Birds        09 ноября 2018        1533         0

Birds of the marshes. Description, names and features of swamp birds

Birds living in the marshes, their description and features

For a long time, the swamps in people caused a feeling of vague anxiety, even trembling fear, a little comparable to superstitious horror. And this is easy to explain, because such landscapes have not always been considered deadly and life-threatening for some reason.

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There are enough areas on the planet that are inaccessible to humans, where such screeches and impassable swamps are hidden, hidden from the keen eyes by grass and mosses, that if the traveler lost his way by chance, it will happen that the fateful bog will drag him to the bottom.

Many swamps in Belarus and Ukraine. The European territory of Russia has the most wetlands in the central and northern regions. They are famous Moscow region. Such territories are widespread in the west of vast Siberia, as well as in Kamchatka.

From a scientific point of view, marsh landscapes are unique areas where, flowing out of the bowels of the earth, flowing or standing water creates excessive moisture, affecting the soil structure.

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In the photo the bird moorhen

Due to the natural features and climate of the area, swamps accumulate precipitation and absorb groundwater. All this creates the conditions for living in such areas of the feathered representatives of the planet, and the birds of the marshes perfectly adapted to live in a peculiar environment that is not very suitable for humans.

Bittern

The swamps not only frightened, but attracted and attracted people with their unsolved mystery. For example, the ancients seriously believed that swamps are home to a wide variety of spirits and evil spirits.

The creation of legends and fairy-tale stories was greatly contributed by the voices made by birds living in the swamps. One of these mysterious feathered creatures was a bittern. Usually her singing in silence is well discernible at dusk or at night.

Often, especially in the mating season, these peculiar melodies resemble a loud short bass lowing, sometimes a bird makes characteristic, thumping sounds, for which it was called the water bull or the bull.

Such mysterious creatures, representing a family of herons, live near swamps and lakes, birds can literally dissolve in reed thickets, stretching their heads and necks as they approach humans, becoming similar to bunches of marsh grass. At such moments they can not be detected, even almost looking at them point-blank.

Outwardly, these creatures of small size are unsightly, bony and inconspicuous, being among many peoples a symbol of deformity. Their view becomes even frightening when the birds, frightened, fluff up half-bent wings, stretching their necks forward, that even predators are wringing such absurd scarecrow.

And not entirely without a reason, because by nature the bittern is a very evil creature, and it will not be good for the enemy if, in defense, she decides to knock him with a sharp faceted beak.

Bug-eyed chicks bitten out, making croaking, gurgling and hissing sounds, even more awkward, bony and ugly. The range of such birds is quite extensive, spreading through Europe and further, down to the island of Sakhalin.

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The bird bit

Snipe

Unusual sounds, similar to the bleating of a lamb, are emitted by a snipe bird found on the muddy shores of water bodies. And their source is vibrating when flying under air pressure, tail feathers.

In the mating season, the males, rising high, sharply swoop down, which becomes the cause of this feature. The flight of this bleating bird from the swamp begins with a muffled grunt.

After that, the birds for some time zigzaggingly swinging in the air, which creates undoubted problems for hunters who are trying to hit such a target. The appearance of this small bird is more than unusual, and especially highlights its long, five-centimeter beak, although the size of such creatures just a chicken, with a weight of about 150 g

The color of these thin-legged creatures is distinguished by bright variegation and is replete with brown, white and black colors. Such birds live in Russia, practically throughout its entire territory, except, perhaps, Kamchatka and the northern regions, but in winter they go to warmer countries.

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Bird snipe

Plover

These landscapes are not famous for the richness of the plant world. Such areas are usually filled with an excess of mosses, which, along with lichens, grow in swamps. The bird nesting on mossy hummocks often turns out to be a plover. She usually arranges a dwelling place for future chicks right on the ground in small pits, for comfort the lining nest with down.

The plover masks its nest from prying eyes simply expertly, so that it almost completely merges with the surrounding landscape. Such birds, the size of a little starling, have an inconspicuous, grayish-brown plumage.

They have a short beak, make whistling tunes, fly well and run fast on their small, far from the most slender legs. They spend the summer in the north of Europe and Asia, and in the winter in search of heat they go south.

Plovers represent a group of sandpipers, each of the feathered members of which has its own characteristics, differing in appearance and lifestyle. Some of them, including the birds living in the swamp.

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Bird Swamp Plover

Marsh Sandpiper

The bird is about the size of a pigeon, but it seems larger due to the elongated neck, beak and legs. These creatures are distinguished by a yellowish-reddish feather color.

They arrive in northern swamps from wintering in the middle of spring, returning annually to the same place, which can be changed only because of the drying out of the site and other serious circumstances.

Excessive care of the chicks, built up by nature in the waders, often causes the brood to die, causing trouble and to parents. A nervous male, trying to scare away unwanted guests from the nest, gives out his location.

Birds are of great interest to hunters because of the delicious taste of tender meat, which was the reason for the destruction of a whole generation of such birds.

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In the photo marsh sandpiper

Marsh duck

The swamps, according to scientists, are quite suitable for many representatives of the bird kingdom, feeling quite comfortable in the described environment, having chosen such landscapes for a long time (you can be sure of this in the photos of the swamp birds).

Although the environment, their environment, in particular the flora, is very peculiar. Forests, gradually occupied by swamps, usually die, and many species of trees are replaced by moisture-loving.

However, dwarf pines grow well on such plots, separate species of birch, spruce and willow grow. Depending on the degree of wetlands, there develop their own types of vegetation.

Sedge and reed grow in lowland bogs. Marshes are also famous for the presence of valuable, abundant in vitamins, berries: blueberries, cranberries, cloudberries and others. They, like the succulent stems of plants, feed on many birds. Among them, wild ducks — waterfowl marshes.

Such birds, very common in the Northern Hemisphere, have a broad streamlined body, an oblate beak and are famous for having membranes on their feet, which help them to move successfully in the aquatic environment. Often, running on the water, ducks clap their wings noisily. Scientists believe that in this way, these creatures are cleaning

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Marsh duck

Marsh Owl

This bird is also not averse to eating fresh berries, but prefers to hunt small rodents at night: mice, voles, hamsters and jerboas.

Looking out for its prey, the owl hovers low above the ground, and choosing a victim for itself, rushes down and takes it away in its tenacious claws. It is a rather silent bird, but to fill the silence with peculiar sounds, it is also able.

What kind of bird in the swamp is bursting, barking and yelping? This makes the owl guarding its nest. In the mating season, individuals of both sexes conduct mutual roll call. Cavaliers emit a deaf hoot, and females echo them with peculiar cries.

Such birds are found not only in the European open spaces, but also in America. The length of their body is a little less than half a meter, the plumage is brown-yellow, the beak is black. Birds are widespread in the vast territory, they are very numerous and do not need protection.

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Bird owl

White partridge

This feathery creature, settling in the northern regions, among dwarf birch trees, willow and berry berries of the tundra, certainly just loves swamp berries. The white partridge is a fragile bird with a small head and eyes; feather-covered beak and short legs.

In summer, brownish and yellowish blotches appear on her mostly snow-white outfit, and birds’ eyebrows take on a rich bright red tint. Having a live weight of up to 700 g, the white partridge attracts hunters with its nourishing meat.

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In the photo is a white partridge

Heron

Scientists consider marshy landscapes to be very useful, not without reason, calling them “lungs” of the planet. They reduce the carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere and prevent the greenhouse effect, playing a crucial role in agroecosystems, participating in the formation of rivers.

All this contributes to the formation of a certain microclimate in the marshy areas. For example, rightly considered the queens of swamps and ponds, heron birds, are perfectly acclimatized on such landscapes, it is not at all accidental.

After all, thickets of reeds, sedges and shrubs serve as an excellent disguise and protect them from predators. In addition, the swamps are always full of frogs, which means that the food for the birds, which prefer this delicacy, as well as fish, is always provided.

Heron could be called a beautiful bird, if not angular movements and clumsy poses, in which she was used to freeze. But in the swamps grace is not the most important thing, but in such a state these creatures are quite possibly confused with a gnarled snag, which is very useful from a security point of view.

Herons with dexterity walk on water on their long legs, and feel great in the reed beds. True, the sounds they make, similar to someone’s yelling or roaring, are not exactly musical.

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In the photo the bird heron

Stork

Many marsh birds have a number of characteristic features of their appearance: thin long necks and legs, as well as a large-sized beak. Such features help not to get wet in the swampy areas of their body, which is always high above the ground. A long beak is able to provide adequate nutrition.

This type of birds includes storks — large birds that have deeply dissected wide wings, pulling their necks forward in flight. They are widespread throughout the land, meeting in countries with hotter and colder climates.

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Pictured stork

Gray crane

These birds are also quite satisfied with life in the swamps, and gray cranes successfully inhabit their swampy headwaters. Settling in such areas, the birds are trying to protect themselves from civilization that is advancing on all fronts.

And impassable swamps hide birds from people’s eyes. Cranes, as the name suggests, have gray plumage, only some feathers are black. The size of the birds is quite impressive, and some individuals reach two meters in size.

Cranes are interesting for their dances. Ritual dances confer, both as a couple or as a group, or alone, taking place in the marriage period. Such movements are expressed in jumping and flapping wings, running in zigzags and in a circle, as well as in a measured walk with an important view.

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Gray crane

Grouse

Occasionally swamps are visited, driven by the desire to eat, growing on this territory, tasty berries, representatives of the family of pheasant: grouse and capercaillie.

For hunters of central Russia, these birds have always been the most popular prey. Both species of birds are somewhat similar, but it is easy for an experienced person to distinguish them.

Body weight of black grouse is just over a kilogram. The plumage of such birds is predominantly dark with an interesting green-blue tint and with white spots on the wings. Feathered feathered tail.

They are often found in birch groves and forest-steppe tracts, overgrown with shrubs, located in the valleys of rivers and marshes; if birds inhabit forests, they are not very dense. Birds do not like long-distance flights, but if necessary or lack of food can travel about 10 km by air.

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Black Grouse (female)

Wood grouse

A large bird of meter length, having a weight of about 5 kg, with a black-brown feathers and blue with a green tint of the breast, as well as a round tail. She prefers to settle in the forests near the marshes, where she eats not only berries, but also needles.

Hard to lift wood grouse spend most of their lives on the ground, only sleeping in the trees. They practically do not know how to fly, overcoming no more than ten meters through the air.

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On the photo bird capercaillie

Macaw Blue and Yellow Parrot

Most wetlands are located in the Northern Hemisphere, but they also exist at the opposite end of the planet. For example, in the world the largest of these landscapes is the armhole of the Amazon River.

Many birds live there, one of the brightest representatives of such birds is the blue-yellow macaw parrot, attributed to the birds of the marshes and the coast of this huge and great river. Such exotic birds fly beautifully, and bright plumage makes them invisible against the background of the bright vegetation of the area.

The parrots are wild people and live in huge flocks, which are collected when approaching twilight in places of overnight stay. And early in the morning to go in search of food, announcing the neighborhood with loud cries.

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Blue-and-Yellow Macaw Parrot

Flamingo

Such a bird often builds nests in salt marshes on the shores of lakes. The weight of these beautiful graceful creatures found in Europe, Africa and Asia often reaches 4 kg. Red flamingos have long necks and legs, possessing a bright pink color of plumage. Despite their grace, these creatures are quite heavy on the rise.

They take off very reluctantly and only in cases when they are in grave danger. They scatter for a long time, but in flight they are an impressive sight, looking especially good against the background of the azure-blue sky.

 

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On photo flamingo

Marsh harrier

The loonies prefer wetlands, as well as places rich in aquatic fauna. Before the gaze of a person who is trying to imagine the range of the Lune, a swampy place and reed thickets are immediately drawn.

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On a photo marsh harrier

Shepherd

The shepherd boy, or as it is also called, is the water shepherd boy, a small water bird of the shepherd’s family, which lives primarily in swamps and near water bodies. Included in the Red Books of some countries due to the extremely low population in these territories.

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Bird water shepherd

Warbler

Wetlands with stagnant or running water, grassy thicket — an ideal place for settlement warbler. Contrary to the large number of populations, a date with her in the bosom of wildlife, a rarity.

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In the photo bird warbler

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