A small black bird with an orange tail. Waxwing is a bird with a tuft on its head. Drunk waxwings. The great black woodpecker is yellow. Report with photos and videos

Redstart (Latin Phoenicurus)- a small bird from the passerine family. In males, the back is gray, the belly and sides are rusty-red, on the tail there is bright red plumage - that's why the redstart got its name. The wings are brown, the forehead is white, the cheeks, throat, and goiter are black. Females are brown with tan markings. The length of the bird's body is up to 16 cm, weight is up to 20 grams. In young birds, the color is inconspicuous, brown with ocher spots.

photo: Redstart or coot

Redstarts include 13 bird species, most of them inhabit China, India and other Asian countries. In Russia, you can most often find the common redstart, chernushka, white cap and Siberian. Birds prefer to settle in the forest-steppe and forest zone, in parks and gardens, but in the steppe it can be seen extremely rarely, the redstart and pine forests avoid it.

photo: Black Redstart

Distribution, nutrition, reproduction of redstart

The redstart returns in mid-April, the first to arrive are the old males, followed by the young and the females. It is the males who are looking for a place for a nest; a real struggle begins for the best sites. Birds build nests in hollows, on thick branches of trees, in bushes, old stumps. The female builds a nest in May-June, as building material using pieces of bark, stalks of grass, dry leaves, lines the rookery from the inside with threads, feathers, ropes, scraps of paper. In one clutch there are 6-7 eggs with a bluish shell; the female is engaged in incubation. After 2 weeks, chicks appear, both parents bring them food for another 2-3 weeks. Babies begin to fly about a month after birth. Some pairs of birds make 2-3 clutches per summer. Young growth roams not far from the nesting site, near water bodies and in thickets of bushes.

photo: Siberian redstart

Redstart feeds mainly on insects - flies, mosquitoes, small beetles, caterpillars, as well as small spiders. Birds are not averse to feasting on berries - currants, elderberries, raspberries. In October (some species also in November) birds fly to Central Africa, where they winter. You can keep the redstart in cages, but they get used to humans for a long time, and they will sing in captivity at most 2 months a year.

photo: White-headed Redstart

Representatives of this species sing almost around the clock, they are especially active in the early morning and late evening;
Characteristic feature the bird's behavior is the constant shaking of the tail, because of this, the red plumage shimmers in the sun, like a fire;
The redstart is also called coot, kaluferka, goristka;
When kept in captivity, the birds are first tied up with wings, since they often injure themselves. With proper care, they live for 5-6 years.
In 2015, the redstart was declared the bird of the year in Russia

Redstart video

The jay belongs to the corvid family and forms separate species living in Eurasia. Bird forest and inhabits almost all of Europe, including the northern and central regions of Russia, Great Britain and Scandinavia. Lives in Asia Minor, the Caucasus, in the western regions of Iran and in northern Africa. It is found in the Himalayas, inhabits the vast region of Southeast Asia, as well as Japan, Korea, Sakhalin. Representatives of the species also live in the Asian part of Russia. These are the Urals, southern regions of Siberia and the Far East.

In length, together with the tail, the bird reaches 30-40 cm. The wingspan is 50-55 cm. The wing length is 15-17 cm. The tail reaches a length of 12-15 cm. The body weight is 170-200 grams. There is a crest on the head. Uppertail is white, tail is black. On the body, the plumage is light brown. The wing coverts are blue with transverse black stripes.

The color of the feathers on the head is different depending on the region of residence. In Asia, a light brown shade prevails, in Europe the plumage is light and diluted with brown streaks. The inhabitants of Asia Minor and the Caucasus have a dark head, rather even black. Black stripes go from the beak to the neck. The beak is also black. Legs are reddish brown. The throat is light, almost white. In short, the jay looks very beautiful. Her flight is slow, and her wings are rounded.

Reproduction and life expectancy

The mating season for this bird begins at the very beginning of spring. The female and the male form a pair and immediately begin to build the nest. For this, dark areas of the forest are selected. The nest is placed on both coniferous and deciduous trees. It is done on the side branches. The height from the ground is usually 2-5 meters. The outer frame is woven from tree branches, and last year's grass is laid from the inside. It turns out to be a small bowl. Its bottom is lined with grass and feathers. The diameter of the nest reaches 20-30 cm.The depth reaches 15 cm.

There are 5-8 eggs in a clutch. Incubation lasts two and a half weeks. Chicks hatch in mid-May. They are fed by their parents for a month. At the end of June, they become winged. But the family does not break up until the end of August. Only at the beginning of autumn do young people begin an independent life. She strays into groups and looks for permanent habitats for herself. Jay lives in wildlife 5-7 years old. The maximum life span is 20-22 years.

Behavior and nutrition

This species does not migrate to warm countries in winter. In the southern regions it leads a sedentary lifestyle. Inhabitants of colder regions try to adhere to their forage territories all year round and move only in case of lack of forage. Therefore, migrations are not regular. Usually, with the appearance of a snow cover, birds forage not only in the forest, but also fly out into the open. They are even approaching settlements.

But it should be noted that the jay, under any circumstances, remains an inhabitant of the forest. She spends most of her life in it. The diet includes plant foods, insects, as well as frogs, lizards, eggs small birds... The birdie attacks chicks, as well as young songbirds that have just risen on their wings. Representatives of the species are very smart. To get to the caterpillars, hiding in tree trunks, they stick their beak under the bark and break off pieces. In this way, they get to the insects. Collect acorns and hide them in reserve. True, sometimes these reserves are found

Sometimes walking in the woods with a gun or just walking down the street you can come across a strange little bird very similar to a sparrow. Many people wonder who it is, and the question of what kind of bird looks like a sparrow can very often be found on various forums, social media groups and Q&A services. We decided to figure out who it might be and answer this question.

Sparrows

The sparrow is a small bird with brownish gray plumage, for all its nondescriptness, the bird is very interesting, in terms of habits and behavior, including useful for humanity, and as history has shown, they can greatly affect the ecological balance in nature. The destruction of their population has already led to an ecological disaster.

Within the territory of Russian Federation there are two species, the house sparrow, he is the city, and the village sparrow, he is the field. As the name suggests, some live in cities, others outside the city.

We will not describe the sparrows from a scientific point of view, there are specialized scientific publications for this, so we just give the main characteristics of the species and Interesting Facts about this bird:

In view of the large family of the order of passerines, in our forests there are very often birds that resemble sparrows in appearance, so we decided to compile a list of the most common twins of the common sparrow.

Graybird

He is a fieldberry thrush, he is a mischief-maker. In color, it is similar to a sparrow, but has a larger size.

Often found in orchards and vegetable gardens, or in places where berries and various fruit-bearing crops accumulate, it feeds on the same berries.

With all this, the bird is quite edible, and according to the famous hunter S.T. one of the few birds that, along with snipe, can be cooked not gutted (Quote not literal).

In the USSR, it was considered conditionally a hunting resource, and passing hunting was allowed for it in the implementation of any other legal hunting.

Fieldfare thrush video (Video from Yotube.com/

It would seem that everyone knows the nightingale, and everyone is familiar with his sonorous singing, but oddly enough, many do not know what he looks like. The nightingale has a very strong external resemblance to sparrows, but their habitat is different.

Nightingales are more moisture-loving birds and live mainly in floodplain forests, nest in deciduous shrubs and trees near water bodies. In color, the nightingale is very similar to a sparrow, but is slightly larger and has a longer body shape.

Lark

The lark is a bit larger than a sparrow, it lives mainly in the fields, it can often be heard from its sonorous singing.

It has a more attractive color, although it is not the same nondescript as that of the hero of the article, sometimes crested larks come across.

It is an object of prey for hunters, and there are some connoisseurs of rather difficult spring hunting for larks. The bird is insectivorous and migratory; it does not winter in the Russian Federation.

On the territory of the Russian Federation, there are larks of the following species: common lark, crested lark, hoopoe, forest, steppe, have minor differences.

Belongs to the family of finches and looks and is about the size of a sparrow except for its brighter and more attractive coloration.

It lives mainly in forests, in the cold season it huddles in flocks, sometimes together with sparrows and other finch species.

In the cold season, due to the small amount of food in the woodlands, it may appear in settlements by joining a flock of sparrows.

Hunters are not interested, sometimes kept in captivity.

Video and Singing Lark (Yotube.com/

Oatmeal

In Russia, reed and reed bunting, also known as reed, is mainly widespread.

It has a very strong resemblance to sparrows, the main differences are in a slightly different body shape and color, and a pronounced black head color.

The habitat follows from the name is reed and reed. Therefore, it can be found mainly only near water bodies.

Oatmeal video and singing (Yotube.com/

These are the most common and widespread birds on the territory of Russia, which have an external resemblance to sparrows in appearance and color.

If you know more, write in the comments, we will definitely add.

Many people know a small black bird with a bright red tail, which it constantly shakes, living in gardens and parks. For its bright tail, visible from afar, it received the name redstart. And if the males of this bird are very noticeable - still, it is dark itself, and the tail is bright red, then the females and young birds are not so striking. They are brownish-gray in color, with a lighter belly and throat. But a characteristic distinguishing feature is that they also have a red swaying tail.

To begin with, a short video with a characteristic cry (not a song!) Of a redstart. Sits on a branch swinging from the wind, wagging its tail and emitting a characteristic cry - "fuit-tick-tick-tick":

The most famous and widespread in our country is the common redstart (it is also the garden redstart, coot redstart). This small, smaller than a sparrow, a bird of the flycatcher family with a bright red tail, which it often twitches. As a result, the red spot becomes clearly visible against the background of the gray back and brown wings of the bird and resembles a flaring ember. Other external signs of this bird: males have a reddish entire lower body, the sides of the head and throat are black, and the forehead is white (hence the name bald). Females are light brown, darker above, with brown wings. Juveniles are brown with dark streaks. The main identifying feature - an orange-red tail - is present in males, females, and young birds.

The red, "burning" tail of the bird became the reason for its Russian name. The fiery tail was also noted by Karl Linnaeus, who in 1758 described the redstart under the Latin name Phoenicurus phoenicurus, which can be translated as “Phoenix's tail”. The phoenix, we recall, according to ancient legend, burned in the fire and was reborn again, and the Greek word οὐρά means a tail.

In English, the redstart is called redstart. The word start in this case goes back to Middle English stert and Old English steort "tail". It has nothing to do with the word start, which means "to start" (from Old English styrtan "to jump up"). The bird's red tail caught the eye of other peoples as well. Therefore, in many languages the name of the redstart means "red tail" (Italian codirosso, Swedish rödstjärt, Greek κοκκινούρης, Danish rødstjert, Belarusian ore-tail). In Spanish, the redstart also has the name abanico, which literally means "fan." Apparently, the attentive Spaniards noticed how the male redstart periodically opens its tail, like a fan. The Finnish name for the redstart is leppälintu "alder bird". The Romanians call it codraş, which can be translated as “forest man”, but they also know the name coadă-roşie “red tail”.

The redstart lives in deciduous forests, often in gardens and parks. She arranges nests in hollows, in stumps, sometimes even on the ground under bushes. The redstart also settles in niches of human buildings, even in woodpiles. Usually the redstart keeps low, on the branches of trees, on bushes, flies to the ground, where it looks for food. However, the singing male can take up space at the top of the tree.

Bird singing expert Ivan Shamov wrote about the redstart: “In April, as soon as the gardens begin to dry out after the spring thaw, as the redstart is already here, it flew from distant countries to its nesting sites, year after year looking for its corner without error, and from early in the morning, as soon as a streak of light appears in the east, the bird announces the garden with its modest characteristic song; in the month of May, her song is not interrupted even at night. On hearing it seems to come out with the words: fi! re-re-re-re, bloom-bloom! ... so invariably repeats in one plan, but it's wonderful that the redstart almost never puts the same ending in her song, but every time a new one. And with this the bird is very entertaining, you always listen with pleasure and try to make out what the ending will be. It usually consists of urges. different birds... In addition to this redstart song, the reader undoubtedly heard her characteristic urge: Quit! whit !, which she repeats loudly and for a long time, especially before bad weather, and when she is worried about something, she shouts: whit-te-tech! " (Our Songbirds, 1910).

In the singing and cries of many birds, people are used to hearing meaningful words and phrases. For example, it was believed that the lapwing asked: “Whose are you? Whose are you? ", and lentils:" Did you see Vitya? Have you seen Nikita? " The singing of the redstart did not escape such a folk interpretation. The peasants of the Smolensk province believed that the redstart boasts "I was in St. Petersburg, I was in St. Petersburg ... I saw Peter, I saw Peter."

The redstart feeds on insects. The bird looks for them on the ground and on the branches, and can catch them on the fly. In 1940, the ornithologist A.N. Redstarts hunt both flying insects and caterpillars. The diameter of the hunting area reaches 200 - 300 meters. At the end of summer, the redstart adds berries to its diet.

The summer apartment of the common redstart can be located in large gardens, at the edge of the forest, in the fields. These birds nest in the hollows of old trees. Common redstarts feed their chicks most often with pests, which is why gardeners and gardeners love them so much.

Redstart pairs are often preserved for several years. Males return to nesting sites earlier than females. They are looking for a place for a nest: usually it is a hollow or a pile of dead wood. Having found a place, they call the females without moving away from the site: after all, they can take a place. There is one more way how to call a female - to climb into the hollow and put out the "flaming" tail. The female is looking for a male and flies into the hollow. After the appearance of the mate, the male immediately begins mating games. When the female approaches the future nest, the male sings a song and bows his head, showing a white forehead, turns around its axis. After that, the birds mate and together line the hollow with dry grass, bark and moss. At the final stage, the "children's room" is insulated with fluff and wool. The female lays 6-7 eggs and incubates them for two weeks, occasionally leaving the nest to satisfy her hunger. For the chicks that appeared two weeks later, both birds bring food.

The male redstart is also responsible for keeping the nest clean during the first days after chick hatching. The male carries baby excrement out in its beak. After 2 weeks after birth, the chicks learn to fly. However, even when the female incubates the second clutch, the male continues to patronize the chicks from the first brood. After the birth of chicks from the second clutch, older chicks begin their independent life.

In Europe, the redstart lives in light mixed forests, and in Africa and Asia Minor it also inhabits mountain forests. She leaves stony places and rocks near mountain meadows to a close relative - the black redstart.

In some gardens, both species of these birds coexist. Among the redstart's favorite places of residence are old parks and alleys, where there are many old hollow trees. In Berlin, redstarts populate city parks, gardens and cemeteries. Today, urban populations of redstart outnumber those in suburban forests. At the end of August, redstarts begin to prepare to fly to warm Africa. Winter is spent in sub-Saharan countries.

Redstarts feed on a variety of insects and spiders that they find on the ground, on tree trunks, branches and leaves. Occasionally, birds catch insects in the air, looking for prey from an ambush.

The redstart is in no hurry to eat the caught prey - at first it takes it to a safe place. Large insects, for example, beetles, it stuns in advance by hitting the ground, and tears off the legs of grasshoppers. In addition to caterpillars, ants, small molluscs and millipedes, the bird eats berries and fruits. Small chicks are able to swallow only crushed food, therefore adult birds first crush caught insects and only after that give them to chicks.

Gluttonous chicks often bring parents to full physical exhaustion, because the birds fly to the nest up to 500 times a day, each time bringing food to the chicks in their beak.

Redstart often nests next to nuthatch or titmouse. She willingly lays eggs in specially prepared nesting houses. The higher her house in the garden is located, the more chances of successful breeding of the bird, of course, provided that there is a sufficient amount of food in the area. Gardeners rejoice when these insectivorous birds appear on their plots. The "friendship" of people with the redstart is of great benefit to them. After all, the bird saves the gardens from various insect pests: grasshopper beetles, bedbugs, caterpillars, leaf beetles and mosquitoes.

Interesting Redstart Facts:

Redstarts, like wagtails, wag their tails up and down.
The common redstart can attack its reflection when it sees it, for example, in the glass of a window.
The male hunts for prey in flight, while the female searches for food on the surface of the earth.
The name of this bird suggests that it has a brightly colored tail. It "burns", because the tail feathers have a fiery color.
It is in the nest of the redstart that the cuckoo most often leaves its eggs. Redstarts care for cuckoos like their own chicks.

On the territory of Russia there are several more representatives of the genus redstart. The Siberian Redstart (Phoenicurus auroreus) lives in eastern Siberia. The gray-headed redstart (Phoenicurus caeruleocephala), the red-backed redstart (Phoenicurus erythronotus) and the red-bellied redstart (Phoenicurus erythrogastrus) are found in the Altai, Sayan and Tien Shan mountains. The last of the named species can be found in the Caucasus as well.

We see a bird with a long beak or a feathered bird jumping on the ground, we observe migratory flocks and feed those who stayed for the winter. There are many different birds around us. And each species deserves special attention, because it is unique in its kind. From this article, you will learn a lot about birds living next to humans, and will discover this world from a new perspective.

Our feathered neighbors

The reasons why birds choose our neighborhood are many and obvious. The main one is inextricably linked with the search for food and shelter. Remember the swallows. They build their nests under the rooftops. If we talk about crows, pigeons and sparrows, these birds are an integral part of the atmosphere of any city.

Being close to humans significantly increases the birds' chances of surviving on hungry and cold days. But, there are also forest birds that are comfortable away from the benefits of human civilization. And about those, and about others, we will now tell. You will find out which characteristics distinguish birds from each other and stop confusing birds that are similar in appearance.

We recognize the titmouse by the characteristic yellowish color of its breast, the dark green plumage of its wings and tail. It belongs to the order of passerines. The size of the individual is about 14 cm, and the weight is 20 g. It has about 30 subspecies. Depending on the place of residence, it leads both a sedentary and a migratory lifestyle.

The titmouse is found almost everywhere on the planet. She lives in the regions of Eurasia, North Africa, as well as Indonesia. Inhabitants of cold countries tend to fly to warm regions during severe frosts at home.

Birds with yellow breasts are not just tits. Among the birds similar to them, the siskin, oatmeal, mountain wagtail, blue tit, and yellow finch are distinguished.

Beak and tail as pride

The person is surrounded by groups of birds, which are impossible not to notice. And it's all to blame for the amazing beaks and tails that such birds have. They need a beak to catch small insects under the bark of trees and in the ground. The tail orientates in space and serves as a steering control.

The long-tailed tit, yellow wagtail, has "tailed" advantages. As one of the smallest birds, they wear a spoon-like tail that is disproportionately long relative to their body.

The graceful thin and long beak is a distinctive feature of such birds as the pika, mocking and red-winged stencreeper. Individuals more familiar to our eyes, which nature has awarded with a long beak - rooks, starlings, nuthatches, as well as choughs.

Familiar and close

Birds live in Russia, to which we have long been accustomed. They build their nests and have offspring, both in the city and in countryside... Some representatives of the bird kingdom are recognized by people thanks to their bright head plumage and beak color.

Individuals with a bright yellow beak live on the territory of our country. These are blackbirds and alpine jackdaws. Thrush gradually wanders from the forest to country gardens, where it massively destroys the works of summer residents. Jackdaw belongs to the ravens, although it is inferior in size to most of its relatives. This is a sociable bird that lives close to humans. Its food sources are fruit trees, hence parks, gardens and farmland.

Bright and effective

There are birds that we recognize as soon as we see them. Them business card- original crest. Linnet, tap dance, waxwing, goldfinch (in some tropical species) are given by their peculiar plumage, similar to a hat. As a rule, it is painted in contrasting bright colors. Most often, red, yellow, black and white plumage shades prevail. In the natural environment, such individuals settle in forests, in vast areas where the human presence is minimized.

In our area, there are many spectacular crested birds and they live everywhere. Due to the climatic features of the region, some of them are migratory.

A remarkable bird crossbill-spruce. This bird, in addition to bright plumage, has an unusual beak shape. Its ends are bent so that, crossing, they form the letter "x".

Chest forward

Some birds that live in our vast latitudes, with brightly colored breasts, arouse human interest.

The most famous representative of such birds is the bullfinch. In Russia, he was always treated with respect. We associate it with snowy winter. Songs are sung about this bird with a red breast, poems and children's tales are composed.

The songbird belongs to the finch family. Bullfinches live in Europe, Asia, Siberia, Kamchatka and Japan in the forest zones. Its color on the tail, head and wings is dark blue and gray with a metallic sheen. The contrasting pink-red color of the breast makes the bullfinch a very effective representative of the feathered class. The bird feeds on insects and small mollusks. Breeds twice a year. One clutch consists of five to seven eggs, of which a brood of chicks appears in a couple of weeks.

Other birds with bright breast plumage:

some species of blackbirds: white-chinned, white-lumbar shama;
starlings different types: the emerald, brilliant starling of Hildebrant;
varakusha;
redstart;
black-headed coinage;
chasing meadow and black-headed;
red-breasted warbler.

Some birds boast a spotted breast: nutcracker, millet.

Interestingly, the difference between the redstart and the sparrow is mainly in the bright orange color of the breast and the larger size.

Birds of the color of the sun

Some birds have been gifted by nature especially generously. Their plumage shimmers with all sunny colors and shades.

Among these lucky ones is the oriole, but it is not completely yellow. The monochrome black plumage of the wings contrasts with the rich yellow background. The singing of the oriole is a favorite theme of poets and musicians.

The canary or canary finch also has a sunny color. For this, the bird is very fond of and is often brought up as a singing pet. Homeland canary finch the Canary Islands, Azores and Madeira are considered. The bird arrived in the Old World together with the Spanish conquistadors, after which it became the home favorite of noble dignitaries and kings.

Our birds were called canaries for the consonance of their original habitat (Canary Islands).

Nondescript, but still special

A person is surrounded not only by exquisite spectacular birds. IN Everyday life most often we meet individuals, the plumage of which merges with trees, earth and gray asphalt. This feature of their appearance not accidental. It is due climatic conditions, habitat, choice of nesting sites, food search methods, and the need for camouflage.

Gray color of feathers is typical for pigeons, field sparrow, turtle doves. White neck stripes appear in contrast on their body.

Brown birds, often found in our country: sparrow, thrush, lark and nightingale.

Birds of black color: crows, rooks, jackdaws, red-billed choughs. Crows are sometimes confused with their closest relatives, the Australian magpie and the rook.

Bright accents

There are birds, the appearance of which is characterized by special marks by which they are recognized. In particular, we are talking about blue tit. Her neck and white head are framed by blue plumage against the background of yellow-gray shades of the rest of the body.

Goldfinch is distinguished by the red color of the feathers in the head area. Its wings, with yellow feathers, are outlined with black edging. The whole body of the bird is brown-beige.

Chough, gull and Inca tern are individuals with paws, the skin of which is red. Mother Nature awarded this color to the duck by painting the powerful beak of the bird.

Red pigment is found not only in the color of the skin, appendages and feathers. Take a closer look at a pigeon or owl. You will notice the presence of a bloody tint in their eyes.

Black and white world

A frequent occurrence in the feathered family is the black and white "classic". It is not considered exotic and is found everywhere. Sometimes black feathers are mixed with grayish ones. This color is due to the lifestyle of the birds, their habitat and other factors. Among the prominent representatives of this color group are the pied flycatcher, common magpie, lurik, and also the white wagtail.

Dark gray and black birds with white stripes in the area of the wings: gray shrike, magpie, pied flycatcher.

The ptarmigan, contrary to its name, does not always look completely monochromatic. Its head is often colored black, sometimes brown.

Our huge world is replete with a variety of birds. Some of them are radically different, others are similar. But, one way or another, watching them is a very interesting and educational activity.

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