Upupa (upupa) – This is a bird that belongs to the Udodomnaya detachment and the Udodov family (Upupidae). This species is a migratory and nesting, but there are settled representatives of the species in the south.
Appearance
The length of adult birds can range from 26 to 38 cm, mass – from 45 to 90 g. Wingspan on average 46 cm.
This bird has a long and curved beak, there is a crest on the head of a bird. It is formed by elongated feathers, located from the base of the awlly beak to the crown. He can turn into a fan and take shape. When the individual is ready for mating, the crest rises. The plumage in adult birds is thick, but at the same time soft, and in young animals it is loose. Udodo wings are wide and have a rounded shape. The tail of the tail of the bird is straight. The nostrils of individuals cover the feathers of the forehead.
The coloring does not change over the years, but the young top feathers have a slightly dull. Females wear less bright «outfit». This is especially noticeable if you look at the area of the sternum – It does not have a pink raid that males have. The color of the plumage is rusty, on the body of the bird there are spots and strips of white color. Dark stripes are located on the back. On the shoulder feathers it is easy to discern light longitudinal stripes. In the area of the pile and throat in plumage, pink color prevails. Featers on Hochle brownish, their peaks are black. Nadkhness and belly are painted in white. On the sides of the bird have dark colorful. In some individuals, the first flyer feathers are absolutely black. The beak of individuals of this species is dark pink, the connection of red. The legs are black and brown. Raduzhin’s eyes Burovaya.
The newborn has a reddish hairshaped fluff. By the sixth day of life, the plumage changes and the fluff of the bird from above becomes pink, and from below white.
Molting
Molting occurs in places of nesting. During this, fly and steering feathers change. Small feathers are usually replaced during wintering. In birds living in Central Asia, the molting begins in midJuly, and ends in November, in young animals in this area, Linka takes place from August to September. Due to the fact that the reproduction period is stretched, young individuals can be found in autumn plumage at the end of August.
Flaw feathers begin to change from the middle to the edge, and the helmsman on the contrary. The small feather changes from the Ukrainians, then in the direction from the neck to the back. Udoda that pass through molting, wellfed and do not lose weight.
Where it lives
Udoda create nests almost throughout the continent Africa. They nest on the territory of Europe – From the south to the western part of the taiga strip. In Eurasia, birds nest in the Leningrad region and on the territory of the Ladoga. Sometimes this representative of Udodov nests in the Tver, Moscow and Kirov region. Their dwellings can be found in Asia, but not in Japan and Indonesia. These birds are common in eastern Europe and north of Asia.
Labor
Udod prefers open spaces, it can often be found where grassy vegetation or shrubs prevails. This bird lives both in the steppes and in the edges. Representatives of Udodov settled in the mountains and deserts, river valleys. The bird avoids taiga landscapes. On the Tien Shan Udoda is sometimes met in spruce. In Central Siberia, this bird is characteristic of foreststeppes, but it is also met in sparse forests.
Udod is not afraid of people and sits nearby. During the nesting period, he chooses the outskirts of small cities, while wintering lives in cities centers. Often found outside the city. Can settle next to the fields and gardens, where the number of insects is high. In the Moscow region, Udod is often found in horticultural villages.
Food
Udod is fed by representatives of invertebrates, insects form the basis of the diet of birds. The food is correlated with the season. So, for example, the individuals of Turkmenistan in spring feed on caterpillars, termites and cicadas, as well as ants. In summer, they feed mainly with spiders and mokritsy, cockroaches and crickets. In the fall, the diet consists of beetle larvae. Udod can also eat plant seeds. Such food is often found in the stomachs of individuals in the fall, less often in the spring.
This bird collects its feed on land or literally digs it. Udod penetrates cracks with a beak, and then captures the victim and kills it. After that, the bird throws up the prey up, catches and eats.
Chicks feed on almost the same as adult individuals. However, they are more voracious: for the whole day they eat more than 200 insects. The basis of the diet of young animals is cockroaches and caterpillars.
Udod with prey
Voice
The cry of the udoda is quite loud, it is heard as «UP-UP». The bird can also hiss and scream.
Lifestyle and features
Udod is more active in the daytime of the day. This bird lives both on land and on the trees. Udod walks quickly, but flies slowly, his movements in the air are wavelike. The bird loves to sit on cliffs, branches of trees and abandoned buildings for a long time. This representative of the Udodov in hollows nests.
Udododa can hold both one by one and in pairs. When the female raises eggs, the male is looking for food. He is better looking for food after hatching the chicks, because he is now forced to feed the whole family. In the semideserts, the male in this period is active both day and night. Somewhere in the middle of the day invertebrates become more passive, and «hunting» It becomes more difficult. In the summer, in hot weather, the male tries not to leave the shadows. He also lies in the hole and spreads his wings. During the period of raising the mother, they sometimes leave for an hour – three hours, after hatching of the chicks, they go for an even shorter time. On hot days, the female does not leave the nest.
Udododa live next to relatives, they live in small areas where they are adjacent to the brownie and sizovorodnok. However, this does not mean that udoda is public birds.
Reproduction
Udododa becomes sexually mature per year and begin to multiply in the spring. Some part of individuals in nesting areas – couples that were formed during the escape. Some couples sometimes come to the same nests next year.
Udod in the nest
Creation of steam and equipping nests takes from 15 to 20 days. Then the period of marriage games starts, after which mating passes. The area of the territory on which the couple is nesting varies from 400 to 500 m2. Udododa are very attached to their site and usually do not fly away from there. Such attachment is specific for chicks.
During marriage games, males pursue females and make screams around the clock. Future fathers are very losing weight. The beginning of the reproduction period varies. It can begin at the end of May – early June. Many ornithologists believe that in the south of the habitat, including in Belarus, Udododa has two masonry. The female can do the first masonry at the end of May, and the second at the end of June.
Chick Udoda
To arrange a nest, a bird uses hollows of oak and alder, aspen with willow, willow and apple tree. She can create dwellings under the roofs of houses, in the cracks between the rocks and even in the well. In the last century, nests were found in basal hollows. After the place to create the nest is busy, the bird has been using it for several more years.
It is interesting that the udoda does not build a nest, but only strengthen its bottom with wood. They whimper it with a beak. In the birdhouses, Udoda use the bark as a litter. But in loss cliffs, these birds create a complex nesting chamber in which there is a long move. In such nests, representatives of the Udodov use the soil as a litter. But at the dwellings that are in the mountains and cracks of rocky breeds, the litter is even better: it consists of wool and feathers, dry herbs.
Bododa chicks
The eggs are usually white, they may have a blue or gray color on them. The mass of one egg – about 4 g. There are usually 5 pieces in the masonry of Udoda, but their number varies from 4 to 10 depending on the region. So, in Belarus and the Stavropol Territory, their average number of 6 pieces. Large masonry, where 10-12 eggs are located, are often found in Kazakhstan and Altai.
The female begins to force from the first egg, this process lasts about 15-16 days. Mother sits on the eggs tight.
Chicks are born blind. Near the female they are from 22 to 23 days. Newborns actively gain mass on the 6th day of their life before flesh and steering feathers appear. Then the growth of birds slows down, but on the 12th day the weight of the chicks is growing again. This coincides with the end of the formation of the beak. Then the increase in mass is observed only before departure from your home.
Udoda eggs
Young animals flies out of the nest in May – end of June. After that, young animals tries to stay close to parents for about 10 days. The entire brood is usually on its site and does not fly away, there are udoda and spend the night.
Population and status
Udod is listed in the Red Book of Lithuania and Latvia, Moscow and Tver, Novosibirsk and Tomsk region. The status of the view in the Red Book – z-I category, that is, this is a rare view.
Interesting Facts
- The frightened individual lies on the belly, turns the tail into a kind of fan and spreads its wings, moreover, it exhibits the beak up and then freezes.
- Males who fly to the nesting places in the steam, like free males, also shout «UP-UP» and repeat these syllables several times.
- In the mother, in the mating season, like the chicks, the skin gland on the tailbone produces an unpleasant smelling liquid, which is produced with excrement on the enemy.
- Udod is actively moving to artificial nests and is often used to combat the Colorado beetle.
- If the father of the family dies, then the female who forces eggs remains without food. However, she is not ready to starve for more than a day and after this period leaves the nest.
- In the nests of this bird they live by dead things and little peanuts.
Winter
The birds that inhabit Europe fly away to winter to Africa, and individuals that inhabit Asia go to winter to its southeast.
Podmary systematics
Udod is a politician look. Scientists distinguish 3-11 subspecies. Ivanov gives only 3, they inhabit the eastern part of Europe and the north of Asia. The subspecies are distinguished by the color of the plumage.
At the moment, the following classification is relevant: Upupa Epops Epps is considered the most numerous subspecies that lives in Egypt and Sudan, U. e. Senegalensis inhabit Senegal and Ethiopia, u. e. Saturata – East Asia. U. e. Ceylonensis lives in Pakistan and India, and U. e. Africana prefers East Africa. Sometimes Africana and Marginata (representatives live on about. Madagascar) is distinguished into separate species due to significant differences in color and due to the fact that these races have a rather specific vocalization.
