Diagram of migratory and wintering birds. Wintering birds. Which birds are called migratory and which are not

In the cold season, it is important for many birds to feed themselves. But there is a lot of snow outside the window, and the birds cannot find food in the snowdrifts. In order not to die, birds fly to warm lands.

Wintering and migratory birds: a brief summary for children

Rook. Kind of crow. In the north it is a migratory bird, in the southern countries it is a settled bird. Rooks nest in large colonies. In large settlements rook is a common wintering bird.

Stork. One of the most famous migratory birds for children. Prefers to avoid people, lives in the forest zone of Eurasia.

Nightingale. Lives in river valleys, in bushes, a very small migratory bird, flies to Africa for wintering.

Sparrow. This mobile small bird remains to winter with the person. Sparrow is very fond of bread crumbs, but is wary of people who feed him.

Titmouse. This is a wandering bird. Depending on the season, it can hibernate or move from place to place in search of food.

Magpie. A sedentary bird from the crows, often lives near a person.

Migratory and wintering birds: pictures

Tasks for the baby

Find the migratory birds in the picture and circle them.

Read the names of birds. Which of them winter in your city?

Show how the birds, fluffed up in the frost, sit.

Migratory and wintering birds: presentation

1. The rooks like to follow in large flocks the tractor plowing the land.
2. The magpie is the only bird (and not a mammal) that can recognize itself in a mirror. For comparison, the parrot does not recognize itself in the mirror, but takes its own reflection for another parrot.
3. A migratory bird, the pink gull, which lives in Greenland and in the north-east of Siberia, does not fly to the South when frost sets in, but flies to the North. This is due to the fact that the coast of the Arctic Ocean is not completely covered with ice, and pink gulls can overwinter there, feeding on crustaceans and fish.
4. There are pigeons that cannot fly. This breed is called salon roller.
5. Raven and crow - this is completely different birds rather than male and female. The raven is about 10 cm longer than the raven.
6. Some storks periodically fall asleep during the flight. A tired bird moves to the center of the key, closes its eyes and dozes for about 10 minutes. At this time, acute hearing helps the stork to keep the height and direction of flight. The black swift can also fall asleep during the flight.
7. Birds do not have sweat glands, and the feathered temperature is 8 degrees higher than that of humans. Three-quarters of the air inhaled by birds goes to cool the body. But in winter, some birds do not freeze like a person.
8. Birds fly in wedges so that each individual can save their energy. Each bird flies after its neighbor, falling into the air flow created by the wings of the previous individual. In this case, the leader is the hardest of all - this is the most enduring individual, flying ahead of the whole flock.
9. Swifts and pigeons can reach speeds of about 300 km / h, gulls can accelerate to about 160 km / h.
10. The condor is the largest bird among those that can fly. It weighs about 15 kg, and its wingspan is up to three meters.

Wintering birds are those birds that, with the advent of winter, do not fly south, but remain wintering in their native land. Those that fly south are called migratory birds. And there are also nomadic birds. They are called nomads who constantly move from place to place in search of food. Migratory birds can be found in both winter and summer. But most often we see them in winter. Why? Yes, because in search of food, birds in winter constantly huddle up to human habitation. Therefore, in winter you can see wintering and nomadic birds. All of them can be called wintering.

What birds stay for the winter? It would seem that the answer to this question is clear. There are those who are able to endure the cold. But this is not the main reason at all. Cold can only endure well-fed birds. Therefore, only those birds remain that are able to find food for themselves in winter. Those that feed on insects will not be able to feed themselves in winter. All insects disappear during cold weather. Some hide in warm and secluded places. Most insects simply die after leaving a sufficient supply of eggs. So the birds are forced to fly to those regions where there is no winter and there is enough food. Only those who feed on seeds, grains, and berries remain wintering. But they also have a hard time.

For birds, winter is a very difficult time of the year. Hungry and cold poor birds. Because of the cold, winter birds lose a lot of heat. In order to keep warm, birds need to eat a lot, and in winter they need much more food than in summer. Searching for food is the main activity for birds in winter. It gets dark quickly, and in the dark you can’t find food. Therefore, from dawn until dark, birds in winter look for food. And whoever is left hungry will disappear at night, freeze! “The well-fed frosts are not terrible” - this can be said about birds.

And yet, in severe frosts, winter birds are very unwell. Especially when the frost is lingering. Many fairy tales of the northern peoples say: "It was so cold that the birds froze on the fly."

Often in frost, birds do not fly, but sit ruffled. Why? It turns out that they do not fly in the cold, because the bird freezes much faster in flight. When a bird sits, it has still air between its feathers. It does not let the cold to the bird's body and retains heat. In flight, frosty air rushes from all sides to the bird's body, and it freezes on the fly.

And you can also see in winter frosts how the bird stands on one or the other leg. Why is she doing this? The bird warms its legs by alternately raising them from the cold ground.

To keep warm, the birds are closely pressed against each other, hiding their beaks under the wing. Even those birds in winter that live alone in summer stray into flocks. This makes it easier for them to get through the winter. One bird found food - she immediately notified everyone. That's all and full. It is easier for the flock to notice the approaching danger. Yes, and the birds warm up, clinging to each other.

How else do birds escape the cold?

Black grouse, hazel grouse, capercaillie and partridge escape the cold in deep snow. In the evening, a flock of trees falls like stones into a snowdrift and hides in it from the wind and frost. And in the morning it takes off to feed again on buds and needles. In severe frosts, the flock can remain in the snow all day. But even in a snowdrift, birds can be in danger if a hard crust forms on it, and the birds do not have enough strength to break through it and get out.

For some birds, the long winter forces them to make substantial stocks. So the nutcracker stores pine nuts. She makes tens of thousands of bookmarks of nuts in secluded places, 10–20 pieces each, and remembers them for several months! Of course, some of the reserves are stolen by other inhabitants of the taiga, from chipmunks to bears, sometimes forgotten "treasures" sprout, give rise to new groves of Siberian pine.

There is a bird that has adapted to the conditions of winter so much that it even breeds chicks in winter. This is a cross. In our country there is a crossbill-spruce. These birds feed on seeds from the cones of coniferous trees, deftly extracting them from the cones with a crossed beak. In January-February, they begin to build warm two-layer nests. The male sitting on the nest brings food to the female, she incubates the eggs for a little more than two weeks, and then the parents feed the chicks for another three weeks.

Flocks of bright bullfinches and waxwings fly noisily from one tree or small-fruited apple tree to another. Many pecked berries remain on the snow under the trees. Overripe berries during the thaw can ferment, then the birds, having eaten them, behave like drunks. They lose their bearings, hit the walls and fall.

Birds need help in winter, make feeders for them and regularly pour food into them.

Feed the birds in winter.

Let from all over

They will flock to you, like home,

Stakes on the porch.

Their food is not rich.

Need a handful of grain

One handful -

And not scary

They will have winter.

How many of them die - do not count,

It's hard to see.

But in our heart there is

And the birds are warm.

Is it possible to forget:

Could fly away

And stayed for the winter

Along with people.

Train the birds in the cold

To your window

So that without songs it was not necessary

We welcome spring.

Proverbs and sayings about winter birds

Sparrows chirp together - it means there will be a thaw.

In which direction the crow sat down with its nose - from there there will be a wind.

Ravens hide their beak under their wings - to the cold.

Birds sit on the tops of trees - it will be warm.

Titmouse squeak in the morning - it means it will be frost.

Poems about wintering birds

Poems about Crow

Coloration - greyish,

Habit - thievish,

hoarse screamer

Famous person.

Hoodie!

Poems about Sparrow

Jumping, jumping sparrow,

Calls of small children:

Throw the crumbs to the sparrow -

I'll sing you a song

Chick-chirp!

Throw millet and barley -

I will sing to you all day

Chick-chirp!

Poems about Magpie

Forty flew to us

Belogruda, white-sided,

crackled, jumped,

I crushed the loose bed,

I dug my beak somewhere,

I wet my tail in a puddle,

Then she shook her feathers,

Ran and fluttered!

Poems about tits

Early bird jumping

On the snow-covered branches

yellow-breasted tits

They came to visit us.

"Tin-shadow, Tili-shadow,

The winter day is getting shorter

You won't have time to eat

The sun will set behind the fence.

No mosquito, no fly.

Everywhere only snow and snow.

It's good that we have feeders

Made by a kind person!

Poems about waxwings

Outside the window, blizzards are sweeping,

But sometimes it happens

Waxwings are coming

Peck berries in spring.

The hawthorn bush bends

From the pressure of bird flocks.

Silver ringing rushes

Glorifying the cold harvest.

They moved to the mountain ash,

They drank scarlet berries,

And trills in the frosty air

A thin echo rushed.

Poems about Bullfinch

Bullfinches are a funny bird,

Not afraid of winter at all

Comes to visit in winter

He doesn't notice the cold.

This red-breasted bird

Forest winter singer.

The forest is a glorious home for her in winter,

Bullfinches are looking for food there.

Small bird,

Can be an example to many:

How to live in a cold forest

To live and not grieve at all.

A flock of bullfinches fly,

The gifts of the forest are collected:

dry flower seeds,

And berries of forest bushes.

Their flocks of red-chested in a row,

It's like a parade for the forest.

Often flocks of bullfinches,

People fly into the cities.

They eat winter rowan,

Everyone is waiting for spring.

Names of migratory and wintering birds.

They all lead a similar lifestyle, but some of them fly away to warmer climes with the arrival of cold weather, while others quietly remain in their chosen territory and wait out rain, snow and frost in a secluded place. In our article, we will try to understand in more detail the behavior of birds, and also tell which of them are migratory and which are wintering.

What is the difference between migratory birds and wintering birds: presentation for preschoolers

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Above you can see a presentation from which you can find out how migratory and wintering birds differ from each other. In addition, you will learn what one and the other species eat, and in what nests they live. Our presentation will help you get a complete picture of the life of the birds living in our territory, as well as see how they look in nature.

Migratory, nomadic birds: a list with names, photos

Goldfinch. This bird has a rather bright color, making it noticeable even among the green foliage. Her feathers are white, yellow, red and black. In size, the goldfinch is even smaller than a sparrow, but its briskness and endurance allow it to easily cover long distances, practically without taking long breaks. Most often they settle in gardens or deciduous groves, where they breed their offspring.

Chizh. This migratory bird is somewhat similar to the goldfinch. It also has a bright color and small size. The yellow-black color makes this bird very colorful and thanks to this it does not get lost against the background of coniferous trees, on which it most often settles. These birds do not like to sit in one place, so they are always on the move.

Martin. Another small bird that moves to warmer climes for the winter. All types of swallows have a black, almost coal-colored upper body, a large mouth and easily recognizable sharp wings and tail. This bird moves exclusively through the air, and practically does not walk on the ground. She descends to the ground only to collect material for her future nest.

Rook. Quite often people confuse a rook and a crow. Yes, these birds have the same black plumage and a similar body shape. But still, rooks have characteristic differences that help to distinguish them from crows. They are smaller and have a non-feathered focus of skin on the head.

These birds do not like noise, so they try to settle away from cities, in coniferous and deciduous forests. They eat completely different foods. Depending on the habitat and season, these can be insects or plant seeds.

Thrush. This species of birds has a gray-red color, on which there are dark spots. Most often they are located in the abdomen and on the wings. Thrushes are not very fastidious birds, so they can live anywhere there is food and shrubs in which they can nest. These birds feed mainly on worms, midges and butterflies.

Thrushes belong to those species of birds that are very attentive to their offspring. As a rule, they do not leave their chicks for a long time, and if they leave, they try to fly away at such a distance to hear their cry.

Nightingale. This small and inconspicuous bird is familiar to almost everyone, but as practice shows, most often it is not recognized by appearance but by beautiful and memorable singing. Deciduous forests are considered the ideal habitat for nightingales. If for some reason they settle closer to people, then, as a rule, they choose gardens in which there are dense shrubs.

Starling. This type of migratory bird has a dark color, which changes its ebb depending on the season and age. As a rule, in summer and autumn they have black plumage with a pinkish, blue or bronze tint. In the spring, when the starlings return from wintering, they begin a period of intense molting, and the color and feathers become a little faded and acquire a slightly brown tint.

Cuckoo. It is small and grey-brown in color. Brown sometimes even the red color of plumage is more inherent in females. But the males at any time of the year remain dark gray. The only similar feature of representatives of this species are noticeable yellow paws. Cuckoos most often live in forests, but they are not tied to one place. Moreover, they even lay their offspring to other birds. Having taken care of the continuation of her kind, she immediately flies away and never returns to her chick.

Duck. This bird species prefers to live and nest away from people. As a rule, for this they choose the most secluded places near the water or on small islands located on forest swamps or lakes. Ducks feed mainly on vegetation, but sometimes they also eat small acorns.

Swift. Recently, it has become considered an urban bird that feels comfortable on the roofs of high-rise buildings. It is here that he builds his nests, lays eggs and raises chicks. With the advent of autumn, swifts leave their habitable place without regret and go with their relatives to warm climes for the winter.

Wagtail. A thermophilic bird that does not tolerate cold. That is why, with the approach of cold weather, it breaks away from its homes and goes to warmer climes. In summer, the wagtail lives in low hollows or between the roots of large trees and feeds on various midges.

Quail. Despite their small size and fragility, wild quail is also a migratory bird. As a rule, these birds return from wintering when the air warms up thoroughly and young, stable greenery appears. They usually appear in their homes in late April to early May.

Crane. Prefers to live in swampy areas away from noisy civilization. In search of food, it can fly into small towns and villages, but, as a rule, it descends to the ground only in wetlands or wet meadows.

Heron. A migratory bird that can leave their homes as early as August. Most often, she flies away so early if she feels the approach of cold weather. If the autumn is warm, then it can remain in its habitable place until mid-October.

Stork. It is a wading bird, for which it is preferable to live as close to water as possible. But since storks are very hardy, they calmly settle on the roofs of houses and periodically go hunting.

Finch. A nimble bird that feels equally good both in the city and in the wilderness. It feeds on midges, buds, seeds and young vegetation.

Lark. It prefers to live on the ground and only occasionally rises to the sky. It flies long distances only when it goes to winter. Nests in tall grass near small shrubs.

Gull. Feels great in the thickets of reeds. It prefers to nest here and raise its chicks. Both parents take care of the babies. After the chicks take to the wing, they live on their own.

Oriole. Refers to those birds that leave very early for wintering. Most often, already in mid-October, it arrives in warmer climes and settles in a new place. The oriole returns back only in mid-May.

Swan. Very beautiful bird who prefers to live away from people. Swans settle on shallow lakes, where they lay eggs and raise chicks on the shallows.

Falcon. He loves loneliness, so he tries not to let anyone into his territory. It is considered a bird of prey that preys on small rodents. It tries to nest very high, sometimes settles even on the roofs of houses.

Settled, wintering birds: a list with names, photos

Woodpecker. A wintering bird that easily tolerates cold and frost. They settle in the hollows of old trees away from noisy places. As a rule, trees are chosen that serve both as a home and provide food in winter.

Crossbill. Sometimes this bird is also called Christ. She got this name because of the peculiarly curved beak, which visually resembles an Orthodox cross. In fact, this bird has nothing to do with religion, and such an interesting beak shape helps it extract seeds from spruce and pine cones.

One more hallmark of these birds is the ability to hang head down. In this, thin tenacious paws help her, which securely fix her on branches of any thickness.

Owl. This bird is a nocturnal predator. As a rule, during the day she practically does not move and is in a calm state. The owl hunts in most cases at night and feeds on mice or mouse-like Georgians.

Sparrow. These little birds calmly get along with a person, so they can choose the roof of a house or a summer gazebo for their housing. They eat whatever. They can eat seeds, viburnum, mountain ash, grain and even waste of human food. They begin to breed in early spring, and most often they do not build their own nests, but lay their eggs in those left by other birds.

Magpie. It has a very peculiar color, which does not confuse it with other birds. The magpie living on our territory has a black back and head and a white tummy, and a barrel. Magpie can live anywhere where there are trees. Therefore, it can be found both in the forest and in the city park.

Pigeon. A very common bird species that is not afraid of people. If they live in the same territory for a long time, they do not bother with the search for food and eat everything that remains after people. IN wild nature It feeds on seeds that it finds near various shrubs.

Crow. Another wintering bird that is not afraid of severe frosts. Since she is not too picky in food, with the advent of cold weather she tries to move closer to people and eat what they did not have time to hide. These birds love loneliness, so they rarely gather in flocks.

Gaitka. Refers to the type of titmouse, preferring to lead a sedentary lifestyle. But unlike the tits that are more familiar to us, they settle away from people, in dense forests where there are many berry bushes. Various berries and seeds are the main source of its nutrition.

Bullfinch. A wintering bird that tries to stay closer to humans in winter. Bullfinches live in flocks, which allows them to fend off larger and predatory birds. It feeds mainly on buds, shoots, seeds and young leaves.

Owl. Since he is a close relative of the owl, it also remains to winter. True, unlike his other relatives, he does not tolerate cold well, so he spends more time in a well-equipped hollow, from which he gets out exclusively for night hunting.

Grouse. This interesting bird lives in birch forests. She spends all day in the trees, intensively feeding on kidneys. With the onset of darkness, she sinks to the ground and burrows into the snow, making a small tunnel for this, at the end of which she equips a convenient chamber.

Waxwing. An interesting bird that spends most of its life looking for food. Almost all the time, she flies from one tree to another, while looking for something to profit from. Such gluttony leads to the fact that part of the seeds she eats is not digested by the stomach and returns to the ground unchanged. For such a feature of the body, the waxwing is called a useful glutton.

Tawny owl. This beautiful bird is a direct relative of the owl, so it also leads a mostly nocturnal lifestyle. Its only difference from other relatives is a special attachment to one place.

Grouse. It has a noticeable crest, which allows you to identify it as correctly as possible. Settles mainly in spruce forests. Since he cannot fly long distances, he leads a sedentary lifestyle.

Jay. Prefers to lead a sedentary lifestyle. Settles in deciduous or mixed forests. In spring and summer, it feeds on small overweight, and with the advent of winter, it switches to seeds and frozen berries.

Robin. The ideal habitat for this bird is a deciduous forest with moist soil. In such a place, she easily finds earthworms, snails and slugs. In winter, when all this living creatures disappear, it switches to plant food or feeds on what people have left.

Jackdaw. Quite a large bird that lives quietly near people. It can eat both plant foods and food waste. Winters, as a rule, together with crows.

Wren. A small bird that spends the summer in a coniferous forest, feeding on buds, seeds and midges. With the advent of cold weather, the kings huddle in flocks and move closer to people. During this period they live in gardens and parks.

Why do migratory birds fly to warmer climes where they spend the winter, why do they come back?

Migratory birds fly to warmer climes so as not to starve in winter

Most people mistakenly think that birds fly to warmer climes because cold weather is coming. Yes, it also indirectly affects their behavior, but still, most of them can quite easily endure the cold.

Birds break away from their homes due to the fact that in autumn and winter the amount of food is sharply reduced. Therefore, in order not to die of hunger, they have to migrate and look for places where they can eat the same way as before. Birds can winter in India, Africa, Greece, Spain, Italy or the British Isles.

Which birds are the first and last to arrive in spring?

Wagtails are the first to arrive in spring.

Oddly enough, it sounds, but the birds adhere to a certain schedule for arriving home. Wagtails are the first to return from wintering. Very often these birds can be seen on ice floes that have not yet melted. Geese, cranes, gulls and ducks return in mid-spring. In late May and early July, the most heat-loving birds, swallows and orioles, appear.

Do migratory birds nest in the south?

Migratory birds don't nest in the south

As you know, birds make nests solely in order to lay eggs and hatch offspring. And since all migratory birds breed in the very territory in which they themselves appeared, they do not need to nest in warm regions. Most of them simply recuperate during wintering in order to easily endure the return journey.

Which birds are the first and last to fly away in autumn?

Swifts fly first in autumn

Swifts are the first to be removed from their homes. This is due to the fact that they spend most of their time high in the sky. And since it becomes too chilly there with the approach of cold weather, they simply begin to migrate in order not to fall lower.

Geese and ducks are the latest to go to warmer climes. They remain in their habitats as long as there is at least minimal vegetation. But as soon as the first frost hits, they gather in flocks and go to winter.

A flock of what migratory birds promises snow?

Geese have always been considered harbingers of snow. This is due to the fact that they are the last to go to warmer climes, as if anticipating that very soon the earth will be covered with a white veil. That is why, as soon as flocks of geese appeared in the sky, people began to warm up more intensively and prepare for the onset of cold weather.

Which bird in the order Galliformes is a migratory bird?

Quail flies to warmer climes

We are accustomed to consider galliformes as sedentary birds that are incapable of long flights. But even among them there is a species that decides on such a long journey. A small and fragile quail, in order not to winter in the cold, goes with all migratory birds to warm lands. As a rule, it winters in Southwest Asia or Africa.

Video: Migratory birds. For children about birds

Many birds have become the messengers of spring. And this is no accident.

In winter, everything calms down, nature freezes, and the birds chirp is almost inaudible. But in the spring the world is again filled with sound. The migratory birds are back.

Sounds great, right? But in May-June I hardly fall asleep, the birds sing so loudly under my window. The earliest are thrushes. Three o'clock in the morning - they are already cracking.

In general, migratory birds delight with their return, of course, but waking up with the first roosters of thrushes is not very pleasant.

But back a little closer to the topic.

Why do birds fly away

Not because of the desire to change places.

One of the main factors is cold. Not every bird can survive thirty-degree frosts.

But winter is not only frost, it is also a sharp decrease in the amount of food resources. In this sense, omnivorous birds and "townspeople" birds have the least worries.

Typical non-migratory inhabitants of the city:

• hoodie;
• house sparrow;
• gray dove.

Such types of animals that constantly coexist with humans are called synanthropic.

For waterfowl open water is critical. Ducks are migratory birds, but in the presence of non-freezing reservoirs they winter well, which can be regularly observed in Moscow.

And this is not the only example when birds of the same species behave differently. They play a big role climatic conditions region and availability of forage

Which birds are called migratory and which are not

There are birds that move quite actively throughout the year, but migratory, strictly speaking, are not.

Birds are:

• migratory;
• nomadic;
• settled.

Migratory birds are characterized annual seasonal migrations(flights).

But even settled birds can appear and disappear like swallows.

In winter, in cities you can often see handsome bullfinches, which suddenly "disappear" somewhere in the summer. Are they airborne? No.

You can see them even in summer in forests And large parks. It’s just that they don’t need to visit the city in search of food, since there is enough of it, and they are less visible among the leaves than on bare branches in winter.

Birds may also fly away from their homes if they are no longer habitable. migratory they don't get it. The reasons for this change of residence may be Forest fires, active human activity in this territory, etc.

Migratory birds seem to live in two houses: they have different wintering and nesting places, they can be located at a considerable distance from each other. Often the migration takes place in several stages, between which the birds take a break to rest. The list of such birds is quite extensive. Birds begin to leave their permanent habitat at different periods: for example, orioles, nightingales, swifts begin to travel at the end of summer, although there are still warm days and food for them is a real abundance. And waterfowl (swans, ducks) leave their reservoirs very late, waiting for the first frosts.

Reasons for flying

Birds are most often thermophilic, their body is characterized by elevated temperature (often it exceeds 40 ° C). However, feathers protect them well from the cold, which is why, of course, they can live in the cold conditions of a harsh winter. But for this they need more food. And in the snowy season, getting food is not easy! That is why birds have to leave their nests and fly to distant countries rich in food. As a rule, the inhabitants of the tundra and taiga are more susceptible to flights, where natural conditions are the most severe, and food is extremely scarce in winter. A regularity was also revealed: most often insectivorous and carnivorous birds migrate, less often - granivorous. The reason for this is obvious: you can find grain in winter, but even the sharpest beak will not get insects from under the snow. A large number of migratory and among the inhabitants of the middle zone.

Why they return There is no clear answer to the question of what prompts birds to leave warm places rich in food and return, overcoming great distances to abandoned nests.

Scientists have put forward several hypotheses:

Appearance and behavior

Large heron, body length 90–98 cm, weight 1.1–2.3 kg, wingspan 175–195 cm. The color is generally gray, sometimes very light individuals are found. In adult birds during the mating season, a thin crest is on the head, elongated feathers are visible at the bottom of the neck. A sedentary bird, able to stand for hours in shallow water or at the edge of reed beds, practically without changing its posture. Sometimes it is found in dry places, where it behaves in the same way. Often sits on trees, especially likes individual protruding dry branches. In danger, it flies away, rises from the ground easily, without a run, even from dense thickets. The flight is light and unhurried; during the flight in a group, gray herons often line up in a line or wedge. Active around the clock.

Description

The main tone of the color is ash-gray, the flight and tail feathers are almost black, on the underside of the neck there are longitudinal dark streaks, the belly is white, the sides of the body are black, in a standing bird a black-and-white spot stands out on the wing fold. In adult birds, the head is almost white, only a black “bandage” stretches from the eye to the back of the head, turning into a thin hanging braid. Young birds are less contrasting, their head is grayish, with a black “cap”. The legs are greenish-gray, the beak of adult birds is yellow, in the mating season it is pinkish, the eyes are yellow. Young birds have a two-color beak - the mandible is black, the mandible is yellow. The down of the chicks is light gray. The flying gray herons are well distinguished from the red herons by the contrasting coloration of the wings (light gray and black) and longer legs.

Distribution, status

The breeding range covers a significant part of Eurasia and Africa. In European Russia, the most widespread heron, found from Karelia in the north to the Black Sea coast in the south. In the middle lane - a migratory bird, in the south it sometimes hibernates, in last years there were winter meetings near Moscow. It is common, although not numerous, in the south in many places it is inferior in number to other types of herons - for example, little white or night heron. In spring it arrives very early, the first birds near the colonies can be seen even when there is snow all around and water bodies are covered with ice. Flies away late, some birds linger almost until freezing.

Lifestyle

Settles in various water bodies, usually nests in colonies - mainly on trees, as well as in flooded bushes or reed beds. Colonies can be located in the forest at a distance of up to several kilometers from the reservoir. Colonies vary in size, with several hundred pairs nesting together in the south of the region. Nests, like those of other herons, are shaped like an inverted cone with translucent walls through which eggs are clearly visible. When nesting in trees and shrubs, the main building material thin dry rods and branches serve. Nests are extremely light, so thin tree branches and reed stalks support them.

Pairs form for life. The clutch contains 3-5 greenish-blue eggs the size of a chicken or slightly larger. The clutch is incubated mainly by the female. Newborn chicks are completely helpless, but sighted. Adult birds feed them by regurgitating semi-digested food. Chicks rise to their feet about 2 weeks after hatching. In a strong wind, the grown chicks often fall out of the nests located on the trees. In this case, they are almost certainly doomed to death, since the parents do not feed the chicks outside the nest, and they are not able to return there on their own, not being able to fly.

Buzzard - Buteo buteo

Description

A medium-sized predator, about a third larger than a crow, with a dense build, with wide, rounded wings. The tail is relatively short and wide, with a straight cut, only the corners are slightly rounded. The color of adults is very variable, from almost completely dark brown or brown to red or reddish-buff. In birds of all variations, on the lower surface of the wing, the bases of the primary, and often the secondary primaries, are light and form a continuous pale field on the wing, more or less mottled.

The upperparts are darker, on the wing the light field usually occupies only the bases of the primaries, the dark stripe along the trailing edge of the wing often merges with the rest of the dark upperparts.

Many birds on the chest, as a rule, have a brightening in the form of a transverse stripe, often the underside of the body is covered with spots and streaks. There is a dark stripe along the rear edge of the wings below, at the end of the tail there is also a dark stripe, and several smaller and less distinct stripes are often visible (in some individuals, the striping of the tail is weakly expressed). The tail when soaring is usually wide open and often the extreme helmsmen go beyond the trailing edge of the wings. Weight 550-1300 g, length 46-53, male wing 34.3-37.2, female 35.8-38.6, span 100-130 cm.

Spreading

Breeds in the valley of the middle reaches of the Urals, in Northern Kazakhstan, in the Kokchetav highlands, in the forests of the mountain groups of the Kazakh uplands, in Kalba, in the South-Western Altai, Black Irtysh. Occasionally nests in the Naurzum forest. During the migration period, it is found everywhere.

Biology

A rare nesting bird, but during seasonal movements its numbers are very high. Inhabits floodplain forests, lowland and mountain coniferous forests with nearby open steppe areas. In spring in the southern regions appears in mid-March - early April, most birds migrate in April, the last migrants are observed in mid-May. In the northern regions appears from mid-April. It flies both singly and in small groups and in flocks of up to 50 birds. The nest is located in the upper part of deciduous (birch, aspen, poplar) or coniferous (pine, spruce, fir) trees at a height of 4-15 m from the ground; a nest is built from dry branches, the tray is laid out with old grass and hair, often also with green branches, especially after the appearance of chicks.

Clutch of 3-4, less often 5 eggs is produced in late April - May. Probably both parents incubate the clutch for about a month. Chicks appear in late May - June, both parents feed the chicks, which fledge in July - early August. But for more than a month, the chicks depend on their parents for food. Autumn migration begins in mid-August - early September; buzzards disappear from the northern regions already in mid-late September. At the Chokpak Pass, the peak of migration occurs in mid-September, when several thousand buzzards can be counted per day. The last migrating birds are observed in mid-late October.

Harrier - Circus cyaneus

Description

The field harrier is a bird of the falconiformes order, listed in the Red Book of the Moscow Region.

Medium sized bird of prey with rather long wings and tail. The male is ash gray (gray), with a slightly lighter belly. The white loin is clearly visible. The outer primaries are black. The female is reddish-brown with a wide white stripe on the lower back. The back is plain, the belly is mottled. Harriers have a prominent owl-like facial disc, which distinguishes them from other diurnal predators. During current flights, the male emits a quick call “check-ek-ek-ek…”. The female, when disturbed, makes a series of rattling calls “ki-ki-ki-ki-ki…”.

Habitat and lifestyle

The field harrier has a wide range, covering a significant territory of the northern hemisphere - the entire north of Eurasia, most of North America. Settles in meadows, clearings, overgrown fields, among shrubs, avoiding dense forests.

Birds actively hunt both during daylight hours and at dusk. They feed mainly on mouse-like rodents, but play a significant role in nutrition. small birds. Rarely prey on large insects, amphibians and reptiles. Occasionally it may feed on carrion. Flight view. They winter in Africa, southern and central Asia and southern Europe. Very rarely, in winters with little snow, rich in rodents, individual birds remain in our strip.

reproduction

They appear on nesting sites in April, when large thawed patches appear on the ground. They fly singly. The nest is built on the ground, among bushes or weeds, lined with grass. In laying from 2 to 8 eggs. Eggs are mostly white, but sometimes with a bluish tint, possibly with faint reddish spots. Only the female incubates for more than three weeks, the male feeds her on the nest. The chicks stay in the nest for about 6 weeks. After departure, the brood stays with their parents for some time, who feed the young. They migrate for wintering in September-October.

Hobby – Falco subbuteo

Description

The color of the head resembles a peregrine falcon in miniature. It is distinguished by a blue-black upper body and a creamy-white lower part with dark longitudinal spots; the underbelly and undertail are chestnut, with yellowish streaks in young individuals. Male and female are almost indistinguishable.

Spreading

Migratory species, migrates over long distances. There are 2 subspecies distributed in Eurasia and North Africa. Not found in northwestern Europe. Winters in South Africa. In Italy, the breeding population is 400-700 pairs, more common here during migrations.

Habitat

It lives in broad-leaved and coniferous forests with vast glades, which it hunts. In the Mediterranean, it is common in coastal pine forests, sometimes it can be found in poplar groves or in city parks.

Biology

The breeding season of the hobby begins late. From mid-May, he looks for an abandoned nest of a corvid, wood pigeon or some kind of predator, where he then lays 3 yellowish-brown eggs with red-brown spots. Incubation is carried out almost exclusively by the female and lasts 28–31 days. Young begin to fly 28-34 days after birth. One clutch per year. Hobbies feed on large insects and birds, which they catch most often at twilight. Often swallows food in flight.

Kestrel - Falco tinnunculus

Appearance

The kestrel is a widespread and very useful bird. The total length of the kestrel is 31-38 cm, the wing length is 23-27.5 cm, and the weight is 180-240 g. The kestrel inhabits forests (except for deaf closed massifs), forest-steppes, parks, gardens, cities, mountains and deserts. In our country, the common kestrel is a migratory bird. With regard to nesting conditions, the common kestrel is a very unpretentious bird: it nests on rocks, along cliffs, in trees (also in hollows), in human structures, in holes on the ground. The kestrel does not build its own nests, it often occupies the buildings of other birds, and if they are not available, it is limited to the internal lining of the nest.

reproduction

Eggs in a clutch are usually 4-5, sometimes more (up to 8) or less (3). Eggs are buffy with rusty-brown streaks. Incubation, in which both parents participate, lasts 28 days, and a month after hatching or a little later, the chicks fledge. The broods of the common kestrel do not disintegrate before departure. The kestrel eats a variety of foods.

Nutrition

Unlike Peregrine Falcons and Hobbies, the Common Kestrel takes its prey mainly from the ground. Looking out for prey, the kestrel at a low altitude often “shakes” in the air on the spot (whence one of the popular names for the bird is “shaking”). Small mammals (mainly rodents), small birds (flies), lizards and insects are the main food of this falcon.

Crake - Crex crex

Description and dimensions

The size of the corncrake is somewhat larger than the quail. The body length of the corncrake reaches 13-15 centimeters, weight is 130-150 grams. Older birds are more weighty due to the presence of fat. The corncrake has a short beak and reddish plumage with dark streaks. When flying, covering reddish feathers are visible on its wings. Despite the small length (from 1.9 to 2.3 centimeters), the bird's beak is very wide at the base, pale, brownish-brown in color. The center of the corncrake's feathers is dark, the ends are gray. The chest and goiter are also gray. Throat - light (in the lower part). Sides and belly - with red lines, ocher-light. The tail is short. The body is flattened on the sides, like a moorhen.

Corncrake habitats

In contrast to other representatives of the shepherd Corncrake chooses not too wet places as the main habitats– Moderately moist sedge marshes and slightly damp meadows with tall and lush vegetation. The corncrake also keeps in grain crops near wet lowlands, in shrubby swamps and floodplains. In general, the corncrake eschews open water bodies and excessively damp areas. By the end of the summer season, it can move to dry places - to stubble, forest cuts and meadows. For a normal life, this bird needs dense grasses that hide it from the eyes of strangers and from natural enemies.

Corncrake habitats:

• from the western borders of Russia to Altai;
• from the lower reaches to the upper reaches of the Lena in Siberia;
• in the regions of the circumpolar circle;
• in the Caucasus;
• in Central and Asia Minor;
• in Western Europe.

Crake eats both plant and animal food., therefore, he prefers grass seeds, tender shoots and roots in the same way as slugs, worms and various insects. In autumn, the corncrake grazes in the stubble, pecking at wheat grains.

Conclusion of the young at the corncrake

For arranging nests, the corncrake chooses calm places with very high vegetation - ordinary grassy meadows, sedge swamps that are not prone to moisture, places with lush grass, swamps with bushes, lowlands. The nest builds right on the ground, carefully masking it at the foot of a bush or among thorny thickets. The basis for the construction of nests chooses ordinary grass, skillfully intertwining single thin stems. Mostly females are involved in nesting affairs - males have nothing to do with this. Consequently, both the construction of the nest, and the hatching of young animals, and the feeding and upbringing of young birds lie mainly only on females.

Lapwing – Vanellus vanellus

Description

Lapwing the size of a jackdaw or slightly smaller. It is easily distinguished from other shorebirds by its black and white coloration and blunt wings. Upper side with a strong metallic green, bronze and purple sheen; black chest; sides of the body, abdomen and sides of the head are white; tail coverts are rufous; the main half of the tail feathers, as in all species related to the lapwing, are pure white; on the head is a crest of very narrow long feathers. In the summer plumage, both the throat and goiter are black; in the winter, a large admixture of white feathers is noticeable here. The beak is black; dark brown eyes; crimson four-toed feet. The wing measures 21.5–23.75 centimeters.

Spreading

The lapwing is distributed from the Atlantic to the Pacific, south of the Arctic Circle; in most of this range, the lapwing is a resident; in Western Europe, the settled area begins from the southern coast of the Baltic Sea. Migratory individuals winter in the Mediterranean basin, Asia Minor, Persia, North India, China and South Japan. Lapwing arrives at nesting sites very early, depending on the latitude - from late February to early April, and settles in damp meadows and grassy swamps covered with sparse bushes.

Not afraid to settle next to a person. Lapwing is a wonderful flyer, and males entertain females with air games during the mating season. The first lapwings arrive at a time when the snow cover remains on the fields and the first thawed patches are just appearing, so worsening weather often forces them to temporarily migrate to more southern regions. They always fly in the daytime in small transversely elongated flocks.

reproduction

The nest is built in a hole in the ground, which is lined with very little plant matter. The female lays 4 eggs, which she incubates with the male; Chicks are great at hiding when danger approaches. Before departure, lapwings gather in flocks, often reaching up to several hundred birds, and leave the northern nesting sites at the end of August, while remaining in the south until frost.

Lapwing nests in colonies, but not very closely, or in separate pairs. The appearance of an unwanted alien causes a commotion throughout the colony: birds with loud piercing cries and a variety of plaintive intonations begin to circle over the enemy, flying very close. If a crow or a hawk flies over a spring meadow, the lapwings take turns chasing the enemy as it flies over their nesting areas. However, the lapwing cannot drive away agricultural machinery, and many nests die during agricultural work. Despite this, the lapwing in many places remains the most common bird of fields and meadows.

Necktie - Charadrius hiaticula

area

The necktie has an extremely large range, nesting as far north as Svalbard and as far south as southeast China in the Old World and in America, in its northern parts.

Its range includes the entire tundra region of both hemispheres, Iceland, the sea coasts of Europe, but nesting in southern Spain and southern France remains unproven; there is a necktie on some islands in the Mediterranean and possibly in Tunisia. Another somewhat detached distribution area covers the eastern outskirts of Asia from Primorye to the southern provinces of China; in America, the ringed collar breeds in the north of Alaska and Canada not south of the Great Slave Lake and as far as Nova Scotia.

Open shores of the seas and less often inland waters. Sandy and pebbly shoals, dunes, marine sandbars; according to S. Uspensky on Novaya Zemlya, the ringed lizard nests in the gravel tundra, along the valleys of rivers and streams and on the rocky shallows of the sea coast.

reproduction

The necktie is a monogamous bird that forms permanent pairs, which, apparently, break up for the winter, but are restored upon arrival at the nesting site. The females arrive somewhat earlier than the males and initially stay away from the nesting sites at the "current place", where the formation of a pair occurs upon the arrival of the males. Only in exceptional cases, tiebirds arrive in pairs. Birds spend about two weeks in "current" places, and flying birds also stay there at this time. Occupation of nesting sites - two weeks after arrival. Almost without exception, birds tend to occupy their last year's sites or nest in the closest proximity to them. Birds left for some reason without a mate also occupy the old sites and defend them as vigorously as the birds that have a nest there. Mating "ceremonies" begin at the "current" sites and continue on the nesting site until the start of laying and incubation.

Nutrition

Crustaceans, worms, small mollusks, beetles and various larvae. S. Uspensky found in the stomachs of birds caught on Novaya Zemlya a mass of insect remains and quartz grains. In the Kandalaksha Bay, mollusks serve as the main food item, a significant amount of the ringed bell eats insects and crustaceans, less often nereis, sometimes sticklebacks (Blagosklonov) are found in the stomach of the belled bell.

Chernysh – Tringa ochropus

Description

It is very similar to fifi, but unlike the last underwing, it has a dark and less black stripes along the tail. The back and wings are dark brown, the head and neck are gray with streaks; the lower part of the body, as well as the part of the loin with the rump, are white. There is no sexual dimorphism.

Spreading

A migratory species common in Central and Northern Eurasia. In Europe, it occupies the eastern regions, mainly north of 50 ° north latitude. It winters in the south of its range, in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. In Italy it regularly occurs on migration, several dozen individuals winter here. It lives in swampy forests and along the banks of forest lakes and rivers, in swamps. During the period of migration and wintering, the chernysh can be seen along the banks of canals and ditches.

Biology

It usually nests in trees, often occupying old nests of thrushes, wood pigeons, squirrels, and so on. From April to June, as a rule, it lays 4 eggs, which are incubated mainly by the female for 20–23 days. Juveniles become flying at the age of about 28 days. One clutch per year. Chernysh has an unusual, even somewhat fanciful flight: its wings beat unevenly, before touching the ground, it makes unexpected slips and turns. Takes off with a sharp, flute-like three-syllable whistle. It feeds on worms, molluscs, crustaceans, insects and their larvae, as well as plants. Leads a solitary life, cautious.

Woodcock – Skolopax rusticola

Description

Woodcock (Scolopax rusticola)- a rather large sandpiper, whose habitat, unlike other representatives of the snipe family, is not a swamp, but a forest. The plumage of the back and upper part of the bird's head has a rusty-brown color interspersed with black, red and damp mottled, the belly is whitish-gray or buffy. In general, the color of the woodcock allows it to merge with last year's foliage, and it is extremely difficult to detect it.

The body length of this sandpiper is 35-40 cm, and the weight is around 300 grams, the female does not differ from the male in size. The legs are rather short, the beak, on the contrary, is long (7-9 cm) and straight as a knitting needle. The eyes on the head are set far back, which allows woodcock have a 360 degree view.

Habitat and lifestyle

This species is distributed from the Pyrenees to the shores of the Pacific Ocean in areas with a temperate and subarctic climate. For wintering, birds fly to the countries of northern Africa, the Mediterranean, and southern Asia. Woodcock prefers to settle in deciduous or mixed forests, where there is a lot of deadwood and undergrowth of shrubs and ferns, where it is easy for him to hide. He also likes to have a shallow pond in the form of a swamp or a key nearby, where it is easier to get food in soft ground.

The woodcock leads a secretive life, therefore it is active only at night. At night, he leaves the dense thickets, going in search of food. The basis of its diet is earthworms, to a lesser extent insects and their larvae. The end of the bird's beak is riddled with many nerve endings and is therefore very sensitive. To search for food, the "probing" method is used - by plunging its beak into the ground, the woodcock picks up weak vibrations from the movement of worms and pulls them out. Much less often, the bird eats the seeds and roots of plants.

Klintukh – Columba oenas

Description

The stock dove, on average, is somewhat smaller than the rock dove, it is distinguished by a more uniform gray color without a white spot on the back, a gray underside of the wings, and less pronounced stripes on the wings. A pink-wine tint is developed on the gray chest, and a purple-green tint is on the neck. The iris is dark, the beak is yellow, with a red base and white cere, the legs are red. The voice is a loud three-syllable hoot "guhuu-ghuu".

Distribution area

Lives in Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, Western Siberia, foothills of Central Asia; it rises to the mountains up to 2300 m. In Europe, there are sedentary urban populations that live in gardens and parks. In most of its range, the stockhead is a migratory bird, wintering in the west and south of Europe, in the Middle East.

It arrives in central Russia in early - mid-April, the autumn departure is extended from August to October. It prefers forests of different types, mostly mature deciduous ones, upon arrival it begins to actively lek, endlessly repeating calling cries and periodically undertaking lekking flights with alternating gliding and loud wing flapping. Territorial, guarding areas. Nests in hollows, clutch up to 6 eggs, incubation lasts 16-18 days, feeding - 16-30 days.

In central Russia, there are usually 2 clutches, in Siberia and the Urals - 1, in Western Europe, the Caucasus, in Central Asia - 3-4 clutches. The last brood flies often as early as September. Known hybrids with sizar and vyakhir. In the second half of summer, the stockhead forms flocks, flies out to feed on the fields. In winter, it also keeps in flocks. It is common in most regions of Russia, but in some places it is a rare species, the number of which is declining as a result of felling of mature forests with hollow trees. Due to the decrease in chemicals Agriculture here and there it becomes more common. Hunting look.

Black Swift - Apus apus

Description

It is slightly larger than a sparrow, but due to the large wings it looks much larger. The throat is off-white, the rest of the plumage is brown-black. Notched tail. It differs from swallows in its dark belly and long sickle-curved wings. Juveniles are similar to adults, but have light feather edging, most visible on the wings, and especially on the forehead, so that the whitish forehead is visible even from a distance. The tarsus is feathered, all 4 fingers point forward. Weight 30-56 g, length 16-18, wing 16.4-18.0, wingspan 42-48 cm.

Spreading

In Kazakhstan it breeds almost everywhere. For more information on distribution in Kazakhstan, please see the Subspecies section.

Biology

Common breeding migrant. It lives in clay or rock cliffs, crevices, caves, villages and cities, forest islands of the steppe zone. In spring, it arrives in small flocks from April to early June. Breeds in colonies. The nest is built from pieces of grass, hair and feathers glued together with saliva; the nest is located in hollows of trees, birdhouses, cracks in cliffs or under the roofs of buildings. Clutch of 2-4 eggs is laid in mid-May-June, chicks fledge in July.

Both parents incubate the clutch and nurse the offspring. Autumn migration begins from the end of July in flocks of several dozen to hundreds of birds. Disappears from most breeding areas until late August - early September, some birds linger until mid-October.

Vertineck - Junx torquilla

Habitat

It is a migratory bird. It lives in Eurasia, namely in Western Siberia, Portugal, Spain and France, Greece, Spain. It is found in China and Mongolia, Kazakhstan, on the Japanese islands. Prefers to winter in Africa and southern Asia. It nests in deciduous or mixed forests, where such tree species as aspen, birch, linden predominate. Can settle in city parks.

Appearance

A small bird that looks like a sparrow. It resembles a woodpecker in the structure of its legs, namely, it has four fingers, two of which are facing forward and two back. It has a long movable neck and a long sticky tongue.

The body length is approximately 20 centimeters. Wingspan 25 centimeters. The average weight of a bird is only 35 grams. The color of the bird is protective, which allows it to hide among the trees. The beak is shorter and sharper than that of a woodpecker. They do not hollow out the bark of a tree, but they easily get decay products from under it.

Lifestyle and nutrition

They don't build their nest. Easily occupies empty abandoned hollows of other woodpeckers. It can also settle in the niche of trees formed after decay, old stumps, and often even in holes on the wall of an old house or barn.

It can settle not only in forests and thickets, but also in parks and gardens, since it is not afraid of humans. Choose a hollow located at least 3 meters from the ground.

It feeds on ants and other small insects. And in a big way it prefers not adults, but their larvae and pupae. Also periodically eat caterpillars, beetles, aphids. Does not refuse plant foods, such as berries, fruits.

reproduction

Every year, the verticek forms a new pair. First, the male finds the nest. Then, making lingering sounds "ti-ti-ti", calls the female. She answers him with the same lingering and sounds, so the birds get closer and closer to each other, and soon meet.

If the female does not answer the call of the male within two or three days, then he changes the territory. Usually the female lays an average of 10 eggs, one per day. Why is she teasing them. This process takes 12-14 days. Periodically it is replaced by a male. Chicks are born naked and blind, they need protection and warmth. Parents also feed their offspring in turn, bringing food to the children in their beaks. After a month, the chicks take to the wings and have the opportunity to fully provide for themselves.

barn swallow - Hirundo rustica

Description

Less sparrow. The top is blue-black, on the forehead and throat there is a chestnut-red spot, outlined from below by a wide black rim. The bottom is white, with a pinkish-reddish bloom. In autumn, in a fresh feather, this bloom is brighter. The legs are not feathered. The male's elongated tail feathers are slightly longer and narrower than those of the female. Juveniles are colored like adults, but more faded, with shorter tails. Weight 11–24 g, length 17–23, wing 11.4–13.5, wingspan 32–36 cm.

Quiet chirping - “vit”, “vi-vit”, “chivit”, “chirivit”, etc. you can hear from swallows all the time. The song consists of soft pleasant chirping sounds, among which a crackling phrase like "tserrrrr" is often inserted. The male and the female sing, sometimes in a duet, the female has a shorter song.

Spreading

Eurasia and N. America, except for their extreme north and extreme south. In the north they are rare, in other areas almost everywhere common birds, mainly in rural areas. Not found in a number of areas within the nesting range. Flights to the north to the Arctic coast are not uncommon.

Lifestyle

They arrive singly and in small flocks at the end of spring, around the time the leaves are blooming on the trees. Several weeks elapse between arrival and nesting. The original nesting habitat is a mountainous area; such nestings on rocks and in caves are known in the South Urals. Occasionally they make a nest in trees, sticking them to the trunk, thick branches or under the nests of birds of prey. At present, the killer whale should be considered a practically synanthropic species inhabiting countryside with wooden buildings, open grassy spaces and preferably livestock.

They feed on insects that they catch flying low above the ground in meadows, pastures, near the river. They like to accompany herds, especially cows, they fly right under their feet. During cold snaps, they sit in nests, sometimes they gather in groups, fall into a stupor, there is a mass death from exhaustion.

At the end of summer, killer whales gather in large, in the south of the region - many thousands, loose and amorphous flocks, roam, rest in villages, sitting on buildings, on wires, in reeds in swamps, sometimes they gather in attics, in hollows. They fly off in August - September, wintering in Africa and southern Asia. Killer whales have a very strong attachment to the nesting site, where they tend to return every spring. During periods of spring migration, swallows often fly over the nesting area and find themselves far to the north, in the tundra, where most of them, apparently, perish. barn swallows can be attracted to nesting by the same means as urban ones.

Field lark - Alauda arvensis

Description

The field lark is a medium-sized bird, the size of a house sparrow: its body length is about 180 mm, its weight is about 40 g. The body of the field lark is dense, the head is large with a relatively small cone-shaped beak. The bird looks somewhat heavy, but it quickly and dexterously runs on the ground. The rear toe is armed with a long, spur-like claw. The plumage of the dorsal side of the body is earthy-brown with yellowish-grayish-white dashes and black-brown spots. Head, throat, upper chest and body sides rusty brownish with dark stripes; the rest of the breast and belly are yellowish-grayish-white. Wings have two light, weakly expressed transverse stripes. The tail is brownish-black with a shallow notch at the end, the extreme tail feathers are white.

Distribution area

Field larks are distributed throughout the Palearctic (except for the tundra, the Anadyr Territory and some desert regions of the extreme south, Central and Central Asia), as well as in northern Africa. Among some other European birds, the skylark was introduced by humans to North America and New Zealand. From the northern regions of their habitat, larks fly away for the winter, in the southern regions they lead a sedentary lifestyle. These birds winter in the countries of Western Europe, in the south of Asia and in the north of Africa.

Arrived at home, larks inhabit open grassy spaces (avoiding, however, areas with dense tall grass). They are common in meadows, vast forest clearings, forest edges, but are especially willing to settle in fields, for example, in bread, and are generally typical of the "agricultural landscape"; also settle in the steppes and on fixed sands in semi-desert regions. At first, the arriving birds stay in small flocks, but after a few days they break into pairs.

Lifestyle

Field larks begin to build a nest when the herbaceous plants grow up so much that among them it will be possible to reliably cover a simple nest. Their nests are located on the ground in a hole made either by the bird itself or by the hoof of some large animal (horse, cow), usually among sparse grass. The nest is placed under a bush of grass, masking and shading it. The building itself is a rather loose and rough cup lining a hole. It consists of stems and roots of various herbaceous plants. The inner layer is formed from a thinner and softer material (wool and down of animals, vegetable down), sometimes with an admixture of horse hair.

Field larks feed by picking up food from the ground and pecking it from plants at the level of bird growth. In spring and summer, larks feed their chicks and feed on insects themselves. In the second half of summer and autumn, seeds begin to predominate in their food. They eat larks and green parts of plants.