Redstart common - beautiful and useful bird

Redstart common - a bird belonging to the family thrush, suborder of singers, a group of passerines. The size is comparable with the sparrow: body length - only 16 cm, wings - about 8 cm, weight - less than 20 g. Females and males differ in color. In males, the back is gray, the abdomen is reddish, the tail "burns with fire" (hence the name), often startling. On the forehead there is a white spot, the sides of the neck and throat are painted black. The female is less bright, in gray-brown tones, but the tail is also red.

Bird redstart inhabits almost all deciduous and mixed forests and parks. It prefers to keep on the lower parts of trees, bushes and even on the ground. They often settle near a person. They sing with a trill ringing.

Males from wintering on the African continent return earlier than females. They immediately look for a place for nesting - a hollow, a cave or a heap of windmills. They jump near the found place, they do not fly far, because they can be occupied by fellow tribesmen. Happens, they will sit in a hollow and hang a tail, like a sign: "There is a decent dwelling, and with him - a stylish groom!".

The female runs into the "ad", flies to the hollow, and soon there appears 6-7 blue eggs. The chicks will appear in two weeks. Nasizhivaet mostly female. The male replaces it seldom and sits a little. Most of the time of the day he sings, and even before the "marriage" he sang. Slow down at midnight, sleep 3-4 hours, then again gives out a gigantic trill, often flying up to the very top of the tree.

When there are chicks, there is neither time nor energy left for singing. Once per 500 a day the redstart common (both male and female) arrives to its nest to feed offspring. This continues for two weeks until the chicks get out of the nest. But it does not become easier for parents: they have to feed the same way, watch the troubled offspring. A caring parent is a redstart. The photo in the article demonstrates the process of feeding almost an adult. This period lasts for a week, since young people are still flying badly.

When the young will grow up, become independent, parents can also relax. But after a while new eggs appear in the nest. And again, the incubation and feeding of the second generation for the season begins. A brood independently roams through the forest.

With the onset of autumn, redstart ordinary begins to prepare for flight to warmer areas. In the plumage of the bird muffled tones appear, it becomes more dim, losing its brightness. They depart at the end of September and necessarily at night. In October the birds reach Africa, where they spend the winter. The place of wintering leaves in March, they fly quite fast, in a month they reach their nesting places.

Redstart common during the summer destroys a lot of beetles-crackers, mosquitoes, caterpillars, ants, various leaf-eaters, bedbugs, dung, flies, spiders and other pests of plants and their larvae. In this way it is of great benefit to the vegetation of forests and parks. At the end of the summer can enjoy berries and plant seeds.

A man often catches a redstart in the spring, luring in various ways. Captured specimens are tied up with wings so that they do not fight in the cage for the first time. With good care and proper fodder, the bird takes root, and it can live for several years in captivity. However, it is extremely rare to hear her melodic songs.