Order Crane-shaped. White-winged Crake (Porzana exquisita) Reproduction and offspring of Crake

Voice

The crake is best heard in April-May, during the mating season. At this time at night, it makes sounds characteristic only of it, clearly audible at a distance of up to 1-2 km - a melodic whistle “ whit...whit...wheet"resembling dripping water. Birds whistle rhythmically, at a speed of approximately 60-110 times per minute. The rest of the time, they tend to be quiet, making only quiet " knock Knock" In case of danger, the birds scream loudly, making sharp, high-pitched sounds that are difficult to produce.

Spreading

Breeds in northern and temperate climates in Europe and Western Siberia, however, the range is very sporadic and in many ways insufficiently studied. Occurs locally in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Central Asia, Iran, possibly in western Mongolia and northwestern China. To the east it reaches the Angara basin, where it nests in the middle reaches of the Irkut River. In Western Europe it is generally rare and completely absent in many regions, but is common in some areas of Italy and Spain. Populations from Northern and Eastern Europe, as well as Siberia, are more numerous. The northern border of the range reaches 64° north latitude in the Ob basin.

During the breeding season, it occupies shallow freshwater reservoirs, wet meadows or swamps, densely overgrown with emergent plants - reeds, reeds, willows, sedges, cattails, reeds. Always remains secretive; sometimes only the mating cry of the male reveals the presence of a bird nearby. Avoids open spaces and hides in the grass. It moves very quickly on land and in shallow water, deftly maneuvering among vegetation. Swims reluctantly, but in case of danger it can swim or even dive under water. Always flies alone; during flight, the neck is retracted and the legs dangle awkwardly behind. Active mainly at dusk and at night. In winter stopover areas it occupies similar biotopes.

The vast majority are migratory birds; Only along the southern coast of the Caspian Sea does the settled population persist. Autumn migration begins in July, and the main departure occurs in August-September. Along the way, the birds make stops to rest. They fly alone, at night. European populations migrate in the south or southwest in the fall. Some of them stop in the Mediterranean in southern Europe and northern Africa. The other part crosses the Sahara and winters in Western, Eastern and South-Eastern Africa, where it occupies inaccessible wetlands. A small number of cases of wintering in the Transcaucasus in Azerbaijan have been recorded. Birds from unidentified populations have been recorded in the Middle East. Crakes from more eastern regions move to northern India and Pakistan.

Reproduction

Monogamous - there is only one female per male. The time of arrival to nesting sites depends on latitude; In Russia, birds appear in mid-April - mid-May. A wetland or shallow reservoir with fresh water and dense vegetation is selected for the nest - a damp meadow, a mossy or hummocky swamp, a peat bog, a small lake, a quiet river backwater. A prerequisite is an abundance of bushes or thickets of reeds, reeds or other aquatic grasses. When calling the female, the male screams loudly, emitting a characteristic whistle - often only by this voice can one recognize that cranes are nesting in the neighborhood. Once the pair is finally formed, the birds sometimes begin to call together.

The nest is built on a small hummock in the middle of a swamp or damp meadow, under a crease in the shallows, in thickets of willow. Birds try to avoid areas of dry grass. Available vegetation is used as building material - if the nest is located in a damp meadow, then dry stems and leaves of cereals are used, if in thickets of reeds, then the inside of the nest is lined with cereal plants, and the outside with reeds. The nest, which is a cup-shaped formation with a deep tray and high walls, is always well hidden and invisible both from the sides and from above. If there is open space above the nest, the crakes additionally camouflage it with leaves. The dimensions of the nest are diameter 15-17 cm, height 5-15 cm, depth of the tray 4.5-7 cm. Both the male and the female are involved in construction.

As a rule, crakes hatch chicks once per season; If the first clutch dies, the female is capable of laying eggs again. The clutch usually consists of 8-12 eggs of a dirty buffy or greenish buffy color with reddish or brown spots. Egg dimensions (29-37) X (22-26) mm. The incubation period is 18 to 24 days, with both parents participating in incubation. The chicks are of the semi-brood type - they leave the nest within a few hours after hatching and follow the male for a walk, but return back to the nest at night. However, at first they are not able to maintain their body temperature and obtain food for themselves, and during this period they are completely dependent on their parents. When hatching, the chicks are partially covered with black down, which has a greenish metallic tint on the head, throat and back. After about 20 days, the chicks begin to look for food on their own, but for some time they are fed by their parents. After 35-42 days they begin to fly, and by the end of July-August they become completely independent.

Nutrition

Omnivores - feed on both plant and animal foods. They feed on seeds and vegetative parts of plants, small invertebrates (aquatic insects and their larvae, mollusks), less often small fish and carrion. In search of food, they walk in shallow water along coastal thickets or in the grass.

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Excerpt characterizing Pogonysh

In Bald Mountains, the estate of Prince Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky, the arrival of the young Prince Andrei and the princess was expected every day; but the wait did not disrupt the orderly order in which life went on in the old prince’s house. General-in-Chief Prince Nikolai Andreevich, nicknamed in society le roi de Prusse, [the King of Prussia,] from the time he was exiled to the village under Paul, lived continuously in his Bald Mountains with his daughter, Princess Marya, and with her companion, m lle Bourienne. [Mademoiselle Bourien.] And during the new reign, although he was allowed entry into the capitals, he also continued to live in the countryside, saying that if anyone needed him, then he would travel one and a half hundred miles from Moscow to Bald Mountains, but what would he no one or anything is needed. He said that there are only two sources of human vices: idleness and superstition, and that there are only two virtues: activity and intelligence. He himself was involved in raising his daughter and, in order to develop both main virtues in her, until she was twenty, he gave her lessons in algebra and geometry and distributed her whole life in continuous studies. He himself was constantly busy either writing his memoirs, or calculating higher mathematics, or turning snuff boxes on a machine, or working in the garden and observing the buildings that did not stop on his estate. Since the main condition for activity is order, order in his way of life was brought to the utmost degree of precision. His trips to the table took place under the same unchanging conditions, and not only at the same hour, but also at the same minute. With the people around him, from his daughter to his servants, the prince was harsh and invariably demanding, and therefore, without being cruel, he aroused fear and respect for himself, which the most cruel person could not easily achieve. Despite the fact that he was retired and now had no importance in state affairs, every head of the province where the prince’s estate was, considered it his duty to come to him and, just like an architect, gardener or Princess Marya, waited for the appointed hour of the prince's appearance in the high waiter's room. And everyone in this waitress experienced the same feeling of respect and even fear, while the enormously high door of the office opened and the short figure of an old man in a powdered wig appeared, with small dry hands and gray drooping eyebrows, which sometimes, as he frowned, obscured the shine of smart people. and definitely young, sparkling eyes.
On the day of the newlyweds’ arrival, in the morning, as usual, Princess Marya entered the waitress’s room at the appointed hour for morning greetings and crossed herself with fear and read an internal prayer. Every day she went in and every day she prayed that this daily appointment would go well.
A powdery old servant sitting in the waiter's room stood up with a quiet movement and announced in a whisper: "Please."
The uniform sounds of the machine could be heard from behind the door. The princess timidly pulled the door that opened easily and smoothly and stopped at the entrance. The prince was working at the machine and, looking back, continued his work.
The huge office was filled with things that were obviously in constant use. A large table on which lay books and plans, tall glass library cabinets with keys in the doors, a high standing writing table on which lay an open notebook, a lathe with tools laid out and shavings scattered around - everything showed a constant, varied and orderly activities. From the movements of his small foot, shod in a Tatar boot embroidered with silver, and from the firm fit of his sinewy, lean hand, one could see in the prince the stubborn and enduring strength of fresh old age. Having made several circles, he took his foot off the pedal of the machine, wiped off the chisel, threw it into a leather pocket attached to the machine, and, going up to the table, called his daughter. He never blessed his children and only, presenting his stubbled, now unshaven cheek to her, said, looking at her sternly and at the same time carefully:
- Are you healthy?... well, sit down!
He took the geometry notebook he had written in his own hand and pushed his chair forward with his foot.
- For tomorrow! - he said, quickly finding the page and marking it from paragraph to paragraph with a hard nail.
The princess bent down on the table over her notebook.
“Wait, the letter is for you,” the old man suddenly said, taking out an envelope written in a woman’s hand from a pocket attached above the table and throwing it on the table.
The princess's face became covered with red spots at the sight of the letter. She hurriedly took it and bent down towards him.
- From Eloise? - asked the prince, showing his still strong and yellowish teeth with a cold smile.
“Yes, from Julie,” said the princess, looking timidly and smiling timidly.
“I’ll miss two more letters, and I’ll read the third,” the prince said sternly, “I’m afraid you’re writing a lot of nonsense.” I'll read the third one.
“At least read this, mon pere, [father,],” answered the princess, blushing even more and handing him the letter.
“Third, I said, third,” the prince shouted briefly, pushing away the letter, and, leaning his elbows on the table, pulled up a notebook with geometry drawings.
“Well, madam,” the old man began, bending close to his daughter over the notebook and placing one hand on the back of the chair on which the princess was sitting, so that the princess felt surrounded on all sides by that tobacco and senile pungent smell of her father, which she had known for so long. . - Well, madam, these triangles are similar; would you like to see, angle abc...
The princess looked fearfully at her father’s sparkling eyes close to her; red spots shimmered across her face, and it was clear that she did not understand anything and was so afraid that fear would prevent her from understanding all her father’s further interpretations, no matter how clear they were. Whether the teacher was to blame or the student was to blame, the same thing was repeated every day: the princess’s eyes grew dim, she saw nothing, heard nothing, she only felt the dry face of her stern father close to her, felt his breath and smell and only thought about how she could quickly leave the office and understand the problem in her own open space.
The old man lost his temper: he pushed and pulled back the chair on which he was sitting with a roar, made efforts to control himself so as not to get excited, and almost every time he got excited, cursed, and sometimes threw his notebook.
The princess made a mistake in her answer.
- Well, why not be a fool! - the prince shouted, pushing away the notebook and quickly turning away, but immediately stood up, walked around, touched the princess’s hair with his hands and sat down again.
He moved closer and continued his interpretation.
“It’s impossible, princess, it’s impossible,” he said when the princess, having taken and closed the notebook with the assigned lessons, was already preparing to leave, “mathematics is a great thing, my madam.” And I don’t want you to be like our stupid ladies. Will endure and fall in love. “He patted her cheek with his hand. - The nonsense will jump out of your head.
She wanted to go out, he stopped her with a gesture and took out a new uncut book from the high table.
- Here’s another Key of the Sacrament your Eloise sends you. Religious. And I don’t interfere with anyone’s faith... I looked through it. Take it. Well, go, go!
He patted her on the shoulder and locked the door behind her.
Princess Marya returned to her room with a sad, frightened expression that rarely left her and made her ugly, sickly face even more ugly, and sat down at her desk, lined with miniature portraits and littered with notebooks and books. The princess was as disorderly as her father was decent. She put down her geometry notebook and impatiently opened the letter. The letter was from the princess’s closest friend since childhood; this friend was the same Julie Karagina who was at the Rostovs’ name day:
Julie wrote:
"Chere et excellente amie, quelle chose terrible et effrayante que l"absence! J"ai beau me dire que la moitie de mon existence et de mon bonheur est en vous, que malgre la distance qui nous separe, nos coeurs sont unis par des liens indissolubles; le mien se revolte contre la destinee, et je ne puis, malgre les plaisirs et les distractions qui m"entourent, vaincre une certaine tristesse cachee que je ressens au fond du coeur depuis notre separation. Pourquoi ne sommes nous pas reunies, comme cet ete dans votre grand cabinet sur le canape bleu, le canape a confidences? Pourquoi ne puis je, comme il y a trois mois, puiser de nouvelles forces morales dans votre regard si doux, si calme et si penetrant, regard que j"aimais tant et que “je crois voir devant moi, quand je vous ecris.”
[Dear and priceless friend, what a terrible and terrible thing is separation! No matter how much I tell myself that half of my existence and my happiness lies in you, that, despite the distance that separates us, our hearts are united by inextricable bonds, my heart rebels against fate, and, despite the pleasures and distractions that surround me, I I cannot suppress some hidden sadness that I have been experiencing in the depths of my heart since our separation. Why aren’t we together, like last summer, in your big office, on the blue sofa, on the sofa of “confessions”? Why can’t I, like three months ago, draw new moral strength from your gaze, meek, calm and penetrating, which I loved so much and which I see before me at the moment I write to you?]

Porzana exquisita

VERTEBRATES - VERTEBRATA

Spreading

The boundaries of the breeding range are not clear. A nest with a clutch and a male were taken in Primorye near Lake Khanka and a female was taken from a nest with a clutch in the south of Transbaikalia near Darasun. Migratory birds were recorded in the south of Primorye and in the south of Transbaikalia. In summer, it was also observed in the Jewish Autonomous Region. Outside Russia it nests in the north-east. China in the province Heilongjiang.

Habitat

The white-winged crake inhabits lake shores, damp meadows and swamps. No lifestyle data available. The clutches found on the territory of Russia consisted of 3 and 4 eggs. Migrates through Vost. China, Korea, Japan, winters in southern China and Japan.

Number

The total number is unknown. It is extremely rare everywhere and does not occur every year. During the season, no more than 1 bird was seen in Primorye. In Transbaikalia in the fall of 1962, several birds were encountered. In recent decades, a decline in the number of the species in Primorye has not been observed, but the area of ​​nesting habitats has significantly decreased as a result of reclamation and burning of dry grass in damp meadows and swamps.

Security

The White-winged Crake is included in the IUCN-96 Red List, Annex of bilateral agreements concluded by Russia with Japan and the Republic of Korea on the protection of migratory birds. The Khankaisky State Reserve includes nesting habitats of the species. It is necessary to expand the territory of the Far Eastern State Marine Reserve, where the white-winged crake occurs on migration and, possibly, nests. Included in the Red Book of Russia.

Sources: 1. Neufeld, 1967; 2. Labzyuk, Nazarov, 1967; 3. Labzyuk et al., 1971; 4. Nazarov et al., 1978; 5. Nazarov, Trukhin, 1985; 6. Glushchenko, Shibnev, 1977; 7. Gagina, 1965a; 8. Gagina, 1965b; 9. Smirensky, personal. message; 10. Ripley, 1977; 11. A Hand-List of..., 1958.

Compiled by: Yu. N. Nazarov

Rallidae

The birds are medium and small in size. The body is somewhat compressed laterally. The wings are short and blunt. The fingers are long and thin, allowing them to move through marshy places. They fly reluctantly and heavily, but during migration they cover long distances without landing. Most rails lead a secretive lifestyle in dense thickets of coastal vegetation or in thickets of meadow grasses. Many are active at dusk and at night. They feed on small invertebrates, seeds, and algae. The fauna of the USSR includes 12 species.

Landrail

126. Crake - Crex crex.

Noticeably larger than the starling. The feathers on the back are dark brown with buffy streaks, the throat is whitish, the chest and craw are buffy-gray. Migrant. Inhabits damp meadows and fields north to 62-64° N. sh., east to Yakutia and Baikal, south to the desert regions of Southern Kazakhstan and Central Asia. The nest is built on the ground. The clutch contains 8-12 ocher eggs with red-brown spots. Active at night. Very secretive. The voice is a raspy cry of “crack-crack-crack.” Easily identified by its characteristic cry. When taking off, the dangling legs are striking.

Crake

127. Crake - Porzana porzana.

Slightly larger than a starling. The plumage is dark, with light and dark streaks above, bluish-gray below with white spots, and transverse stripes on the sides. The base of the beak is red, the end is green-yellow, and the paws are greenish. Migrant. Inhabits grassy swamps and overgrown banks of reservoirs from the western borders of the country to the middle reaches of the Podkamennaya Tunguska, to the north - to 61-64° N. w. The nest is built on the ground. The clutch contains 8-10 dirty-buff or greenish-buff eggs with brownish spots. Active at dusk and at night. It stays secretive and takes off rarely and reluctantly. The bird moves well on flooded plants and water lily leaves. The voice is a sharp, far-audible whistle “whit-whit-whit”.

Quite easily identified by its characteristic cry. It differs from other crakes in having an undertail without stripes and being larger in size.

Small Crake. Water Shepherd

128. Small Crake - Porzana parva.

129. Water shepherdess - Pallus aquaticus.

Slightly smaller than a pigeon. The dorsal side is slate-black with streaks, and there are black and white stripes on the sides. The ventral side is steel gray in color. The beak is relatively long, slightly curved downwards. Migratory, sometimes resident in the south. Inhabits the shores of various bodies of water overgrown with reeds, sedges, reeds, forbs and shrubs, from the western borders of the country to the southern Kuril Islands, penetrating north to 58-62° N. w. The nest is built on a hummock or reed crease. The clutch consists of 7-10 ocher eggs with red-brown spots. Activity is mainly at night. A very secretive bird. It takes off reluctantly, but can swim and dive. Voice - strong, shrill and repeated "whit-whit-whit" or sharp "tilk".

Easily distinguished by its distinctive call, noticeable striping on the sides and downward curved beak.

Status.

Breeding and migratory, partly wintering species.

General characteristics and field characteristics. Total length 210-250 mm. The coloring from a distance looks uniformly dark; up close, small light streaks and transverse stripes on the sides of the body and a white undertail are clearly visible. The beak is short. It is rare to see a crake at the edge of thickets on reservoirs and, as an exception, in the air, suddenly raised on the wing. The crake runs superbly and quickly in dense thickets of grasses and bushes, through marshy muddy shallows, and amazingly deftly makes its way through the creases of reed thickets. It avoids open spaces of water, overcomes them by air, but in case of danger it can swim and even dive. In dense thickets of hard emergent vegetation it feels safe, stays noisy, gurgles with water, screams; in open places it is silent and at the slightest hint of danger hides in the thickets. Before going out to a clean place, he always looks around carefully, sticking his head out of the thickets. It overcomes open shallow waters by running quickly, from bush to bush. Curious, comes close to a person sitting motionless in the thickets, follows the noise when his hand gurgles in the water. In flight, it is characterized by a short neck and “rectangular” wings; it flies, like other cranes, clumsily, its long legs hanging heavily behind it. Having reached the thickets, the crake literally falls down and hides in them. Flies alone, even during migrations. During migrations, it flies quickly, straight, with its legs tucked to its abdomen. It rises from the ground easily, with a small jump. Sometimes it climbs clumsily along the inclined stems of reeds, cattails and branches of bushes, and flutters among them.

The voice of the crake is very characteristic and original. The mating cry sounds like a loud melodic whistle “Whee-Whee-Whee.” . .”, audible over 300-600 m, and in calm weather over 1-1.5 km, frequency up to 60-110 times per minute. The rest of the time it makes quiet calls “tew, tew, tew” or “duk, duk”, which maintain communication between partners and brood members, as well as with conspecific neighbors. In case of danger, a sharp, high-pitched, difficult to convey cry of “kick, kik” or “kyuk” is heard. An antiphonal song has been established for this species - a duet between a male and a female. Each partner is characterized by only one type of song elements during duet singing; The male makes a loud, longer cry, the female makes a more gentle, quiet and short cry. Apparently, this type of song serves to maintain communication between partners, synchronize sexual rhythm and mark territory

(Jilka, 1978).

It differs from other closely related species of crakes by its larger size, from the corncrake by its dark color, and from the water rail by its short conical beak.

Description. Coloring.

Male in breeding plumage . The front of the forehead and the stripe above the eye are slate-gray, the frenulum is dark, almost black, the ear region is buffy with light edges. The throat, front neck and crop are grey. The dorsal side is olive with large black and small white longitudinal streaks. The sides of the body and chest are olive-brown with frequent white speckles. The sides of the body are mottled with transverse whiteand ocher stripes. The middle part of the abdomen is light buffy, sometimes covered with sparse spots. The upper wing coverts are olive with spots, the lower wing coverts and axillary wing coverts are brown with a white transverse pattern. The wing fold is white. The primaries are brown, the outer web of the first primaries is white. The tails are black with brown edges. The undertail is purely reddish.

Female in breeding plumage. The coloration is very similar to the male, but the head and lower part of the body have more light or buffy spots and dots, the lower part of the body is more buffy, as well as the transverse stripes on its sides.

Male and female in winter plumage. The color resembles the breeding plumage, but is noticeably lighter, especially on the head and throat. There are no bluish-gray tones in the coloration of the head and neck. White spots are more distinct throughout the body, small contour feathers have light tips.

Downy chick. The overall color is solid black with a noticeable green metallic tint on the head, throat and upper body, with blue skin showing through on the head.

Nesting outfit. Similar to the winter plumage of adult birds, but the throat is light, the middle part of the chest and belly has an buffy tint, the sides of the chest and crop are brownish with numerous blurry white spots.

Intermediate outfit. It differs from the breeding plumage by the thick white fine speckling of the superciliary stripe and an abundance of white spots on the crop.

The iris in adult birds is from yellowish-brown to bright reddish-brown, in a downy chick it is gray or dark brown, in intermediate plumage it is olive or almost green. The bill of adults is yellow or yellow-green, with a darker tip and orange-red at the base, duller in late summer and autumn; in the downy chick, the mandible is red-yellow-black with a white tip, the mandible is black-ochre-white;

in the intermediate plumage the beak is brown with a yellowish or orangish base. The legs are olive-green; in the male, the lower leg sometimes has a yellowish or orangish tint in the spring; The downy chick has black legs, grayish-green or olive-green in the intermediate plumage, and brownish-gray claws.

Structure and dimensions. There are 10 primaries. Wing length of males 108.5-119.9 (114.7), females 100.8-118.9 (111.6); beak of males 20.6-29.2 (23.5), females 19.9-26.0 (22.6); tarsus of males - 32-36 (32.6), females 30-35 (32); tail 44-51. Down jacket weight 7-7.5, adult birds: in spring 67-120 (96), in summer 70-120 (90), in autumn 60-130 (110). The wing appears short and slightly rounded. The legs are long with long toes.

Shedding. The sequence of changing outfits for a crake: downy nesting - intermediate - first winter (incomplete nuptial) - first nuptial (final) - winter.

The down outfit is formed by dense long soft down, which is replaced by feathers from the age of 12-15 days. The first stumps on the wings appear at the age of 15-20 days. The nesting plumage is mainly formed by 35-40 days of age. The nesting outfit is finally formed in early July

- early August. From this time on, young crakes undergo partial juvenile molting of the plumage of the head and body, which continues until the end of September. - beginning of October, after which an intermediate outfit is put on. In February - In March, a partial molt takes place, during which the birds put on their nuptial plumage,it ends in April-May. In this case, most of the contour winter plumage is replaced. The complete molt of adult birds occurs after the end of the nesting period and the young birds rise to the wing from mid-July to October. In some individuals, the molting dates are shifted to August - early September due to late breeding periods. During the post-nesting molt, the entire plumage changes. The flight feathers and tail feathers fall out at the same time, and the birds lose the ability to fly. The flight feathers grow back in 20 days. The contour feather is replaced gradually; in some individuals this is also observed during migration. Prenuptial molt of adult birds occurs in December - April, when only the small contour feathers on the head and lower body change. The first birds in full breeding plumage were caught in the nesting area from mid-April. The details of molting, especially in adult crakes, are poorly understood.

Subspecies. Monotypic species.

Spreading. Nesting area. Everywhere it is very sporadic, the certainty of nesting in many places has not been established due to the secrecy of its lifestyle. Distributed in Europe from Great Britain to the eastern limits and further east to the middle reaches of the river. Irkut. In the north it reaches 64° N. w. on the river Obi. In the south - sporadic in Spain,

common in many places in Italy, found in Sicily, possibly in Greece. Further through the Crimea, Ciscaucasia and Northern Kazakhstan it goes east. Breeds in places in Soviet Central Asia. Breeding in Asia Minor has not been proven, but exists in Iran; in Northern Afghanistan unclear; According to some data, it nests in Xinjiang and Western Mongolia, according to others - only on migration. They do not nest in India. In the USSR, the nesting area occupies European territory, excluding the northernmost regions, and the western part of Asian territory. The northern border of the breeding range runs from the Karelian Isthmus in the Leningrad Region. (flights are known to Kandalaksha and near the village of Kovda on the southern coast of the Kola Peninsula; Kokhanov, oral communication), through Arkhangelsk, Ukhta region (screams- not every year, - Demetriades, oral communication), upper reaches of the Pechora, 61° N. w. in the Ob floodplain, where it is a common bird; in the Khanty-Mansiysk Okrug found throughout the river valley. Konda, noted near Surgut and Nizhne-Vartovsk, to the north - to the village. Ustrem Berezovsky district, along the river. Wah to s. Laryak. Then the border descends sharply south to Tomsk and further east to Krasnoyarsk and Tunka. In the collection of the Moscow State University Zoo Museum there is a female dated August 28 from Transbaikalia. Crake, apparently a vagrant male, was encountered in the middle reaches of the Yenisei near Mirny in June 1 978, to the south, near Fomka, above the mouth of the river. Sim, in June we heard a voice. Occasionally and irregularly flies to the south of Yamal, 67° N. sh.. The southern border runs along the Black Sea coast, common in the Crimea, eastern Azov region. Most likely, it nests in the Volga delta. Within Central Asia, it nests in the oases of Turkmenistan, in the south of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, but is absent from Kyrgyzstan; in the mountains it was recorded only on migration. In Kazakhstan, it is distributed mainly in the western and eastern regions: in the Urals, Irtysh and Altai. In the steppezone is sporadic and rare everywhere, in the desert zone - from the Caspian Sea to the Alakul depression. Probably nestingin Azerbaijan; reliably - in Georgia.

Assessing the pattern of historical changes in the range over the past 100 years is complicated by the sporadic distribution and fluctuations in abundance characteristic of this species from year to year, depending on the water availability of the territory. However, in the central regions of European Russia it has clearly become rare in the last 30 years. So, in the river valley Yakhroma near the city

Dmitrov in 1949-1955. was an ordinary bird, and by the end1960s has become rare here. According to data from the late 19th - early 20th centuries, it nested along the river valley. The Urals, probably to the very lower reaches, on the middle Emba, near Lake Chelkar-Tengiz and in the lower reaches of the Irgiz, in the Zaisan depression. Now there are no nesting crakes in all these areas. It appears that in Western Europe the crake expanded its range northward in the 19th century, but then this process ceased everywhere except in Sweden, where it has recently moved further north. Outside the USSR, flights are known to Iceland, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Azores, Canary Islands and the Lesser Antilles.

Wintering. The main wintering grounds are located in India, Pakistan and East Africa. It is known that individual birds winter in Western Europe in the countries of the North Sea and in southern Spain, in the Nile Delta, in Western and equatorial Africa. In the USSR, it regularly winters in small numbers in the southern regions: in Transcaucasia, in the south of Turkmenistan and Tajikistan, in Crimea, in the northwestern Black Sea region near Odessa.

Seasonal movements. They have been poorly studied; only the timing of arrival and departure is known. Apparently, the birds fly in a wide front, concentrating in the deltas of large southern rivers and on large shallow reservoirs. The main directions in autumn are from south to southwest. Spring migration is universally late and coincides with significant warming (the transition of night temperatures above 0 °C). They arrive in Moldova in mid-April at night, apparently alone; in Crimea in 1959 they arrived in early April (April 3-6) and in May (May 12). In the vicinity of Kyiv they arrive on average on April 26 from April 16 to May 1). In Belarus they appear on April 13 - May 7, in the Leningrad region. the earliest date of appearance is May 1, mass arrival is the second ten days of May. In Kharkov region. arrives from

April 11-28, in the Volga-Kama region - in mid-April - early May, near Arkhangelsk in the third ten days of May. In Kazakhstan it also appears quite late: in the south from March 29 to April 11, in the Syr Darya delta in early May, in the lower reaches of Ilek from April 20 to May 20, in the Semipalatinsk region. April 25-May 12. In Altai it is recorded from April 25 to May 12, in the south of Western Siberia in the area of ​​Lake Chany they arrive in late April - early May and appear en masse within 4-5 days; in Tomsk, arrival is observed on average from May 12. The earliest sightings of crakes in the spring are reported for the southern regions of the USSR and occur in the first days of March in the south of Ukraine, Transcaucasia, and southern Central Asia; arrival continues until June.

The beginning of autumn movements is associated with the time the young rise to the wing and the disintegration of broods and occurs at the beginning of August; flight ends in September - October; individual individuals linger in the south until December; single individuals spend the winter. The passage ends with the freezing of fresh inland water bodies. The crake flies away from Moldova

in September, until September 25, in Crimea from mid-August to the end of September, belated ones were encountered on November 9 - 15 and even December 9. In the Leningrad region. flies away at the end of August - September, in Belarus - in September - October, until November 5, in the Volga-Kama region - in August - September, until September 25, at the mouth of the river. Samur flies into the Western Caspian mainly on the 20th of October (1980 and 1981), although it occurs until mid-November (V.T. Butyev, personal communication). In Kazakhstan it flies early - from the end of August- early September and flies until November, the main flight is September 15 - October 15. Near Tomsk it stays until September 20 - 28, in the south of Western Siberia (Lake Chany and Altai) it flies away in August - September, the last young birds were caught on October 7-26, adult birds fly awayapparently earlier. In the Altai mountains it occurs until the beginning of October. Rare in the Pamir-Alai, flies from September 12to November 29, in Tajikistan from August 29 to September 19.

During migration, crakes stay solitary and rarely form loose aggregations (“rashes”) in favorable places. Flight occurs exclusively at night; some birds fly low from the ground, as evidenced by the finds of dead individuals under telegraph wires. With the onset of darkness, the crakes run out of the thickets onto the mudflats, behave animatedly, and in complete darkness they rise on the wing and fly away. For the day they stop before dawn in dense thickets of grasses and shrubs, often on land.

Habitat. During nesting time, crakes inhabit shallow water bodies overgrown with reeds, cattails, sedges, reed grass and shrubs in desert, semi-desert, steppe, forest-steppe and forest zones and in the mountains up to an altitude of 860-1120 m above sea level. m. in Altai and up to 1800-2420 m in the Caucasus. It penetrates far to the north along the valleys of large rivers. Basic nesting condition

-the presence of extensive dense thickets of emergent vegetation with mudflats. Breeds in large and small lakes, swamps, swampy moist meadows, ponds, floodplains and river deltas. The optimal landscapes for nesting are flat, shallow lakes in the steppe and forest-steppe zones and deltas of large southern rivers. Obviously avoids deep areas of reservoirs, but along intra-lake rafting it penetrates far inland from the shore. In Belarus, it occasionally nests in forest swamps, densely overgrown with young birches and pine trees, and willows. In the middle taiga of Western Siberia (at the latitude of the Vakh River) it inhabits small lowland swamps among riverine mixed forests. In some places it densely inhabits old peat mines and sedge-moss shifting bogs. During migration it is also found in drystations in thickets of bushes and grasses, in unharvested potato and corn fields, along the overgrown shores of sea bays and estuaries. During wintering, it adheres to the same stations as during nesting time. Near Odessa, it winters in the fields of biological wastewater treatment.

Number. Taking into account the sporadic distribution of the species in general, in its habitats it is a common bird, rare at the northern and eastern borders of its range, in the mountains and deserts. Numerous in the steppe and forest-steppe zones. In the Kalinin region. There were 11 nests in a 4-hectare meadow. At the end of the 1970s. in the Kharovsky district of the Vologda region. in meadows per 1 hectare, an average of 0.1-1.5 individuals were found, in some places - up to 3 individuals, in the Taldomsky district of the Moscow region. - 0.5-0.8 individuals (V.T. Butyev, personal communication). Lots of data on Western Siberia. In the lake area Chans in a reed field near the river. Chulym at 1 km

2 60 pairs nested, and on the neighboring reed field the density was noticeably higher - 3 pairs per 1 ha. In the southern taiga of Western Siberia, crakes are numerous in the lowland floodplain swamps of the Irtysh region (33 individuals/km 2 ) and in floodplain meadows in July (13 individuals/km 2 ), common in the floodplain meadows of the Ob (4-8 individuals/km 2 ). In the forest zone of the Ob region in the southern taiga zone, it is not found at all in the interfluves and is common in open habitats of the Ob floodplain; in subtaiga forests at the latitude of Novosibirsk - Tomsk, the number in interfluves in reed-sedge lowland swamps is 0.6 individuals/km 2 , and in the Ob floodplain in lowland swamps - 3 - 8 individuals/km 2 . In the Narym region on the Ob in the openin the floodplain there are 3.1 individuals per hour. Within the forest zone of the Ob region, it is common in the northern taiga in lowland swamps and floodplains (1-2 individuals/km 2 ), rare in the middle taiga, in floodplain meadows - mowing areas (0.5 individuals/km 2 ). In the southern taiga there is noticeably more of it, especially in floodplain swamps, in meadows with thickets of willow; rare in floodplain swamps (0.4-2 individuals/km 2 ). In general, it occurs more often along the Irtysh than in the Ob region, and in the southern subzones more often than in the northern. In Western Europe (Germany, the Netherlands), in some areas the density is 0.01-0.18 pairs/ha. In the lower reaches of the river. Inn (Bavaria, Germany) over the past 20 years the number has fallen 5 times.

Reproduction. The timing of reaching sexual maturity is unknown, but judging by the time of appearance of the final breeding plumage, it occurs at the end of the first year, perhaps in some birds by the end of the second year of life. Monogamous. The formation of pairs occurs after arriving at nesting sites or at wintering sites, as paired flights into the air with elements of aggressive behavior are described there. At nesting sites, the male emits a sharp cry that attracts the female; perhaps unpaired males may search for females in flight. Duet singing is known in the resulting pairs. In mating ceremonies preceding mating, the female pursues the male on water, land or in flight. At this time they are quite silent. Only a faint chirping sound is known:

“brrrrr-brrrr-. . . .”. The male, having accepted the female’s invitation, runs around her for a while with his wings half-opened, then, with his neck outstretched, emits a rapidly repeating, soft advertising cry. The male flies up in front of the female with ruffled feathers and with the same cry, the female moves slowly with her head tilted forward. This is followed by mating, which lasts, according to one observation, 3.8 s. The male jumps or flies onto the back of a standing female. After mating, the partners engage in ritual cleaning of the plumage, and then begin feeding.

For nesting, the crake prefers densely overgrown shallow lakes of various sizes and types, fresh and slightly salty, stagnant and slightly flowing. Within the range, the nesting biotope is of the same type; nesting stations vary significantly. It equally readily inhabits dense thickets of reeds, cattails, lake reeds, sedges, reed grass, calamus, less commonly thickets of willows, young birches, alders and pine trees, sedge hummocks in coastal shallow waters, intra-lake and coastal rafts, unsteady floating waters, and damp meadows. Each pair occupies a nesting area ranging from 400-800 to 1200-2500 m

2 (Western Europe), neighboring nests are sometimes located very close, 40-75, even 10-15 m from each other. Territorial behavior is manifested in frequent mating calls, which serve as sound markers of the boundaries of areas and the location of the bird. It is very rare to observe mutual pursuit of neighboring males at the border of areas.They emit a special cry of excitement, “krekk, krikk,” jump at each other with ruffled plumage, and chase their opponents by running across the surface of the water, flapping their wings, swimming or flying. The defeated bird takes refuge in the thickets. During the nesting period, crakes are also aggressive towards other species of rails, which is expressed in frequent screams and attacks on foreign birds approaching the nest. We have observed this behavior in relation to the moorhen, water rail, little crake and tiny crake. The connection between partners is maintained by appropriate shouts.

Rice. Elements of mating and territorial behavior of the crake

A - threat addressed to the enemy on land; B - alert, B - attacking bird; G - intimidation of the enemy

The crake usually places its nest on a small hummock in the middle of a damp meadow, on sedge hummocks, under creases in shallow waters and rafts, in clumps of vegetation. It is always well covered with side walls and a natural roof on top; In the absence of such a roof, the birds stretch and braid green leaves and stems over the nest. There are usually 1-2 passages leading to the nest - manholes through which the bird enters the nest; She climbs onto a high nest using a gangway, 200-400x80-150 mm in size, made of long stems. The nest is built by the female and the male from nearby dry stems and leaves of reeds, cattails, reed grass, sedges, with the addition of other plants. It is a small bowl with a deep tray and high walls. Nest dimensions (in mm): diameter 150-170, height 50-150, diameter 100-120 and tray depth 45-70, less often it has larger dimensions - nest diameter up to 180, tray depth up to 90. The base of the nest is built from long large stems , the tray is lined with small leaves. The size of the nest is determined by its location (nests on sedge hummocks are smaller than in shallow waters), the amount of building material available, the size of the clutch and the stage of nesting.

Egg laying in Moldova takes place in early May, chicks hatch in early June, but some pairs nest later, in the second half of May. In Crimea, at the end of May, a clutch of 6 weakly incubated eggs was discovered, and at the beginning of June, a nest left by chicks was discovered. In Belarus, nest construction begins from the end of April, egg laying occurs in the second half of May, and incubated clutches occur from the beginning of June to the end of July. All nests are in the Leningrad region. found in July, indicating late breeding periods. In May - June it nests in the central regions of Russia. In Western Siberia, egg laying begins in the middle - end of May, in Kazakhstan - in June - July. The earliest date of egg laying is April 24 (in Podolia), the last is in mid-July. Mass egg laying takes place at the end of May - the first half of June. The interval between egg laying is 24 hours; one egg is laid every day early in the morning. A full clutch consists of 8-21 eggs, but according to many researchers, clutches with more than 13 eggs are laid by two females. However, in a clutch of 21 eggs that we examined in Western Siberia, the eggs did not differ in size, shape and color and most likely belonged to the same female. Most clutches consist of 8 eggs, less often - 10-12, very rarely - 15-21 eggs. Average clutch size in the USSR (

n= 50) is 9.5 eggs; in Western European countries 9.1-10.35 eggs. Normally - one clutch per season; if it dies, the crakes lay a second clutch, but they can even lay a third. The extended period of nesting and the early independence of crake chicks give reason to assume the presence of two successful clutches per season. The eggs are regularly ovoid, less often oval, the shell is finely granular, and the color is complex. The main background is ocher-clayey, less often pale greenish. The pattern is in the form of rare clear brown superficial and gray deep spots, denser at the blunt end. Individual variability in egg color is pronounced, butIn general, the eggs laid by one female are different from the eggs of another female. Abnormally colored eggs (light gray, almost spotless) are extremely rare. Dimensions: 29.1- 37.5 X 22.2 - 26.8 (33.62 X 24.57), weight 11.8 - 12.8. In the south of Western Siberia ( n = 45): 24.3 ± 0.1 X 33.5 ± 0.2 (31.8 - 35.5 X 23.3 - 25.4), mass 11.1 ± 0.2 (10.4 - 11.8).

Incubation begins with the laying of half the eggs, rarely with the second

- the third egg, both members of the pair incubate, the share of their participation is individually variable, on average the female incubates up to 59% of the time, the male - 41%. Having laid 2-3 eggs, the female begins to incubate, the male joins incubation after 4-5 days. When danger approaches, the incubating bird leaves the nest in advance and stays nearby at a distance of 2-5 m, betraying its anxiety with soft cries. Towards the end of incubation, both partners behave boldly when a person approaches the nest, running up 1-2 m screaming. Sometimes they sit so tightly that without leaving the nest they allow themselves to be touched. Cradles in Western Siberiareadily nest in sedge-humock swamps in colonies of black-headed and little gulls, river gulls, black and white-winged terns. The partner free from incubation usually stays close to the nest, feeds and patrols the boundaries of the site.

Incubation duration is 18-24, on average 19 days. Chicks hatch asynchronously within 3-5, up to 8 days, but in small clutches they sometimes hatch simultaneously within 24 hours. The weight of the newborn chick is 7. Downy chicks appear in the second half of June

- early August. The first chicks, dried on the nest, are led and fed by the male, and the female continues to incubate the remaining eggs. During the first few days, the brood returns to rest and spend the night at the nest; later, the parents build a new nest for rest and sleep within the nesting area. For the first 2-3 weeks of life, the chicks are completely dependent on their parents, who feed them, warm them, lead them in the bushes and protect them from danger. When begging for food, the chicks raise their wings up and often shake their heads raised up, emitting a soft squeak. Parents feed food (delicate insects, spiders) into the beaks of the chicks. Already from the 2-3rd day of life, the chicks try to peck insects on their own, at a week of age they regularly feed themselves near their parents and completely feed on their own from the age of 20 days, but their parents continue to feed them until they fly (our observations). However, there are indications of the early disintegration of broods of cradles with slightly grown down coats and their independent life, which is unlikely.

The chicks begin to flutter at the age of 25 days and become fully flightable at 35-42 days of age, according to other sources - at the age of 47-56 days. At the end of July-August they already fly well. Until this time, the broods stay within the nesting areas, maintaining communication with each other using calls. In rainy weather and at night, the grown chicks gather with their parents on a nest or hummock. The magnitude of nesting mortality (death of clutches and downy chicks) for the territory of the USSR is unknown. In Western Europe in southern Sweden, 45 chicks hatched from 53 eggs, 5 eggs were unfertilized, and 3 were “suffocated.” In Hungary, in Chakvar, out of 48 control clutches, 25 chicks hatched, 4 were unfertilized and 19 died, of which 13 were destroyed by water voles, 1

- fox; in total, 150 (83%) chicks hatched from 180 eggs in 25 nests. When frequently disturbed by humans, crakes leave the last eggs in the nest, taking away the hatched chicks. It is unknown whether all chicks begin breeding at one year of age and where unmarried individuals spend the summer. The mortality rate of adult crakes is unknown. The maximum life expectancy in nature was, according to ringing data, 7 years 2 months.

Daily activity, behavior. Crakes are active around the clock, with maximum activity occurring at night. Foraging is observed both during the day and at dusk and at night. Peaks of mating calls occur at 5-6 am and 21-22 pm. They migrate exclusively at night. They always sleep in a dry place, during nesting time on the nest, at other times they climb onto hummocks, snags, drifts and drifts among dense thickets. They often rest and sleep standing on one leg, with their neck pulled into their shoulders, or they turn their head to the side and tuck their beak into their shoulder feathers. According to observations in captivity, partners sleep pressed tightly against each other. The chicks spend the night under their parents. When there is significant cold, birds draw up their legs and lie down on their bellies.

The periods of rest and sleep are short, 5-20 minutes between phases of activity during the day. Outside the breeding season, crakes stay solitary, but in safe feeding areas they form “rash” type aggregations of 4-20 individuals or more. An individual distance of 1-3, up to 5-10 m is maintained between individual birds.

Crakes, including chicks, willingly and often swim in shallow waters, often sunbathe for a long time, ruffling their plumage and spreading their wings.

Nutrition . Food is obtained during nesting time within the nesting areas; at other times, they apparently also stick to individual areas. They feed especially willingly along the edge of the thickets, moving away on mud flats 5-10 m from the thickets. They obtain food from the surface of the ground, stems and leaves of plants, or by pecking it from the surface of the water. They are omnivores, feeding on a variety of invertebrates and aquatic plants. Among invertebrates, they mainly eat insects and their larvae, small mollusks; from plants - seeds and vegetative parts of plants, algae.

Enemies, unfavorable factors. Living in dense, hard-to-reach thickets with marshy soil, the crake rarely becomes prey to four-legged and feathered predators, from which it instantly takes refuge in the thickets. Sometimes unwary adult birds are caught by marsh harriers both in the nesting area and on migration. A significant number of them die during migration, crashing at night against the wires of electric and telegraph lines. During the nesting period, nests and clutches of crakes are sometimes accidentally destroyed by feathered predators (marsh harrier, hoodie and magpie), and in the south of Ukraine - raccoon dog, badger, fox, small mustelids (light polecat, ermine, weasel, weasel). However

the hidden location of nests, camouflage coloring of eggs and brooding birds contribute to the high safety of crake nests. In a number of places, a significant number of masonry perishes during sharp rises in water levels as a result of summer floods or surge winds, as well as fires during spring fires. Helminth infestation is low; In Ukraine, 13 species of helminths were found in the crake, including 9 trematodes, 3 cestodes, and 1 nematode species.

Economic importance, protection. Formally, the crake belongs to the category of game bird species. However, there is no proper hunting for it; it is obtained by chance, incidentally when hunting waterfowl and swamp game, and in negligible quantities. As a hunting trophy it is not of particular value (low weight of the carcass, simplicity and “unsportsmanlike” prey, etc.). Does not require special security measures. But in a number of Western European countries it is included in the national red books and is endangered, the main reason for which is the reduction of suitable nesting sites.

Where it lives in coastal thickets of reservoirs with stagnant or slowly flowing water - lakes, river backwaters or overgrown swamps.

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  A small bird, slightly smaller than the corncrake, 21-25 cm long and weighing 80-130 g. The plumage is motley and generally darker than that of the corncrake. The head and front of the neck are lead-gray, with frequent light specks. The upper part of the body and wings are dark brown or olive in color, with small white and large black streaks. The belly is lighter - buffy, sometimes with rare small spots. The undertail is reddish. The wings are short, slightly rounded, with 10 primary flight feathers. The beak is short, cone-shaped, straight, red at the base and yellowish-gray at the tip. The iris is reddish or yellowish-brown. The tail is erect. The legs are long, yellowish-green, with long toes. Males and females are almost the same from each other, although the female may look somewhat lighter. In young birds, the throat is lighter - whitish, and the areas of gray feathers on the head and front of the neck are not pronounced. Does not form subspecies.

  Differences from similar species

  Crakes have an external resemblance to some other birds. In physique and lifestyle they resemble a water shepherd ( Rallus aquaticus), but unlike it, it is slightly smaller in size and easily differs in the structure of its beak, which in the latter is more elongated and thinner. The corncrake is lighter in color, with a monotonous reddish-brown beak. The Carolina crake has no streaks on the head, neck and chest, and on the forehead there is a clearly visible dark longitudinal stripe, which the common crake does not have. The small and tiny crake are noticeably smaller in size; the small crake lacks white streaks on the back and neck, and the tiny crake has no white streaks on the neck.

  Voice

  The crake is best heard in April-May, during the mating season. At this time at night, it makes sounds characteristic only of it, clearly audible at a distance of up to 1-2 km - a melodic whistle “ whit...whit...wheet"resembling dripping water. Birds whistle rhythmically, at a speed of approximately 60-110 times per minute. The rest of the time, they tend to be quiet, making only quiet " knock Knock" In case of danger, birds scream loudly, making sharp, high-pitched sounds that are difficult to produce.

  Spreading

  Breeds in northern and temperate climates in Europe and Western Siberia, however, the range is very sporadic and in many ways insufficiently studied. Occasionally found in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Central Asia, Iran, possibly in western Mongolia and northwestern China. To the east it reaches the Angara basin, where it nests in the middle reaches of the Irkut River. In Western Europe it is generally rare and completely absent in many regions, but is common in some areas of Italy and Spain. Populations in Northern and Eastern Europe, as well as Siberia, are more numerous. The northern border of the range reaches 64° north latitude in the Ob basin.

  During the breeding season, it occupies shallow freshwater reservoirs, wet meadows or swamps, densely overgrown with emergent plants - reeds, reeds, willows, sedges, cattails, reeds. Always remains secretive; sometimes only the mating cry of the male reveals the presence of a bird nearby. Avoids open spaces and hides in the grass. It moves very quickly on land and in shallow water, deftly maneuvering among vegetation. Swims reluctantly, but in case of danger it can swim or even dive under water. Always flies alone; during flight, the neck is retracted and the legs dangle awkwardly behind. Active mainly at dusk and at night. In winter stopover areas it occupies similar biotopes.

  The vast majority are migratory birds; Only along the southern coast of the Caspian Sea does it remain settled. Autumn migration begins in July, and the main departure occurs in August-September. Along the way, the birds make stops to rest. They fly alone, at night. European populations migrate in the south or southwest in the fall. Some of them stop in the Mediterranean in southern Europe and northern Africa. The other part crosses the Sahara and winters in Western, Eastern and South-Eastern Africa, where it occupies inaccessible wetlands. A small number of cases of wintering in the Transcaucasus in Azerbaijan have been recorded. Birds from unidentified populations have been recorded in the Middle East. Crakes from more eastern regions move to northern India and Pakistan.

  Reproduction

  Monogamous - there is only one female per male. The time of arrival to nesting sites depends on latitude; In Russia, birds appear in mid-April - mid-May. A wetland or shallow reservoir with fresh water and dense vegetation is selected for the nest - a damp meadow, a mossy or hummocky swamp, a peat bog, a small lake, a quiet river backwater. A prerequisite is an abundance of bushes or thickets of reeds, reeds or other aquatic grasses. When calling the female, the male screams loudly, emitting a characteristic whistle - often only by this voice can one recognize that cranes are nesting in the neighborhood. Once the pair is finally formed, the birds sometimes begin to call together.

  The nest is built on a small hummock in the middle of a swamp or damp meadow, under a crease in the shallows, in thickets of willow. Birds try to avoid areas of dry grass. Available vegetation is used as building material - if the nest is located in a damp meadow, then dry stems and leaves of cereals are used, if in thickets of reeds, then the inside of the nest is lined with cereal plants, and the outside with reeds. The nest, which is a cup-shaped formation with a deep tray and high walls, is always well hidden and invisible both from the sides and from above. If there is open space above the nest, the crakes additionally camouflage it with leaves. The dimensions of the nest are diameter 15-17 cm, height 5-15 cm, depth of the tray 4.5-7 cm. Both the male and the female are involved in construction.

  As a rule, crakes hatch chicks once per season; If the first clutch dies, the female is capable of laying eggs again. The clutch usually consists of 8-12 eggs of a dirty buffy or greenish buffy color with reddish or brown spots. Egg dimensions (29-37) X (22-26) mm. The incubation period ranges from 18 to 24 days, with both parents participating in incubation. The chicks are of the semi-brood type - they leave the nest within a few hours after hatching and follow the male for a walk, but return back to the nest at night. However, at first they are not able to maintain their body temperature and obtain food for themselves, and during this period they are completely dependent on their parents. When hatching, the chicks are partially covered with black down, which has a greenish metallic tint on the head, throat and back. After about 20 days, the chicks begin to look for food on their own, but for some time they are fed by their parents. After 35-42 days they begin to fly, and by the end of July-August they become completely independent.