Birdcage - description and characteristics

Our planet is inhabited by a wide variety of birds - from tiny hummingbirds to huge ostriches. All feathers differ not only in size and appearance, but also in intelligence, habits, way of life. In the article we will tell about a small feathered predator - a bird of a falcon from the family of falcons.

Bird of the Kobchik - description

Kobchik refers to the genus of falcons and surprises with its small size. It is smaller than a pigeon, the body is 25-32 cm long, the length of the wing is not more than 35 cm, and the wingspan is 64-77 cm. This bird weighs about 150-200 grams. In appearance, the cone looks very much like a kestrel.

The color of the male is very different from the female. In "boys" the back is covered with dark-gray, almost black feathers. The bottom of the abdomen, podhvoste and "panties" on the paws are painted brick red. Taurus in "girls", as well as wings and tail are painted with ocher-gray overflows, the back is decorated with a dark transverse strip, the abdomen - longitudinal pestriny. The beak of all the cobs is short and weak. The paws, ringlets around the eyes and the wax of these birds are red or orange. Iris is dark brown. Claws on the legs are strong, whitish-brown hue.

Young males look like adults, only smaller, and young females are covered with brown feathers, have abdomen whitish in longitudinal pestrinyah. Bird of the cone (photo) in the first year of life has paws, a wax and a ring around the eyes, painted in yellow.

Distribution area

The bird is found in the expanses of Eurasia and Eastern Europe, in the Balkans. Their habitat extends to the west to the Vilyui basin, the longest tributary of the Lena, to the east to the upper reaches of the Lena and the shores of Lake Baikal. In this vast territory, birds, described in the article, nest and take off their chicks, and winter to fly to the south of Africa and to South Asia. This means that the bird is a migratory. They migrate in large flocks. Departure is in August, returning home in May.

Lifestyle

Bird prefers an open space - steppes, forest-steppe, less often - forest edges or uremas of low-lying river valleys. This falcon can be found on extensive felling, in a marshy area or on burnt out areas of the forest. Also comes across in cultural landscapes - parks, gardens, groves. In large forest areas, the bird of the cob, whose photo is presented in this article, does not settle.

Small falcons live in colonies, for 80-100 pairs, it is extremely difficult to meet one-on-one. Birds are very mobile, although in flight speed they are inferior to other representatives of the family. Voice - sonorous "kli-kli-kli" - served often.

Life expectancy is 10-12 years.

Food

Dragonflies, beetles, grasshoppers are the main food that these birds of prey prefer. The kobchik is also able to attack lizards or small rodents (mice), from birds hunting for sparrows and pigeons. These representatives of birds are active only in the daytime, with the onset of twilight returning to their nests.

A bird is flying around the steppe, fields and meadows. Having seen prey on the ground, hangs over it, often waving its wings, then sharply dives and grabs an insect or lizard. If the beetle managed to move, then the bird catches up with it "on foot". Kobchiki rarely grab prey on the fly, while behaving like real falcons.

Hunts these birds all day, exterminating a large number of harmful insects and rodents, which are of great benefit to the national economy.

Reproduction

Kobchiki do not build their nests, but occupy strangers. In the first place - rooks, crows, sorochin. Sometimes they dare to settle in the nest of a kite. Also, as empty housing hollows and hollows are chosen.

To laying eggs, the bird of the goat commences immediately after arrival in late April-early May. In one laying, 3-5 eggs are usually found, rarely - 8. The eggs are small, the approximate dimensions are 37 by 30 mm, have ocher color with numerous dark dots and frequent mottled rusty-brown color.

Eggs incubated male and female together, in turn. When the second parent is in the nest, the first one produces food. Nasizhivanie lasts 28 days. Chicks appear in early June, after a month and a half (in mid-July) they leave the nest. By the time of flight, birds, both adults and young, begin to prepare from the second week of August. Fly away in packs, the last cobs leave their native land in the first half of September.

Now you know what the bird looks like, where it meets, how it breeds and how it feeds.