What tree is the bullfinch friends with? Where can a bullfinch live in summer in Russia? Is it possible to feed the birds in the feeder in winter with bread crumbs, bread, fresh bacon

When winter comes, small red-breasted birds fly to the cities. These are bullfinches flying in a ringing flock. Today we will tell you what kind of bird is a bullfinch - whether it flies where in summer, why in winter in the city and why its breast is red.

Who are called "living lanterns"

In winter, the forest cannot boast of a special variety of colors. All around are blue-white snow and dark green conifers. And suddenly, among this variety, lights flash - these are red-breasted bullfinches flying from branch to branch.

Are all bullfinches the same?

All types of bullfinches are similar in size. The birds are small, slightly larger than a sparrow. All have a slightly elongated black tail, a short thick beak and a black cap on their heads.


But the color of the thick fluffy plumage in the rest of the body may vary. In males, the entire chest is bright red, almost scarlet in color. Females are colored more modestly - their breasts are brownish.

There is a kind of bullfinches, whose back is white at the bottom, and the entire front part, shoulders and neck are gray, which is why they are called so - gray bullfinches. Others have a yellow color on their back, and their name is yellow-backed. The red-headed bullfinch has a red cap on its head. Here are how different bullfinches can be.


The red-headed bullfinch (Pyrrhula erythrocephala) is the most abundant species of this genus in the Himalayas

In total, 9 species have been identified, and the shades of plumage are different for everyone, so the opinion that all bullfinches have a red chest is wrong.

Where do bullfinches live

Bullfinches inhabit the entire forest zone of Europe and most of Asia. In Russia, they can be found in all forests where conifers grow, and even in the forest-steppe zone.

The bird is sedentary, but you can watch it only in winter. Often they fly to city parks and gardens to feed themselves, then they can be seen well. Bullfinches hang on the branches like living lanterns.


Bullfinches are calm and friendly birds, fights between them very rarely occur, and the whole flock flies to the squeak of a bird in trouble

But in summer it is difficult to notice them, so some people think that bullfinches fly to other lands. They really fly, but only deep into the deep spruce thickets, where they will build their nests.

Listen to the voice of a bullfinch

The flock flies very beautifully, its flight resembles iridescent river waves.


Breeding bullfinches

As soon as the frosts recede, and the sun warms up more, so immediately in February-March bullfinches begin to attract each other with their songs. Their quiet melodic whistling is heard far away. And what is interesting, unlike all birds, females also sing among bullfinches. True, their song is ugly, like a creak.

These birds form a pair in April and begin to build a nest in a hidden, secluded place. Impenetrable thickets of spruce are just suitable for this. A nest is built from small twigs and roots on the thin ends of spruce branches, less often pine. Therefore, the number of bullfinches in spruce forests is much higher than in some others.


Closer to summer, when the chicks are already hatching, the parents begin to molt, so down and small feathers are also added to the nest.

The female incubates eggs, and the male brings her food for the entire nesting period.

The chicks differ in color from their parents, the color of their feathers is saturated brown and there is no black cap on the head.


Towards the end of autumn, the family begins to wander in search of food. And when the snow falls, they can be seen well. That is why they say among the people: "Bullfinches have arrived - they brought winter on their wings."

Do bullfinches eat only rowan berries?

Most often, in photos or paintings, these birdies are depicted sitting on rowan branches. Her berries are their favorite food. Moreover, they do not eat the pulp, but only peck out the seeds. Because of this, gutted red crumbs of berries are always scattered under the tree in the snow.

In general, their nutrition, despite the fact that only of plant origin, is quite diverse. In winter, these are seeds of alder, maple, ash, hornbeam, elderberries. In the summer, in the fields, they feast on seeds of quinoa, burdock, horse sorrel and other herbs.

A quarter of a century ago, in Komsomolskaya Pravda, the famous journalist Vasily Peskov conducted a poll of readers: "What is the most popular bird?" It turned out that the most beloved in Russia are the starling, the swallow and the bullfinch.

Indeed, the bullfinch (along with the brown bear) could even now become a living symbol of our cold country. After all, it nests mainly in the coniferous forests of the taiga zone of Eurasia - from Scandinavia to Kamchatka. Among the poorly colored winter Russian nature, elegant flocks of these birds are especially noticeable.

Common bullfinch (scientific name Pyrrhula pyrrhula) was described by Karl Linnaeus over 250 years ago. This is a bird from the Vorobyins' detachment, like a goldfinch, a siskin, a chaffinch, a crossbill. Everyone from childhood knows how a bullfinch looks - calm, even phlegmatic, with a low voice, somewhat larger than a sparrow, the male has bright red chest and head-sides; black cap, chin, wingtips and tail; bluish gray back; white uppertail, undertail and stripes on the wings. Females are hardly noticeable - their red color is replaced by brownish-gray.


The song of the bullfinch does not differ in beauty and sonority, usually a singing bird creaks and whistles softly. Not only males can sing, but also females. They echo among themselves, emitting a melodic, a little sad, monotonous whistle.

For its beauty and calm disposition, the bullfinch was a favorite room bird. And today these birds are caught in large numbers by birders. In captivity, they quickly get used to a person, become attached to the owner, and often become family favorites, like dogs and cats. The bullfinch has the gift of artistic whistle and in captivity easily learns simple melodies. In open-air cages, with proper nutrition and care, they are even capable of reproduction - they build nests on small Christmas trees, feed chicks. But most often they are kept in tight cages on a monotonous food - and the red color of the plumage of males quickly fades, becomes brown. It is a pity to keep such a mile behind bars!


Bullfinches are herbivorous birds. In the cold season, they prefer ash winged seeds, rowan berries, lilac fruits, bird cherry and linden buds. With pleasure they eat weed seeds - quinoa, chicory, horse sorrel, deaf nettle, wormwood. Already in February, bullfinches begin to sing, males amusingly look after females, feed them (females are quite quarrelsome and, opening their beak wide, hiss at red-breasted boyfriends). In late April - May, they nest in the thick of branches in large coniferous or mixed (less often deciduous) forests. At this time, they become silent and secretive, behave carefully.

Finding a bullfinch's nest is quite difficult. Therefore, the cases of nesting of these birds in parks and squares of large cities are surprising. For example, in the 1980s, a bullfinch's nest was discovered on a thuja in a park near St. Isaac's Cathedral in Leningrad. Bullfinches usually lay 4–5 light blue eggs with red-brown specks. Chicks spend about two weeks in the nest. Parents feed young animals with seeds, insects are rarely caught. They are very good parents. The author observed how a male bullfinch, who lived for a long time in a cage at the station of young naturalists in Ulyanovsk, fed several orphaned great tit chicks at once.


According to legends, the bullfinch selflessly broke the needles of the crown of thorns on the Savior's head, and one drop of blood fell on his chest, staining it red. Therefore, the bullfinch is a symbolic bird protected by the people. According to scientists, several million bullfinches nest in the taiga of the European part of Russia. But you should not lose sight of them, like other ordinary birds: there are cases of mass smuggling of wild songbirds (bullfinches, siskins, goldfinches, buntings), which were secretly transported from our country for sale in Western Europe, where their capture is prohibited. It is not known how clearcutting of taiga forests affects the abundance of this species. It is required to study the situation at the southern wintering grounds of bullfinches outside Russia, where their mass death is possible.

The bullfinch, like many northern birds, is very trusting of a person, lets him close. Now, instead of slingshots, boys and adults also buy pneumatic weapons and, having fun, often shoot at birds. The careless bullfinch is the first possible victim of such would-be shooters.


If you want to help the birds, attract handsome feathered creatures to your home or garden, or to your dacha - build a feeder. Hang there brushes of mountain ash, viburnum, hawthorn. Better yet, plant berry trees and shrubs on your site especially for birds - there they will feed and rest peacefully. In such compositions, you can also plant Pennsylvanian and ordinary ash, maple, ranetka, irga, bird cherry, hops, etc. According to the ringing data, bullfinches can fly to familiar feeding places for several years in a row, and if coniferous trees grow quietly on your site, they can even nest.

In winter, most of us notice the appearance of beautiful red-breasted birds - bullfinches in the city. They are mostly visible on leafless tree branches and snowy ground. The appearance of a large number of bullfinches is due to the lack of sufficient food for survival in forest zones, which leads them to urban areas, where people, hearing their sonorous singing, feed them seeds.


Bullfinch in may

By their nature, bullfinches are gullible and not whimsical, therefore they feel comfortable among people. If you wish, you can get such a bird to keep it on the balcony or garden plot, having previously tamed or caught it on the street. Keeping, at first glance, freedom-loving birds will not at all affect their condition in general. But you should not go against nature and specifically catch bullfinches for yourself, it is better to feed them sometimes in a hungry winter.

Appearance

The size of a bullfinch is slightly larger than a sparrow. The feather color of birds is quite bright and memorable:

  • the head, except for the cheeks, is black;
  • tail and wings are also covered with black feathers;
  • the undertail with the loin is white;
  • the cheeks, underside of the neck, abdomen and sides are colored bright red. Males have a distinctive gray color on the back, neck and neck.

Depending on the species and region of habitation, bullfinches have slight differences in color. The shoulders on the back of the neck, in the female, may have gray plumage, while the back is painted brownish brown. Sometimes females have a change from red plumage to gray-brown.



Bullfinch on a branch

Chicks, irrespective of sex, are ocher-brownish, without highlighting individual body parts as in adult birds.

Habitat

Bullfinches are common throughout Europe, except for southern and upper Asia. According to the high-altitude level of settlement, they are not picky and calmly build nests in low-lying regions and mountainous areas, allocating places for themselves with a sufficient number of trees and forests. These birds do not settle in areas with few or no trees. The northern part of the forest is rarely populated with bullfinches due to cold winters.

Bullfinches are chosen to settle in places with a clean ecology, so in winter they can be admired by residents of cities with a minimum or complete absence of industry. Birds feel quite comfortable next to people, so they calmly settle within the city, next to residential buildings.

The summer forest does not allow to see the birds, even despite their distinctive color. In winter, trees empty of foliage and a white background of snow reveals all the beauty of their plumage.

Birds live in nests that build on trees (firs) at a height of no more than 5 meters. They build the nests themselves from improvised natural material: twigs, leaves, dry grass and live in them, leaving only for feeding.

To create nests and lay eggs, bullfinches choose spruce trees located near water bodies. The general behavior of birds is calm and poorly oriented in the new area, which allows both humans and domestic cats to catch even an adult.

It is worth noting that in a region with severe winters, bullfinches can be overlooked. Although they are frost-hardy, the difficulty of wintering in open nests and a reduction in food lead to migration to warmer regions. Unlike migratory birds, bullfinches do not fly south and are good at changing seasons, subject to mild winters.

What does a bullfinch eat in summer

In the summer, bullfinches spend most of their time in fields and meadows. A sufficient amount of meadow grass seeds - ensures a well-fed summer. In winter, the fallen seeds are hidden under a layer of snow and it is difficult for the birds to feed themselves, forcing them to fly to places populated by people for the winter period.

In addition to a sufficient number of seeds donated by nature, bullfinches love orchards and bushes with berries. Juicy berries in summer or drying up in autumn, birds peck up regardless of their place of growth.

The fields sown with sunflowers attract, perhaps, all birds with juicy and nourishing seeds. Unlike other birds, bullfinches very rarely catch midges and other seasonal insects as food, but they do not completely refuse.

What does a bullfinch eat in winter

In winter, most often bullfinches can be seen on the branches of mountain ash and viburnum. Bright red berries not only successfully emphasize the red breast of the birds, mountain ash is also their favorite delicacy.

Seed residue on maple, ash, alder trees supports birds until suitable seeds appear on meadow grasses or buds on trees. In parks, bullfinches do not refuse to visit the feeders built by people, they only linger in them in the presence of sunflower and pumpkin seeds, oats and millet.

All these delicacies keep the bullfinches until the onset of spring, which gives many leafy buds. But often winter is hungry and due to a small amount of food, which has a strong effect on the decline in the bird population.



Bullfinch with tree seed.

What the bullfinch feeds its chicks

In the first half of May, female bullfinches lay eggs, from which chicks appear in a few weeks. For the first few weeks, the chicks are near the female, fully fed by her. For the next 10-15 days, the chicks learn to fly and get their own food. For young individuals, midges, small spiders and bugs must be present in the diet; coma, the females begin to accustom them to collecting seeds from herbs.

The article will tell you how to properly prepare food for wintering birds in the feeders.

A person often wants to take care of "our little brothers". If you cannot afford to volunteer at animal shelters or send money monthly to voluntary animal welfare organizations, then you can feed the local birds during the winter season. By creating a feeder in your yard or on the balcony, you not only give food to small feathered creatures, you give them a chance to survive, extending their life by several days, weeks, a harsh winter.

Of course, you should not expect gratitude from small creatures, they will help you at another time - in the summer, when they begin to eat harmful insects (mosquitoes, larvae, flies, ants, aphids and worms), which interfere with growing decent crops. And you must admit that feeding birds will not hit your pocket, but it will bring a pleasant sense of accomplishment.

IMPORTANT: If you decide to feed the birds in the winter season, when it is difficult for them to find food for themselves, it is important to know that in winter their diet is significantly different from the summer one. Birds need high-calorie food, but not harmful (otherwise you will simply kill them).

What can be fed:

Food: Features: Who eats:
Sunflower (seeds) Seeds should make up almost 70-75% of the total feed (they are satisfying and high in calories, they are high in fat) Tits, woodpeckers, sparrows, nuthatches and other granivorous birds
Millet
Millet Dry food (often sold as pet food for pet parrots at pet stores) Sparrows, goldfinches, pigeons, greenfinches and other granivores
Oats Raw or boiled cereals (no spices or oil) Sparrows, goldfinches, pigeons, greenfinches and other granivores
Wheat Raw or boiled cereals (no spices or oil) Sparrows, goldfinches, pigeons, greenfinches and other granivores
Rice Raw or boiled cereals (no spices or oil) Sparrows, goldfinches, pigeons, greenfinches and other granivores
Meat Pieces of raw or dried meat, finely crushed. Without any salt and spices!
Fat Raw lard without salt! It can be strung on a string and hung Tits, nuthatches and other species (crows, jackdaws and magpies may fly)
Beef fat or chicken It can be mixed with bread or placed separately in the trough. Fat shouldn't be salty! Tits, nuthatches and other species (crows, jackdaws and magpies may fly)
Dried rowan (viburnum, hawthorn) The berries must be prepared in advance and dried in the fall. They can be placed in the trough or hung with beads. Bullfinches, waxwings
Maple seeds (lionfish) They should be harvested in the fall when they are sprinkled from the trees. In winter, such food is often not available to birds, as it is covered with foliage. Mud and snow Bullfinches, waxwings
Cones From various types of conifers, should be harvested in autumn Woodpeckers, crossbills
Nuts Any nuts that are fresh, not salted (like store-bought peanuts) or roasted Jay woodpeckers and other species
Acorns Gathered in the fall Jays
Corn Dried
Watermelon and melon grains Good source of fat and nutrients (harvested from summer, dried) Bullfinches, jays, woodpeckers
Pumpkin seeds Good source of fat and nutrients (harvested in the fall) All granivorous bird species
Chicken egg shell Serves as a good calcium supplement (you can put a piece of natural chalk in the feeder) For all kinds of birds

What you can not feed birds in the feeder in winter: a list of products

What you need to know about junk food for birds:

  • Of course, in winter, birds need fatty foods such as meat and lard. However in no case should it be salty foods, since such food can destroy small creatures, provoking dehydration and intoxication in their excretory organs.
  • Meat, lard and fat should be given in pure form, you can mix these ingredients with other food (grains, boiled porridge or bread).
  • You can not give black bread -this product, cooked with rye flour, can cause upset and diarrhea in birds, leading to death. There is a lot of salt in black bread, and it also leads to disruption of the kidneys and liver in birds.
  • Rye breadcan ferment in the goiter of birds and kill them, since there is much more yeast in it than in wheat.

What cannot be added to the feeder:

  • Salty foods
  • Fried food
  • Spicy food
  • Acidic foods
  • Citrus (even peel)
  • Banana peel and fruit
  • Milk
  • Roasted nuts
  • Spicy foods


Why is it impossible to feed the birds with salted lard, fried seeds?

Any disease that affects a bird in the winter season becomes many times more dangerous for it than it would be in the summer. Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract in birds occur quite often, since in harsh winters they can eat junk food in search of survival. This food is offered to them by a person who knows little about the nutritional characteristics of animals.

INTERESTING: It turns out that the chewing gum thrown away by a person is often perceived by birds as a piece of bread. They peck at it, but after that they die, as the gum completely inhibits and clogs their digestive tract.

When offering lard to titmice and other birds, make sure you cut it out of the salted portion. Salt is poison to birds. Their kidneys and liver cannot digest and remove it, and therefore such a product will be sure death for a small creature.

It would seem that sunflower seeds are the healthiest food for birds. But only if the seeds are raw. Fried seeds absorb too much fat and the digestive tract of birds cannot assimilate it, provoking poisoning, diarrhea and indigestion, which is very destructive for most species.



Which birds fly to the trough in winter, and which bird will not appear at the trough in winter?

When installing a feeder, you should be aware that it is always a source of garbage. Therefore, there is no place for feeders on window sills and balconies of houses (your neighbors may complain). It is best to install it on trees at a height where they will not be accessible to children who want to misbehave and knock it down (or add junk food).

It is possible that along with the "good-natured" birds, you will be able to notice the "impudent" thieves like crows, pigeons, magpies and jackdaws. However, most often they still eat in the feeders:

  • Sparrows
  • Bullfinches
  • Titmouse
  • Nuthatches
  • Jays
  • Goldfinch
  • Crossbill
  • Pika
  • Waxwing


What is the best way to feed sparrows, titmice, bullfinches, woodpeckers, waxwings in a feeder in winter?

If you can afford to buy poultry food, do it periodically at a pet store. There you can easily pick up feed from a mixture of millet, oats, wheat and sunflower seeds. This food can be combined with dried rowan berries, slices of white bread (or bread crumbs), animal fat and lard.

IMPORTANT: The feeder should be updated as the feed is consumed. Do not add too much feed at once, because birds very often empty themselves while eating and this spoils some of the food.

What birds eat mountain ash in winter?

The bright red rowan berries often attract birds. These berries, dried by humans and poured into a feeder or left hanging on a tree, serve as food for:

  • Ryabinnikov
  • Drozdov
  • Bullfinch
  • Waxwings


What kind of cereals can be given to birds in the feeder in winter? Is it possible to feed birds in a feeder in winter with millet, corn, wheat, pearl barley, barley groats, buckwheat, oats, rolled oats, rice, oatmeal?

Groats are nourishing, nutritious and wholesome food for all granivorous birds. It can be sprinkled raw and dry, boiled, half-cooked. It is important not to salt the porridge during cooking, not to add sugar and spices, not to add oil (an exception is a small amount of natural animal fat: beef or chicken).

What cereals can be given to wintering birds:

  • Buckwheat
  • Millet
  • Oatmeal (rolled oats, flakes)
  • Pearl barley
  • Corn
  • Wheat

Is it possible to feed the birds in the feeder in winter with pumpkin, watermelon, seeds, sunflower?

Keeping melon seeds out of the summer is far from difficult when you eat watermelons, melons, and pumpkins. To do this, they should be well rinsed with running water and dried in the sun from moisture. These seeds are an excellent nutritious and healthy food for all wintering birds, as they contain dietary fiber and oils. It is easily digested and gives the birds a boost of energy for the winter.

Is it possible to feed the birds in the feeder in winter with bread crumbs, bread, fresh bacon?

As already mentioned, bread is not ideal food for birds, but it is acceptable. However, we are talking only about white and unleavened bread. It should be dried or crumbled. It is also allowed to add white bread rusks to the feeder, hanging them on thick threads.

IMPORTANT: If you put pieces of raw, non-salted bacon and meat in the feeders, it is also recommended to string them on strings with beads so that the birds do not lose this food, do not drop it from the feeder, do not try to swallow it whole, but pinch off a piece.

Video: "Wintering Birds"

Winter is the time of bullfinches. When the trees dress up in snowy clothes, it is impossible not to notice the bright feathers of a bullfinch against the background of snow-white frost. Illuminated by the winter sun, these birds seem to be overseas flowers, accidentally caught in our frosts.

Plumage

A very easily recognizable bird arrives in winter - the bullfinch. Description of it is not difficult, since it has very characteristic features of plumage, by which everyone recognizes it. In any case, the male of this feathered one. Since the colors of the male and female bullfinches are very different. The description of a bullfinch for children is somewhat different from the same words for adults. It is enough for a child to say that this is a small bird, slightly larger than a sparrow, with a red breast and arriving to human habitation only in winter. An adult will have to give a more detailed answer.

So, the male bullfinch has a red breast, cheeks and neck. The color is very bright, even over the entire staining area. The back is gray-blue, while the tail and upper tail are white. Since the bird's head is black, it appears to be wearing a black cap. This color takes place both on the neck and around the beak. Moreover, the border between red and black is very clear, visible from a distance. The tail and wings are black, only the wings have slightly whitish stripes. The beak is thick, wide, black - it is designed to get the seeds of various berries.

The female of the bullfinch bird, the description of which is somewhat different from the description of the male, as a whole has a color similar to him except for one, the brightest, detail - her breast is not bright red, but grayish-brown.

Interesting is the color of young birds called "bullfinch". A description of the bird for children and adults would be incomplete if not to add that the young of this bird before its first molt is dark brown in color. And only in autumn, having completely changed feathers, the baby becomes indistinguishable from the adult part of the flock.

Now, if you happen to meet a bullfinch, the description will make it possible to immediately recognize which of them is who.

They have a stocky build, dense. In winter, in the very frosts, they try to fluff up their feathers harder, which makes them seem even fat. The length of the bird reaches 18 centimeters. Her temperament is very different from, for example, a siskin or tap dance. The bullfinch, whose description gives hope for a cheerful disposition, is actually quite phlegmatic, extremely quarrelsome and inactive. Females are especially scandalous. Despite the fact that in winter and autumn, the birds try to keep in flocks, they constantly quarrel. And in all cases it is the females who start the scandal, who have complete power over the males. Fights are a rare thing among lazy birds, but opening your beak and hissing menacingly at an opponent is a sweet thing.

Habitat

The description of the bullfinch for children must be supplemented with information about the place of residence of this bird.

So, it is distributed practically throughout Eurasia, excluding its most southern and northern regions. In temperate climates, bullfinches most often live settled or fly away near the main nesting site. Those who live in more northern regions, for the winter, migrate closer to the south.

In our country, the bird is most widespread in the forest zone, excluding the southern part of the Far East. In summer, the birds live in the forest, sometimes choosing light forests for their nests along the edge of clearings. Given their habit of being secretive, they are difficult to spot during the warmer months.

In winter, they migrate far south, as the description says. The bullfinch flies to Transbaikalia, Central Asia, to the Crimea, to the Amur basin and can even reach the north of Africa. During the wandering period, he stops in parks and gardens of cities and rural settlements. In the opposite direction, to the native nesting place, flocks move during March and April.

Settlements

Where does the bullfinch live? The description of the bird for children cannot be considered complete if not to mention the favorite places of residence of this bird - dense forests and woodlands. They prefer to arrange nests of bullfinches on conifers, more often on fir trees. Most often there are houses of bullfinches at a height of 2 to 5 meters. The material for the nest is moss, thin twigs, sometimes animal hair. The inside is lined with feathers, hair and dry grass. The structure looks loose and flat.

Nutrition

The bullfinch, the photo and description of which can be found in this article, eats very diversely. The food of this bird is entirely of vegetable origin. So, bullfinches gladly consume buds, seeds and berries of various plants. Ash, maple, linden, birch or alder cannot indifferently pass by seeds. The wide beak is specially designed for husking seeds from fruits of any shape and type. The bullfinches themselves do not eat the berries, they simply crush them, take out the seeds and enjoy them with pleasure.

Chicks

In April, the bullfinch prefers to hatch chicks. The description of the bird cannot be complete without a description of this process.

In clutch most often up to five eggs. They are green-blue in color, with dark spots. Chicks develop in 14 days, the same amount is required to feed the chicks. It has not been established exactly whether the male is involved in incubation, but it is his direct responsibility to feed the female sitting on the eggs. After the chicks fly out of the nest, they are mostly occupied by the male. Surprisingly, it was not possible to find a brood of chicks with their mother, while a family of several fledglings headed by a male is a common thing. Chicks are fed with vegetable food.

These birds nest once a summer, already forming flocks by July. Young chicks spend the entire first year of their lives with their parents.

Bullfinch at home

Oddly enough, the bullfinch very easily gets used to humans. He can memorize simple melodies by whistling them in his free time.

The cage with the bird must be kept cool, since not only the heat, but even the heat, the bullfinch will not survive.

It is necessary to feed in the same way as a bird feeds in nature - seeds of grasses, shrubs and trees. Be sure to include berries in the diet so that the plumage does not change color due to vitamin deficiency.

 

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