The most aquatic bird. Interesting facts about birds

In this article we will talk about the fastest living creatures that live in water. At first glance, it seems that the representatives water world It will not be possible to even come close to competing in speed with fleet-footed land dwellers and birds. After all, the habitat itself - water, dense and viscous, does not predispose to movement at very high speeds. But it turned out that if aquatic animals still “didn’t reach the fastest “flyers”, then the terrestrial fauna were practically not inferior in speed. It is clear that speed for them is one of the most important qualities that allows them to survive in wildlife, allowing the “hunter” to overtake the “prey”, and the “victim” to escape from the “hunter”. But which one maximum speed Are the inhabitants of the seas, oceans and fresh water bodies capable of developing? Let's look at the fastest of them...

Tiger shark (lat. Galeocerdo cuvier) – 53 km/h

Tiger shark has a large mouth, in which there are many teeth with beveled tops. This mouthpart is adapted for feeding on sea turtles. The speed of turtles is about 35 km/h, and the speed of a tiger shark is 53 km/h. Why does she need such a large reserve of speed? Probably so as not to become prey to larger predators.



Killer whale (lat. Orcinus orca) – 55 km/h.
The photo shows killer whales off the coast of Alaska

killer whale– a marine mammal, order of cetaceans, suborder of toothed whales, family of dolphins. The only surviving modern representative of the killer whale genus. This is the largest aquatic predator, which, nevertheless, develops a good speed of 55 km/h. As in the previous case, the killer whale needs this speed solely for hunting, because no one except humans attacks this animal. High speed qualities and considerable intelligence make the killer whale a very fast and dangerous predator.



Atlantic tarpon (Megalops atlanticus) – 56 km/h

Tarpon- a large fish, similar in appearance to herring, but having nothing in common with it. Atlantic tarpon(Megalops atlanticus) can grow up to 2 meters in length, and its speed matches its size - up to 56 km/h. Interestingly, when these fish lack oxygen, they can jump out of the water to literally take a breath of air.



White-winged porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli) – 56 km/h

White-winged porpoise, or Dahl's porpoise- a mammal reaching a length of 1.8-2 meters, and a newborn individual - 1 m. Males have characteristic features, which distinguish them from females (hump in front of the tail, sloping front, and others). White-winged porpoises live in groups (about 20 individuals). They can swim at a speed of just over 56 km/h. Porpoises are predators. They feed on fish and cephalopods, which they hunt at night.



Blue or blue shark (Prionace glauca) – 69 km/h

Blue or blue shark- a type of cartilaginous fish from the family of gray sharks. Widely distributed throughout the world and lives both in the ocean and on the coast, and is one of the most common sharks on Earth. It has an elongated body, with elongated pectoral fins. It is quite large in size and can reach a length of 4 meters. The name of this shark corresponds to its color (blue back and blue belly). The speed that this fairly common subtropical shark can develop is 65-69 km/h.



Yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) – 70 km/h

Yellowfin tuna is a fish from the mackerel family that plays a significant role in the fishing industry. It is found in all tropical and temperate latitudes of the world's oceans, but is absent in the Mediterranean Sea. It has impressive dimensions for commercial fish - 2-2.5 meters in length, and weight reaches 200 kg. Its grayish body is crossed by about 20 longitudinal white-yellow lines. These large fish are capable of swimming at speeds of up to 70 km/h.



Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) – 74 km/h

Atlantic bluefin tuna- one of the fastest fish. It can reach speeds of up to 74 km/h. Bluefin tuna got its name due to its color: the back is blue-gray, bluish in color, and the belly is silver. These fish are warm-blooded, which is quite rare among fish. Thanks to this, fish feel good in both cold and warm waters.



Mackerel – 77 km/h

Few people know that such a common commercial fish as mackerel(Scomber), capable of developing very high speed. During spawning or in a cast, it can swim at speeds of up to 70-77 km/h. Interestingly, mackerel stay in large groups, in which all the fish are the same size.



Marlin (lat. Makaira) – 80 km/h.
Pictured is an Indo-Pacific blue marlin

Marlins from the family of sailfish, their body length can be compared with some species of sharks, since they can grow up to 4 m, but in terms of speed, marlins significantly outpace both sharks and many other aquatic inhabitants. These fish can rush at a speed of 80 km/h. It is interesting that it was marlin that was hunted by the hero of the story “The Old Man and the Sea” (E. Hemingway).



Sailfish (Istiophorus platypterus) – 109 km/h

The fastest fish also belongs to the marlin family. Sailfish got into the Guinness Book of Records thanks to the incredible speed that it can develop. The fish has a characteristic sail-shaped dorsal fin, which gives the species its name. When sailfish swim at high speed, the dorsal, anal and ventral fins are folded and tucked into special recesses on the fish's body. The sailfish is an active predator and can reach speeds of up to 100 km/h. In a series of tests conducted at the Long Key fishing camp in Florida, USA, the sailfish swam 91 m in 3 seconds, which is equivalent to a speed of 109 km/h.

Many birds feel confident not only in the air, but also on the water. This is a habitat, a food supply. Define, what kind of waterfowl birds, is possible based on the study of birds and their ability to stay on the surface. They are not related species, but have many common features: interdigital membranes, thick plumage, coccygeal gland.

Between themselves waterfowl They do not form food competition, obtain food in different ways, and specialize in their food. Each species occupies its own ecological niche. There are no herbivorous varieties among them. Birds either belong to predators or to omnivorous gluttons.

Waterfowl are represented by the following orders:

  • Anseriformes;
  • loons;
  • grebes;
  • pelican-shaped;
  • penguin-like;
  • crane-shaped;
  • Charadriiformes.

Representatives of the Anseriformes family in in full force lead an aquatic or semi-aquatic life. All have a membrane on three fingers, a flattened beak, and plates on the sides of the tongue for filtering food. Species of goose and duck subfamilies live in Russia.

Gogol

A small, compact duck with a white neck, belly and sides. A wide tail of almost black color, a greenish tint on the head and back. The body length is 40-50 cm, the wingspan is on average 75-80 cm, the weight is 0.5 - 1.3 kg. Lives in remote taiga reservoirs. In cold weather, silverware from Europe, Asia, southern Russia, and sometimes the middle zone flies to the territory.

White Goose

The name reflects the main color of the bird, which has only flight feathers with a black tint. Beak and legs are pink. The body length is 70-75 cm, the wingspan is 120-140 cm, the weight is approximately 2.5-3 kg. The bird nests in the Arctic zone, on the coasts of Greenland, eastern Chukotka, and the Kola Peninsula.

Ogar

Red waterfowl belongs to the duck family. Bright orange plumage gives an elegant look to the cautious inhabitant of the reservoirs of Europe and Asia. The flight wings and paws are black. – excellent swimmers and divers. They run well on the ground. In flight they resemble geese. The birds reach a length of 65 cm. They live in pairs, only in the fall they gather in flocks.

Gooseberry

A large goose with a massive beak. Dark brown color of plumage, light areas on the chest. A small transverse pattern makes the appearance openwork. Orange legs and a transverse stripe above the beak add bright accents to the color. The body length is 80-90 cm, weight is approximately 4.5 kg, wingspan is on average 160 cm. It lives in reservoirs and in forests of the tundra, forest-tundra,.

Canada goose

Large waterfowl with a long neck, small head. The body is approximately 110 cm long, the wingspan is 180 cm, and the mass of the individual does not exceed 6.5 kg. The head and neck are black, the back, sides, and belly are grayish-brown with whitish lines. Paws are black.

The species is distributed in the British Isles, water bodies of Sweden, Finland, and the islands of the Ladoga and Gulf of Finland.

Common eider

Large diving duck with long tail. Powerful lead-colored beak without growths. A black cap adorns the bird's head, chest, covert feathers, and neck are pure white. Yellow-green spots below the ears. Body length is 60-70 cm, wingspan is approximately 100 cm, weight is 2.5-3 kg.

Loon family consists of closely related species living in the northern regions of Europe, Asia - the cold zone of the northern hemisphere. Compared to ducks, they fly quickly and maneuverably. These are birds with an ancient history among modern birds.

Red-throated loon

A small bird with a curved beak. There is a chestnut-red spot on the front of the neck. The plumage is gray, with white ripples. The body length is 60 cm, the wingspan is approximately 115 cm, and the weight is about 2 kg.

For nesting, the bird chooses tundra and taiga zones. Winters in the Mediterranean, the Black Sea coast, and the Atlantic Ocean. A thick layer of down and a thick cover of feathers, subcutaneous fat protects against hypothermia.

Black-throated Loon

Medium sized bird. Body length up to 70 cm, wingspan up to 130 cm, body weight up to 3.4 kg. The beak is straight, black. Dark outfit with white splashes. Inhabits water bodies of northern Eurasia and America. The bird loves places along hilly banks.

The calls of the loon, similar to loud laughter, are widely known.

When in danger, birds do not fly up, but dive, folding their wings on their backs from getting wet. Special fat of the coccygeal gland, which covers waterfowl feathers, provides water protection.

Black-billed loon

The size of the bird is the largest among its relatives. Characteristic differences are the dark green color of the head and the shape of the beak, reminiscent of a dagger. In cold weather they fly to seas with warm waters. When migrating, they move in scattered groups. Loon pairs last a lifetime. Birds live for about 20 years.

Grebes – big waterfowl family, including 22 species. The name arose on the basis of the food perception of their peculiar meat with an unpleasant fishy odor. Members of the family are often mistaken for ducks, but there are many differences between them.

They are excellent divers thanks to their strong short legs, which do not have webs between their toes, but are equipped with side paddles for rowing.

Great Grebe (great grebe)

Birds live on ponds, lakes, and love reed thickets. cannot be found on land; it even takes off after taking off from the water. The neck remains white in front throughout the year. It feeds on fry and invertebrate organisms. Swims with deep immersion in water.

Black-necked Grebe

It is smaller in size than the great grebe. Body length up to 35 cm, weight up to 600 g. It is found in shallow reservoirs with thickets of plants in Europe, Africa, and the western USA. As the weather gets colder, birds fly from the northern zones to southern bodies of water. They lead a sedentary life.

According to the name, the neck and head are black, and the ears have yellow tufts of feathers. There are red feathers on the sides and a white belly. The main feature is blood-red eyes. The chicks have red spots between the eyes and beak.

Little grebe

The smallest representative among its relatives in size. Weight is only 150-370 g, wing length is approximately 100 mm. The upperparts are dark with a brown tint; the belly is dirty white. The neck in front is chestnut in color. There are white mirrors on the wings. The eyes are yellow, with a reddish iris.

Settles in small lakes and rivers with slow currents. Unlike ducks, which warm their frozen legs in the feathers of their bellies, grebes lift them out of the water to the sides.

Pelican-like (copepod) members of the family are distinguished by a swimming membrane between all four fingers. Paddle-like legs and long wings allow many to swim and fly confidently, but they walk awkwardly. There are many differences between birds in appearance and lifestyle.

Cormorant

The bird is large in size, up to 1 m long, weighing 2-3 kg, wingspan approximately 160 cm. Black-blue plumage with a whitish spot on the throat, disappearing by winter. Powerful hooked beak.

Widely distributed in water bodies rich in fish. There are sedentary, migratory and nomadic individuals. The cormorant's feathers get wet, so it often dries them when it sits upright and spreads its wings to the sides.

Dalmatian pelican

Curled feathers on the forehead, head, and underwings give the bird a unique shaggy appearance. Paws are dark gray. Body length up to 180 cm, wingspan over 3 m, weight on average 8-13 kg.

Social bird, forms colonies. When hunting, they act collectively: they surround schools and, with the flapping of their wings on the water, drive the fish to places where it is easier to catch. Dalmatian and pink pelicans – rare waterfowl of Russia included in the Red. They nest on the Caspian coast, shores Sea of ​​Azov.

Pink Pelican

The name reflects the delicate shade of the plumage, which intensifies on the ventral side. In flight, the black flight feathers are clearly visible. Remarkably powerful waterfowl beaks, up to 46 cm long.

Pink ones hunt large prey: carp, cichlids. One bird needs 1-1.2 kg of fish for food per day.

Voznesensky frigate

Lives on the islands of the Atlantic Ocean. The plumage of a large bird is black, the head has a green tint. The goiter sac is red. The peculiarity of their diet is to catch flying fish.

Penguin-like representatives, or penguins,- flightless seabirds of 18 species, but excellent swimmers and divers. The streamlined shape of the bodies is ideal for movement in water. Evolution has turned birds' wings into fins. The average speed of penguins in water is 10 km/h.

Powerful muscles and a dense bone structure provide them with a confident stay in the depths of the sea. Color like many others sea ​​creatures, camouflage: the back is gray-blue, with a black tint, white belly.

They live in harsh environments climatic conditions. They are anatomically adapted to extreme exposure to cold. Thermal insulation is provided by a layer of fat, up to 3 cm, and three-layer waterproof feathers. The internal blood flow is designed in such a way that heat loss is minimized. One colony of birds includes several thousand individuals.

Crane-like birds were among the first to lose the ability to fly. Many species are distributed across continents, except for the zones and. Relatives differ significantly in appearance and size. There are tiny birds from 20 cm and giant birds up to 2 m.

sun heron

It lives in tropical areas of America near bodies of water: wetlands, lakes, bays.

Variegated plumage of gray-brown shades, with the addition of yellow-green, white, and black tones. Size up to 53 cm in length, weight on average 200-220 g. Long neck in the throat area, white in color. Legs are orange and long. Fan tail with dark horizontal stripes. The heron rinses the obtained food items (frogs, fish, tadpoles) in water before consumption.

Arama (Red Crane)

It lives in areas of the American continent overgrown with vegetation near fresh water swamps. They fly poorly and try to clumsily run away from danger.

The loud screams they make serve as a means of defense. The crane's body length is up to 60 cm, its weight is no more than 1 kg, and its wingspan is on average 1 m. The birds obtain food from the bottom of the reservoir - snails, mussels, and reptiles. The diet includes frogs and insects.

Siberian crane (white crane)

Large bird with a wingspan of approximately 2.3 m, an average weight of 7-8 kg, and a height of up to 140 cm. The beak is longer than that of other cranes and is red in color. The plumage is white except for the black flight feathers. The legs are long.

Siberian crane nesting takes place exclusively in Russia. It finds its favorite places in the deserted Yakut tundra or on the swampy Ob region. In winter, birds migrate to India, Iran, and China.

The peculiarity of Siberian Cranes is their strong attachment to bodies of water. Their entire structure is aimed at moving on viscous soil. Siberian cranes never feed on farmland and avoid humans. A beautiful and rare bird in danger of extinction.

African cinquefoil

The name reflects the bird's habitat - rivers and lakes of the African continent, south of the Sahara and Ethiopia. The peculiarity of the cinquefoil is its deep immersion during swimming, during which only the head and neck are visible. When in danger, it can run through water with short ups and downs.

The length of the bird is about 28-30 cm. The color is green-brown on top, white on the belly. There are two white stripes on the sides of the head.

Coot (water hen)

small bird, similar to an ordinary duck, but uniformly black in color with a white spot on the head. From a distance, the light leathery plate resembles a bald spot, which gave rise to the corresponding name.

The short beak is shaped like a chicken. Yellowish paws with long gray toes. Widely distributed in Europe, Kazakhstan, Central Asia, and North Africa. Prefers shallow water, thickets of reeds, sedges, and reeds. Black waterfowl – fishing object.

Charadriiformes aquatic birds are represented by many species, varying in size and lifestyle. Attachment to bodies of water and anatomical features bring these birds together.

sea ​​gulls

Among their relatives they are distinguished by their large size: weight is approximately 2 kg, body length is 75 cm, wingspan is 160-170 cm. The plumage is predominantly white, except for the upper feathers of black on the wings. The flight speed is 90-110 km/h.

Oystercatchers

Contrasting black and white plumage. The paws and beak are bright orange-red, and the circles around the eyes are the same shade. Oystercatchers are distributed along sea coasts, except in polar zones. The beak is long, adapted for breaking sea prey on rocks.

Sicklebeak

They are found in Central Asia and Altai in groups along rocky rivers in mountainous regions. The presence of islands for nesting is important for them. Often hunts in shallow water. The remarkable red beak of a curved shape helps to look for prey between stones at the bottom of reservoirs.

Phalaropes

Small birds that spend a significant part of their time on the water. They swim well, but do not dive. They feed from the surface or by plunging their heads under water to hunt, like a duck. They hold up like floats, with a high rise. Mostly found in tundra reservoirs.

The aquatic lifestyle has brought together birds that can stay on the surface. This indestructible connection fills their way of life with special meaning. Waterfowl in the photo reflect the harmony of the air and water spheres of nature.

Most birds bathe to clean their plumage. Swallows, swifts and terns plunge into the water several times in a row while flying. Other birds, standing or crouching in shallow water, shake their fluffy feathers, trying to moisten them evenly. Some forest species bathe in rainwater or dew accumulated on the leaves. Birds dry themselves by fluffing and shaking their feathers, cleaning them with their beaks and flapping their wings.

Birds lubricate themselves with oil secreted by the coccygeal gland at the base of the tail. They use their beaks to apply it to their feathers, thereby making them water-repellent and more elastic. To lubricate the plumage of their heads, birds use their beaks to rub their legs with fat and then scratch their heads with them.

Drink salt water

Seagulls drink salty seawater because their tonsils are designed to filter salt.

Can swim but cannot fly: Penguin is the only bird that can swim but cannot fly. In addition, it is the only bird that walks standing.

The most frost-resistant: Ducks and geese are least afraid of the cold. They can withstand temperatures down to -110°C, while polar bears and seals can only withstand temperatures down to -80°C. The emperor penguin can withstand cold temperatures of up to 60 degrees C.

Penguins have feathers that grow evenly. Only a few birds have feathers that grow evenly throughout their body; These are usually flightless species such as penguins.

Penguins strengthen their eggs. During the egg-laying period, female penguins swallow a significant amount of clam and mussel shells. In this way, penguins receive the additional calcium they need to make their eggshells stronger. Fortified eggs have a better chance of not breaking on hard surfaces, which is also possible during penguin fights, when they throw eggs at each other - this is 43% of cases of egg destruction.

In principle, males also swallow mollusks along with shells, but females absorb much more.

They smell the fish. It has been experimentally proven that, for example, large seabirds, fulmars and petrels, can smell fish three kilometers away. But albatrosses can smell the bait (a piece of lard) as far as thirty kilometers away!

Ducks chemically attract drakes

And one more interesting observation. In the spring, a group of wild ducks had their nostrils plugged. And the drakes immediately stopped showing interest in the females. It is believed that female ducks secrete some chemicals that attract males.

Breathing without nostrils. In most birds, the nostrils lead into the nasal cavities at the base of the beak. However, cormorants, gannets and some other species lack nostrils and are forced to breathe through their mouths. Air entering the nostrils or mouth is directed to the larynx, from which the trachea begins.

Which feet should you use to walk on water? Birds that walk in shallow waters, such as herons and stilts, have long legs. Birds that walk on carpets of floating leaves and bogs are characterized by long fingers and claws to prevent them from falling through. Penguins have short, thick legs located far behind their center of gravity. For this reason, they can only walk with their body upright and in short steps. If it is necessary to move faster, they lie on their bellies and glide, as if on a sleigh, pushing off the snow with flipper-like wings and legs.

The best diver. Penguins find their prey at a depth of 10 - 20 m from the ocean surface. It spends every hour at a depth of 5 to 40 minutes or more at depth. The emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) is capable of diving to depths of more than 200 m. The greatest diving depth among birds was recorded in 1990 in the Ross Sea, off the coast of Antarctica. One of the emperor penguins (then dived to a depth of 483 m).

What do penguins do at a depth of one and a half kilometers? Japanese biologists have installed cameras on the backs of animals that spend a long time in the depths of the sea. As the authors of the project explain, the sun's rays penetrate only 150 meters deep into the ocean, so it is still unknown what, for example, emperor penguins or elephant seals, which can dive one and a half kilometers, do at a depth of half a kilometer.

Penguins find their prey at a depth of 10 - 20 m from the ocean surface. It spends every hour at a depth of 5 to 40 minutes or more at depth. The emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) is capable of diving to depths of more than 200 m. The greatest diving depth among birds was recorded in 1990 in the Ross Sea, off the coast of Antarctica. One of the emperor penguins (then dived to a depth of 483 m).

Can swim for three weeks. The Patagonian penguin can swim for two to three weeks and cover a distance of up to 1,500 km.

The fastest swimmer. The Gentoo penguin (Pygoscelis papua) can swim at speeds of up to 27 km/h.

How birds swim

Birds swim by alternating strokes with their legs, usually equipped with membranes or blades on their toes that act like oars. The wide body provides waterfowl with stability, and their dense feather cover contains air, increasing buoyancy. The ability to swim is usually necessary for birds that forage underwater. Swans, geese and some ducks in shallow waters practice partial diving: turning their tail up and stretching their neck down, they get food from the bottom.

Dive into the water from a height

Gannets (Sulidae), pelicans, terns and other fish-eating species dive into the water in the summer, and the height of the fall depends on the size of the bird and the depth they seek to reach. Thus, heavy gannets, falling like a stone from a height of 30 m, plunge into the water to 3–3.6 m. Light-bodied terns dive from a lower height and plunge only a few centimeters.

Diving from the surface of the water

Penguins, loons Gavia immer, grebes, diving ducks Clangula hyemalis and many other birds dive from the surface of the water. Lacking the inertia of diving divers, they use the movements of their legs and (or) wings to dive. In such species, the legs are usually located at the rear end of the body, like a propeller under the stern of a ship. When diving, they can reduce buoyancy by pressing their feathers tightly and squeezing their air sacs.

Seagulls that can swim underwater

Guillemots (Alcidae) are typical seabirds, relatives of gulls and skuas, who have learned to swim and dive perfectly underwater. Ability to quickly adapt to water conditions life has led to active speciation - they are most diverse and numerous in the Northern Pacific. Currently, 23 species from 11 genera are known. Auks are characterized by a fusiform body shape, dense feather cover, a short tail, webbed feet and relatively narrow wings that fold into the likeness of oars when diving.

Excellent divers

Probably for most birds the maximum diving depth from the surface of the water is close to 6 m. However, the black-billed loon Gavia immer can dive to 18 m, and the diving duck Clangula hyemalis to approximately 60 m.

The most evil penguin

Rock penguins have a very angry character, are noisy and aggressive.

A fulmar shoots the liquid contents of its stomach at a predator

The northern fulmar seabird is capable of shooting the liquid contents of its stomach at a predator. The fulmar usually feeds on fish, and does not disdain the waste remaining after cutting up seal carcasses, and therefore it is not surprising that a thick mass with an ineradicable smell of fish oil accumulates in its stomach. Recent observations have shown that the bird shoots a foul-smelling mass with great accuracy at a distance of up to two meters. The chick already has the skill of a sniper. Fulmars use their weapons mainly against birds of prey. A greasy “spit” hitting an owl, seagull or crow incapacitates the bird for a long time - it glues its feathers together. A spat on predator can neither fly nor swim, and sometimes even dies from the cold - after all, clean, loose feathers create good thermal insulation around the bird’s body.

Global warming on the planet has reduced nutritional intake seabirds

After a sudden climate change in 1977, when water in the Bering Sea and the adjacent Gulf of Alaska was 2 degrees above normal in winter, the well-established rhythm of seabirds began to change. While the crab population remained largely unchanged, populations of a large and abundant species of fish, Mallotus villosus, as well as cod, were severely affected. This temperature change could be important factor for declines in seabird numbers. For example, to reach the previous population size, seabirds must almost double their diet of fish, which is already not enough for those that exist.

Where do colonial birds nest?

The main place in Primorye where sea colonial birds nest is Peter the Great Bay, located in the extreme south of the region. The area of ​​its water area is about 55,600 sq. km. Numerous rocky islands, up to 200 m high, and an indented coastline with shallow bays create good conditions for nesting and feeding of numerous seabirds. About 100,000 colonial birds nest here; the most numerous of them is the black-tailed gull. Peter the Great Bay is the only nesting site in Russia for two representatives of the order Tubenoses - the fork-tailed storm petrel Oceanodroma and the spotted petrel Calonectris leucomelas. In addition, there is reason to believe that a rare bird, the crested old man, nests here.

100,000-200,000 winter in Peter the Great Bay annually water birds: guillemots, common buzzard, slaty and glaucous gulls, Bering cormorant and different kinds sea ​​ducks.

What determines the growth of seabird populations?

The prosperity of populations does not always depend on the food supply, since the abundance of food does not always mean its availability. The impressive numbers of seabirds are the result of a succession of successful seasons in which both weather and nature have favored the birds' successful breeding and survival. Small differences in ice break-up dates, water temperature or salinity can lead to marked fluctuations in seabird abundance. Moreover, climate vagaries in recent years have brought some seabird populations to the brink of extinction.

Number of bird colonies in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk

The length of the continental shores of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk is about 8.6 thousand km. and island ones - up to 1.7 thousand km. At least 600 colonies of seabirds have been found on rocky areas of the coast. total number about 12.8 million per bay. Most of them - about 9.5 million individuals or 75% - are confined to the northern part of the Sea of ​​​​Okhotsk: the Yamsky archipelago (7.5 million), Shelikhov Bay (0.75 million), Lake Lan (1.3 million), the coast and islands of the Taui Bay (0.05 million) . Bird colonies consist mainly of birds of the auk family: (97%), as well as tubenoses (fullmars, storm petrels), copepods (cormorants), gulls (kittiwakes, slaty gulls).

Pacific gulls trampled vegetation on the island

From 350 to 500 thousand pairs of gulls can nest on the Pacific island. During the day, in search of food, the birds fly many tens of kilometers out to sea, and in the evening, returning to the island, they create a spectacular swarm in the sky. Until deep twilight, tens of thousands of birds circle over the island, captivating the eye with the synchronicity of movement and the suddenness of its changes. This gigantic flock will either appear as a ball, or twist itself into a rope, or suddenly dive towards the sea or soar towards the rocks. This vocal bird settles among rocky screes, forming dense multi-story colonies.

Seagulls are born from flounder

In Kamchatka there is another species of river gulls, about which the Itelmens claim that they are born from flounder. This gull builds a nest on land and lays two eggs; a flounder appears to emerge from one, a seagull from the other.

Fulmar the size of an eagle

The fulmar is similar in size to ordinary river gulls, but among them there are also specimens that are in no way inferior in size to the largest eagle or goose. They have a large yellowish bent beak, large eyes like owls, and the color of their plumage is dark brown with white spots all over the body.

In charge of the weather

The Itelmen consider it a grave sin to kill a sea magpie, because it supposedly leads to a change in the weather, which immediately deteriorates. The bird, called Pica marina gallorum - the French sea magpie, is often found in the summer at sea and on the rivers of Kamchatka and Sakhalin.

Seabirds are destroying the sanctuary

A real war on cormorants was declared in the “Obitochnaya Kosa” nature reserve, located on the shores of the Azov Sea in the Zaporozhye region. Flocks of these seemingly harmless birds flew here from the Danube in the 90s - in the floodplains of the river, people created unbearable conditions for them. The islands of the Azov Sea turned out to be an ideal habitat for the bird.

Today, the colony in the reserve numbers more than 20 thousand cormorants, and each bird eats up to a kilogram of fish per day. As a result of this, fish stocks in the Azov Sea are reduced by 20 tons per day, and the cormorant eats commercial fish - goby and pike perch. The cormorant's gluttony also turned into another disaster: the reserve was covered with a layer of droppings, poisonous to the trees that were grown with difficulty three decades ago on an area of ​​40 hectares. On the recommendation of scientists, rangers destroy nests and scare cormorants to force the birds to fly to another place.

Seabirds Spread Radiation

Seabird excrement can introduce radioactive isotopes into food chains. In temperate latitudes the risk of such pollution is small, but on the closest approaches to the Arctic it can be much greater. It is there that guano - bird droppings - is the main source of nutrients for plants, which are then eaten by animals.

Seabird excrement samples taken from two extensive colonies are 10 times more radioactive than all other soil samples. The birds eat contaminated fish and crustaceans, and the isotopes become concentrated in the feces. The excess nutrients in them encourage the growth of plants, and the latter thus concentrate radioactive substances. And this is a serious problem - after all, plants are part of the diet of many animals, especially reindeer.

Radioactive materials enter the oceans as a result of natural geological processes occurring on the seabed. Contributes and human activity. In the Arctic, for example, in the Kara Sea, there is a radioactive waste warehouse; radioactive substances enter the seas as a result of atmospheric tests nuclear weapons accidents at nuclear facilities.

Tens of thousands of penguin chicks could die of starvation

Their parents, who were earning food on the shores of Antarctica, were blocked on their way home by a huge iceberg with an area of ​​more than three thousand square kilometers. According to scientists, this block of ice could fill the Egyptian Nile River for 80 years. Now, in order to return to their native nests, the penguins will have to make a detour of 100 kilometers. During this time, according to scientists, only a few chicks will be able to survive

 

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