Step is stuck this is a stocky bird from the Droff family, characterized by a characteristic pattern of the neck in marriage plumage. In an adult male, during courtship on the upper part of the bright brown plumage, thin, black, wavy lines appear.
Description of the appearance of the bird
The male has on a blue-gray head with striped-brown veins “crown”, black neck and chest, a wide white V-shaped pattern on the front of the neck and a wide white stripe on his chest.
The upper body of the body is yellow-brown, slightly with a wavy black pattern. On the wings, flight and large feathers are purely white. In flight, black crescent on the bend of the wing is visible. The tail is white with brown spots with three stripes, the lower side is white, the paws are grayish-yellow, the color of the color of the aspect shale. The lower body is white. Black feathers on the neck when excited birds form a ruff.
The non-propagating male does not have a black and white neck pattern, and black-brown-brown spots are visible on the feathers. The female is similar to nonmultiplying males, with more pronounced marks on the upper body.
Teenagers resemble an adult female, they have a large number of red and dark strips on wing feathers.
The habitat of the strapet
The bird for residence selects steppes, open plains and plains with short grass, pastures and sowing areas of legumes. The view needs vegetable cover and people untouched by a person for nesting.
In which regions do strepts live
Bird breeds in South Europe and North Africa, in Western and East Asia. In winter, northern populations migrate south, southern birds lead a sedentary lifestyle.
How strepts fly
The bird walks slowly and prefers to run, if you worry, does not take off. If it still rises, it flies with an elongated neck, makes fast shallow waves with slightly curved wings.
What the birds eat and how they behave
Streets eats large insects (beetles), rainworms, mollusks, amphibians and ground invertebrates, consumes plant material, shoots, leaves, flower heads and seeds. Outside the reproduction season, strepts form large flocks for feeding in the fields.
How males attract females
Strepts performs impressive rituals to attract a female. “Jumping dance” occurs on a slide without vegetation or in a small area of clean soil.
The bird starts with a short leaks, produces sounds with paws. Then he bounces about 1.5 meters into the air, pronounces the nose “prrt” and at the same time waves of wings produces the characteristic sound of “sisisi”. This ritual dance usually occurs at dawn and at dusk, and lasts a few seconds, but the nasal sound is also pronounced in the daytime.
During the dance, the male raises a black ruff, shows the black and white drawing of the neck, and throws back his head. In jumping, males open white wings.
Males chased for a long time for females, often stopping to make sounds and wave their heads and body from side to side. During the copulation, the male repeatedly beats with a beak on the head of a partner.
What birds do after marriage rituals
The reproduction season takes place from February to June. Strepet’s nest is a shallow recess on the ground, hidden in a dense herbal cover.
The female puts off 2-6 eggs, against about 3 weeks. The male remains close to the nesting place. If a predator approaches, both adults are circling over his head.
Chickens are covered with fluffs with dark veins and spots. Fluff falls 25-30 days after hatching and replaced by feathers. The chicks remain with the mother until the fall.
What threatens Stretch
The species is considered to be under the threat of disappearance due to the loss of the environment and changes in agricultural practice.
