The nest is primitive and not much different from the nests of other black grouse birds. Usually the female makes a nest in an open place among stones or low shrubs, sometimes among hummocks; the motley grayish color of the female's plumage makes her invisible against the background of the surrounding area. The size of a full clutch usually ranges from 5 to 9 eggs, although in individual cases maybe more.Duration of incubation is 20 days.Chicks leave the nest several hours after hatching. One-day-old chicks weigh 13-14 g. Chicks grow quickly and at the age of 10 days they can already flap, and after one and a half to two months they reach the size of their parents.

In most of the range, tundra partridges make seasonal migrations. The direction of migrations of partridges is primarily determined by the direction of the river beds, along the valleys of which partridges migrate.The return of tundra partridges to their nesting sites is timed to the beginning of intense snow melting.

Woodcock

This bird is widespread throughout the forest zone of the CIS, with the exception of its northern strip. Winters in South and Central Asia and southern Europe, partly in the Crimea, in the Caucasus. The woodcock arrives in April. Soon after arrival, the thrust begins - the woodcock current. Craving begins at sunset, continues until dark, and stops briefly, resuming at dawn.

This upland sandpiper nests in deep and dark forests rich in ravines, country roads and wet lowlands. It feeds mainly on soil invertebrates (worms and insect larvae), which it extracts from the soft ground with its long beak, and to a lesser extent on plant food.

One female incubates and brings up chicks. Barely dry, chicks can run and feed on their own. In case of danger, the female carries them through the air, clamping them between the legs.

Woodcock hunting is especially interesting in spring - "on a spring draft", but catch of this type of upland game also available in summer and autumn.

Pigeons

Among the representatives of this order, the most common among us are wood pigeons, vituten. Pigeons are common in the European part of the CIS, Western Siberia, eastward to the Irtysh and in Central Asia. Migrant... Appears at the end of April May. Soon after arriving on a tree (mainly CONIFEROUS), he builds a nest or finds a suitable (empty) crow. Both parents are involved in incubating eggs and in all other cares for the chicks. Young chicks are completely helpless. Adult birds feed them, regurgitating "goiter milk". Grown young growth, like adults, feeds on plant food. In autumn, wood pigs often fly out to feed in the fields. They often and willingly drink, fly to the watering hole in the same place several times a day. Pigeons spend the night in tall trees.

In addition to the wood pigeon, in the hunting grounds of our country there are other pigeons - smaller and less important for fishing and amateur hunting: rock dove, clintuch, common and ringed turtle doves and etc.