Dressmaker birds live in India, Ceylon, Indochina and Java: 7 species and all sew nests from leaves. One or more nearby growing leaves are bent in a bag, their edges are pierced with a beak and the leaves are sewn together, threading cobwebs or fibers from plant fluff into holes. Inside the green cradle, the bird makes a soft nest of cotton, down and wool.
Tailor birds live close to populated areas, in gardens, on plantations. They also settle on the verandas of residential buildings and "sew" their nests from the leaves of indoor plants.
In some countries, along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, in Africa, South Asia and Northern Australia, other seamstress birds live - from the genus Cisticola. In the rice and corn fields of Spain and Greece, cisticolas are not uncommon. The nest is made by the male. He, like the Indian seamstress, sews two sheets of cobwebs together and makes a soft nest.
There are 68 species in the subfamily of true weaver birds. Almost all in sub-Saharan Africa, only 5 in South Asia, 2 in Madagascar and 1 in southern Arabia. Many of them look like sparrows, which, by the way, are also from the weaver family, but they are brightly and variegated. Perhaps none of the birds has mastered the art of weaving nests with such skill as weavers. It is “weaving”, one might say, even “knitting” with a certain pattern. This is not a simple heap or interweaving of building material in a mess, but a real woven work from plant fibers. Loops and puffs alternate and intertwine in a certain order. The nest itself is tied to branches or stems of tall grasses with real knots. The fibers plucked from plants are passed through the fingers several times by the bird, so that a loop is obtained, and then it takes the end of the “rope” with its beak and tightens the knot tightly.
In real weavers, nests are “woven” by males. Females only finish the interior of the finished house, lining the spherical “floor” with soft materials, and weaving a “ceiling” under the roof - obviously, additional protection from the tropical sun.
Males do not live in monogamy: each weaves nests for several females and leaves them, leaving them to incubate and feed offspring in a cozy house.
Weavers living in the savannas settle on trees in large colonies, up to a hundred nests on one baobab or acacia. Each hangs at the end of a branch, and all together from a distance look like large fruits. In tropical forests, weavers live in families outside of a close community. From the entrance to the nest, usually long tubes are woven out - a kind of vestibule or canopy. The steppe weavers have short vestibules or none at all: only a round entrance at the bottom, in the “floor” of the nest.
Any construction begins with the procurement of material. The weaver, having split off a narrow strip from a palm leaf with its beak, holds it in its beak and flies, pulls along and tears off a workpiece of the required size. Some build nests from grass stalks. From such fibers in the fork of thin terminal branches, the nest frame is first woven - a dense ring oriented vertically. Then, on the one hand, this ring is extended with a bag or a dome - a hemisphere is obtained, the back wall of the nest. When it is finished, on the other hand, vegetable fibers are woven into the ring - the front hemispherical wall is woven. It has an inlet at the bottom.
The house is built - the tenants (that is, the female) themselves will take care of its interior decoration and current, if necessary, repairs.
Indian weavers have such a rhythm of building and raising children. After five days of hard work, the nest is already half ready, and then the female appears. She will carefully examine sometimes more than twenty nests before choosing one of them. Males who build bad nests find it difficult to find a bride, and they remain bachelors for the whole summer. As soon as the female gets comfortable in his house, the male begins to weave a new nest, usually on another branch of the same tree. For him, too, soon there is a hostess. Together they complete the nest. She lays her eggs, and the male leaves her.
By that time, his first nest is already free of tenants. The second time it is not used for its intended purpose, but only as a convenient support for weaving another nest below it (already No. 3). When it is done and the female approves of the work, the male is taken to nest number 4 (usually under nest number 2). The most diligent and skillful builders have up to five nests during the summer: one under the other - No. 1, No. 3 and No. 5, on the other branch - No. 2 and No. 4.
“It has long been known that males bring lumps of clay to their nests and smear them into the walls of the nesting chamber for strength ... In rainy times, numerous fireflies appear in the rice fields, females catch them to feed their chicks. Previously, it was incorrectly believed that birds stuck their heads into the clay on the walls of the nest to light up their children's room at night ”(Gerhard Grummer).
Community weavers from a sub-family close to real weavers, with the help of many families, build a common apartment building. On strong branches of a large tree (now often on telegraph poles) they lay a bunch of twigs and grass - a kind of thatched roof grows in breadth and upwards. The old nests of social weavers, built on for many years, are up to three or even five meters in diameter. Birds, generation after generation, live in them for decades, until, under the weight of their house, the branch collapses to the ground along with the entire building.
Below, under a common roof, there are separate nesting chambers for each family. There are hundreds or more of them. Small falcons, parrots and other birds settle in empty apartments, with which weavers get along peacefully. They do not have polygamy, like real weavers, but monogamy. Public weavers live in South Africa.
The Astrild family, decorated, or blood-red, weavers, consists of 125 species. They live in Africa, South Asia and Australia. Birds of amazing colors: local bright red, yellow, blue, black, green and many other indescribable tones are combined amazingly colorful, elegant and tasteful. Not as "vulgar" as, say, parrots. Many of the astrilds, such as African amaranths, are now fashionable among lovers as indoor birds.
Nests like those of real weavers, but less complex weaving. In addition to those in which chicks are bred, nests are also built for joint overnight stays.
Some Australian astrilds do not drink water like, say, chickens, sparrows and other passerine birds, raising their heads from the water with each sip, but suck it, plunging their beak, like doves and sandgrouse.
The mating dance of astrilds is very unusual: the male sings, bouncing, bending and throwing out other frisky “knees”, sitting ... astride the female, or in a similar way lek in front of her. The "dancer" often holds a blade of grass or a feather in its beak as a "nesting symbol".
Astrild chicks have yellow, white, blue tubercles in the corners of the mouth, sometimes bordered by a black ring, and black dots and stripes on the palate, tongue and along the edges of the beak. When such a colorful mouth opens, it is difficult for parents to contain their impatience: feed and feed him! It is clearly visible in the twilight of the nest: multi-colored tubercles, in any case, in some species of astrilds, reflecting the rays, glow in the dark!
The chicks of each Astrild species have different combinations of colors and basic tones of mouth ornaments. The color of bare skin on the body (meat, brown, black) or thick down is also different, some astrilds are born in down. Squeaks of a special sound and dissimilar manners of turning their heads, begging for food.
It would seem that it is not difficult for astrilds to distinguish their chicks, endowed with such clear identification marks, from other people's foundlings, and no cuckoo will fool them.
The chicks of weaver-widows have the same signs and similarities in the mouth, and on the body, and in the manners of nesting behavior, as in young astrilds of the very species whose cares their offspring are brought up.
They throw eggs into the nests of astrilds. And here, not like cuckoos, there is a wide choice of educators, but a narrow specialization: the chicks of each species of widows are raised by astrilds, also of one species.
When mating season approaches, the tail feathers of many male widows grow incredibly long and wide. Several times longer than a bird and almost as wide as its body! Because of these bulky feathers, it is difficult for a bird to fly, even impossible against the wind. And yet they fly, current in the air, two feathers, which are shorter, lifting up, and two, the longest, lowering obliquely down. They also lek on bitches, spreading their tail feathers in the same way, bowing their heads down and “burping” with their open mouths: a symbolic image of the now unnecessary feeding of chicks.
weavers
Among the numerous birds of the passerine order in nature there is a family of weavers, uniting up to three hundred species of the most diverse in shape, size and plumage of the original small birds. Their sizes are very small - together with the tail 8-12 cm (amaranth weaver finches, golden-breasted, blue astrilds, Sinegalese weaver and others), 20-25 cm (buffalo and others).
Different types of weavers sing in a peculiar way. But their main "wealth" is an amazingly colorful plumage, combining the whole gamut of different color shades. And, perhaps, none of the small birds can compete with them.
Weavers settled all over the globe. They are found even in Antarctica (these are field and house sparrows). But the most numerous and diverse representatives of the weaver family are in the subtropics and in the countries of Africa, Australia, Asia and South America.
In the Soviet Union, there are 11 species of weavers belonging to four genera: snow finches (one species), earth sparrows (two species), stone sparrows (two species), sparrows (six species).
These birds got their name for the amazing art of building nests from palm leaves and flexible blades of grass, moistening them with saliva. They very cleverly separate the fibers along the entire length of the sheet. The shapes of the nests can be ovoid, spherical, bottle-shaped, etc. They are distinguished by their extraordinary strength. 60
Weavers nest in large colonies on thin branches of various trees along river banks. In order to protect themselves from the attack of their enemies, sometimes up to a hundred nests are located on one tree.
Most weavers are granivorous. But among them there are birds with a massive beak, belonging to the group of various finches, and thin-beaked, belonging to the group of astrilds. The latter, along with grain food, willingly include insects in their diet and especially zealously hunt for them during the breeding season: it is with them that weavers feed their chicks.
The food for all types of weavers is the grains of various cereals, they prefer reed seeds to everything else.
In the Soviet Union, weavers first appeared relatively recently. Back in the early 60s of the current century, weavers were extremely rare among bird lovers. The importation of them from abroad by the All-Union Zoological Association began only in recent years, and now lovers of exotic birds in our country have the opportunity to purchase weavers in pet stores. However, some fanciers complain that the bird in captivity quickly dies.
Experience and observations have shown that a significant percentage of weavers die due to improper feeding and maintenance.
The content of weavers in cage-enclosure conditions is not difficult. Considering that many of them are very small in size, it is recommended to make special cages for weavers with a distance between the bars of no more than 1 cm. The joint maintenance of various types of weavers is undesirable, since the big ones offend the small ones. Cages must be kept in perfect cleanliness, otherwise the birds may get sick and even die.
For many years of passion for birds, I managed to collect a large collection of singing exotic and ornamental birds, and among them there are more than 30 varieties of weavers. It is difficult to say which of them is better or worse. Each type is good in its own way. Amaranth weaver finches, astrilds, finches and others in a certain period of time with their fabulously colorful plumage are able to conquer even the most indifferent people to nature.
Most weavers are close to finches, but far from them in terms of the quality of their singing. Only males sing. Each type of weaver has its own song, which is their characteristic feature. The singing of a fiery weaver, for example, is even unpleasant, it resembles the friction of pieces of iron. Amaranth weaver finches, Sinegalese steel weavers, tiger and blue astrilds, widows, and also panthers sing much more pleasantly.
All weavers coming from abroad feed on certain foods in their homeland, but in our country the types of feed change dramatically, which leads to a significant death of birds.
In July-August 1971, the All-Union Animal Association brought to the Soviet Union a large batch of various animals, and among them there was a significant number of weavers. Part of the birds came for sale in the pet stores of the republics of Central Asia. Observations have shown that a sharp transition from feeding in natural conditions to feeding when kept in cage-aviary conditions led to a large percentage of the death of imported birds.
In order to preserve the incoming batches of weavers, the All-Union Zoo Association and their branches in various republics of the Soviet Union, when selling birds through the country's pet stores, are obliged to provide bird lovers with printed instructions and special feed for them.
Feeding
Observations over many years of weavers have shown that the following types of feed can be recommended to amateurs. From the very beginning, freshly brought birds must be given kunok (Italian bristles), canary seed from the grain mixture, using separate feeders. In addition to these feeds, an ordinary grain mixture should be given.
From soft foods, you can give fresh cottage cheese, hard-boiled and finely chopped chicken eggs, baked white and gray bread (crumbs), as well as various cereals (semolina, millet, buckwheat) boiled with the addition of a small amount of salt and sugar to taste.
From green vegetable and fruit feed, any vegetables, fruits and greens are suitable, depending on the season and time of year. Dill, parsley, watermelons, melons, carrots, cabbage are especially useful for weavers. Vegetables and herbs must be finely chopped. Carrots, beets and other vegetables are best cooked with a grater.
It is possible that in the first days the birds will not willingly eat soft and green food. Therefore, you need to be patient, change feed daily so that they are always fresh. Over time, any bird gets used to new conditions and feed.
Feeding wild cereals are very useful and well accepted from the very beginning by all types of weavers, but they are especially willing to eat Panicum Krugzali and Festuk.
All weavers, and especially thin-billed ones (astrilds), must also be given animal food: various insect larvae, caterpillars, boiled meat (very finely chopped), as well as flour worms. Animal food is necessary during the period of feeding the chicks.
Weavers are recommended to give glazed millet. Take one glass of millet, a chicken egg and granulated sugar. Chicken yolk with sugar (4-5 tablespoons) is beaten down like an eggnog, and then millet is poured over it. The mixture is stirred and spread in a thin layer to dry on thick paper. Such glazed millet is given to birds 2-3 times a week.
When mating, laying eggs and feeding chicks, it is advisable to add "nightingale" food to the main food - a mixture of dry ant eggs with grated carrots and crushed white crackers. This is how she prepares. Dry ant eggs are scalded with boiling water, then boiling water should be added in small portions until the swollen eggs stop absorbing water. They are placed in a colander or sieve, washed with cold water and squeezed lightly. To the grated carrots, mixing it thoroughly, add a little crushed white crackers until a crumbly homogeneous mass is obtained. All this is mixed with scalded ant eggs. Weight ratio 5:4 (grated carrots in relation to dry uncooked eggs are always taken one part more).
It is very useful to feed mealworms to weavers, which can be bred in a box with a tight-fitting lid. A hole 15X10 cm in size is cut out in the lid, tightened with a fine mesh. Cotton cloth is placed at the bottom of the box and a layer of bran up to 2 cm thick is poured. Then again a layer of cloth and bran. It is in such an "apartment" that flour worms are settled. It is necessary to ensure that there is enough moisture in the box. To do this, you can put boiled and raw potatoes, carrots. But it is best to take an ordinary lamp wick, make a slot on the front wall of the box (along the width of the wick), lower one end of the wick into the box by 10-15 cm, and leave the other outside. The outer part of the wick should be 2-3 cm long.
Every day, the outer end of the wick should be moistened with water until it is all wet. With this method of maintaining humidity, the contents of the box are completely protected from mold and decay. The box should be in a dark place, the temperature in it should not exceed + 20-25 °. It is recommended to put in the box three or four days old bread in large pieces, always with a crust. Inside this bread, mealworms go through their cycle of reproduction.
Weavers, like canaries, are very clean and love to swim. Therefore, special bathing suits made of glass or plastic with water are hung in cages.
It is advisable to change drinking water twice a day, especially in summer. And mineral substances (eggshell, charcoal, school chalk, river sand) should be changed at least once every 10-15 days.
Breeding
The plumage of weavers before the onset of the mating season resembles the plumage of sparrows. It is difficult to distinguish male from female during this period.
With the onset of the mating season, the color of the males gradually begins to change and from a simple gray bird they turn into beautiful birds. So, the male fiery weaver "dresses" in black and fiery red colors; the Napoleon weaver becomes olive-yellow-black, the Sinegalese steel weaver becomes black with a bluish-greenish tint. Amaranth weaver finches are diverse in color: brownish-red alternates with various shades of other colors. Brindle Astrilds become raspberry-brown-red with many white dots.
We managed to achieve offspring from silver-billed, red-throated, zebra, Japanese and Indian finches, from panthers, blue finches.
The Moscow poultry breeder R. G. Vasilevsky keeps weavers in pairs and successfully breeds from them. M. Zakharov from Tashkent also achieved great success in breeding weaver varieties with the same method of keeping birds. One detail is characteristic: M. Zakharov receives offspring from golden-breasted astrilds only in winter. Apparently, our winter corresponds in time to spring in tropical countries, perhaps the humidity of the surrounding air also plays a big role.
During the mating period, dry soft grass, rice straw, building material for building a nest are placed in a cage or aviary. For nests, you can use tin cans, wooden boxes or cardboard boxes, as well as nest boxes such as small birdhouses.
As soon as the bird begins to intensively build a nest in a cage, down and small feathers of chickens, ducks, geese are laid to "complete the construction".
Females lay two to five eggs. Chicks hatch at 12-14 days. Male and female zebra finches take turns incubating the eggs. Moreover, only females sit at night, and males "stand on guard."
If Japanese and Indian finches live in a cage, then at night they are all placed together in a nest. This variety of weavers is the most friendly, which is what distinguishes it from its counterparts.
A tiny weaver bird creates huge nests on telegraph poles in the Kalahari Desert. Photographer Dillon Marsh's project "Assimilation" shows how birds fit artificial poles nicely into a landscape with real trees.
1. A telephone pole near Upington in South Africa is covered with nests of twigs and weaver bird grass. Picture: Dillon Marsh / Rex Features
2. Dillon, from Cape Town, explains: "In the vast majority of the barren landscapes of the southern Kalahari, the sociable weaver bird has written into its own, and perched on telephone poles that stand in its habitat." Picture: Dillon Marsh / Rex Features
3. “Their growing nests are not immediately static, and they are full of life. Branches and grass harvested to build a nest combine to create recognizable identities instead of inanimate pillars.” Picture: Dillon Marsh / Rex Features
4. “I looked at these nests as a child during the holidays with my family, and their impressive size mesmerized me. I began to develop an interest in the relationship between people and the environment, and these nests seemed to me the perfect subject. Picture: Dillon Marsh / Rex Features
5. “I spent three days exploring the area around the city of Upington in South Africa, which is part of the Kalahari Desert. I used a 4×5 camera to take photos, and due to high film costs, I only took one photo of each nest. It was my first time using such a camera, so I was very happy to receive the results of my labors.” Picture: Dillon Marsh / Rex Features
6. Sociable weaver birds build permanent nests in trees and other tall objects. These nests are the largest built by any bird and are large enough to accommodate over a hundred pairs of birds living in multiple generations at the same time. Nests consist of separate chambers, each of which is occupied by a pair (sometimes with offspring). Picture: Dillon Marsh / Rex Features
7. Nests are built around large and sturdy structures such as acacia trees and telegraph poles. Nests built at power poles sometimes cause short circuits during the rainy season, and may catch fire during the dry season. Picture: Dillon Marsh / Rex Features
8. The nests are highly structured and provide the birds with more favorable conditions compared to the outside temperature. The central chambers retain heat and are used for overnight stays. The outer rooms are used for daylight shade and maintain a temperature of 7-8 degrees Celsius, while outside temperatures can fluctuate up to 16-33 degrees Celsius. Picture: Dillon Marsh / Rex Features
9. Picture: Dillon Marsh / Rex Features
10. Picture: Dillon Marsh / Rex Features
Weavers belong to the order of passerines, a family of songbirds. In nature, they live in the steppes and savannahs, some species - in the mountains and on the edges of forests. In captivity, weavers are quite unpretentious. In Russia, more than 10 species of these birds are bred and kept. The following are the most popular of them.
Photo: Red-eared Astrild (Uraeginthus bengalus)
These birds have a body length of about 12 cm. A distinctive feature of males is red, less often yellowish cheeks. The blue color of the plumage on the chest of males is brighter than that of females. Life span is about 8 years.
Reproduction: in nest boxes or baskets. The duration of incubation of eggs is 12 days.
Photo: Orange-cheeked Astrild (Estrilda melpoda).
The body length of these West African birds is only 10 cm. This species is characterized by an orange coloration of the cheeks, which appears in chicks at the age of 6 weeks, as well as a bright red beak and rump. Females are slightly paler than males and the spots on their cheeks are smaller. Life expectancy is about 4 years.
Orange-cheeked Astrildas feel best in enclosures with dense vegetation, get along well with other types of weavers (except for species that ruin other people's nests). However, they do not tolerate sub-zero temperatures and in the winter season can only live in a warm room. They can be fed a standard weaver grain mix with added live food and greens.
Breeding in captivity is possible in nests or houses. Incubation of eggs lasts 12 days.
Photo: Japanese finches (Lonchura domestica).
The body length of these songbirds is about 10 cm. Modern breeds are very numerous, there are various colors. Sexual differences in the plumage of these birds are weakly expressed. At the beginning of the mating season, males sing a lot. Japanese finches live for about 5 years.
This type of weaver does not occur in nature. These are one of the most popular pet birds, however, they can also live in aviaries. As a feed, a grain mixture for weavers with the addition of greens and soft food is suitable for them.
Japanese finches breed in nesting houses. The duration of incubation of eggs is 12 days.
Photo: Amadina Gulda (Chloebia gouldinae).
The body length of representatives of this species is 12 cm. Their wings and back are green, the abdomen is yellow, the chest is bright purple, lilac or white. The color of the head can be black, red or orange. Females are slightly paler than males. Before nesting, the tip of the male's beak turns red.
Life expectancy is about 7 years.
Amadin Gulda can only be kept in a warm room. As feed, you can use a grain mixture for weavers with the addition of a small amount of niger.
Representatives of this species breed in nesting houses, but they do not incubate and feed their chicks. To breed these birds in captivity, they are kept together with Japanese finches, which take care of the offspring of "lazy parents". Incubation of eggs lasts 15 days.
Photo: Zebra finches (Poephilia guttata).
These popular house birds have a body length of about 10 cm. Distinctive features of males are a scarlet beak, orange cheeks, black stripes on the chest and chestnut spots on the sides of the body. The plumage and beak of females are paler than those of males; there are no patterns on the chest and sides. Both males and females of zebra penguin finches are beige in color and have a white belly. The males of this breed retained only one distinguishing feature - orange spots on the cheeks. Zebra finches live for about 5 years.
These birds can be kept in indoor cages, in summer - in small outdoor enclosures. Suitable food is canary seed, millet, greens and soft food.
Reproduction is possible in houses and baskets. The duration of incubation of eggs is 13 days.
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From the sweltering jungles of the Congo to the burning sands of the Sahara and Namibia to the savannahs and snowy peaks of Kilimanjaro, Africa presents a huge range of climates that harbor a wide variety of spectacular African birds.
The ornithology of this continent is a close analogy with many species in Europe and South Asia. Thus, on the northern shores of Africa, it is difficult to find at least one bird species that also does not live in other countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea. In the Nile region and on the northern shores of Africa, many birds live, which can also be found in Arabia, Iran and Spain. In the deserts nest species adapted to the adverse conditions of these inhospitable places. South Africa is a real abundance of various bird species.
weaver
Weavers, or weaver birds, are an extensive group of small passerine birds. Weavers make up a separate family of weavers, numbering 272 species. Outwardly, they are very similar to sparrows, finches and buntings, which are their closest relatives, but the way of life of weavers is peculiar.
The size of weavers varies from 7.7 to 30 cm in length. At first glance, the weaver is easy to mistake for a sparrow, they have the same proportions of the body, tail and wings, a short and thick beak, which gives them granivorous birds. The coloration of most species is very modest, it is dominated by brown, gray, black tones, and the body of the bird is often dotted with small mottles.
Weavers are typical inhabitants of Africa, although some species are found in Madagascar, South Asia and Southern Europe. These birds inhabit open landscapes - savannahs, woodlands, less often semi-deserts or the outskirts of forests, but they never occur in the thick of forests and deserts. This is due to the peculiarities of the biology of birds: they nest only in trees, and they look for food only in open spaces. The voice of weavers is jerky clear, but not melodic sounds, similar to sparrow chirping.
All types of weavers are flocking birds, and their groups number at least several dozen birds, individual species form huge clusters of thousands and millions of individuals. The largest flocks are in ordinary social and red-billed weavers, whose nesting colonies number up to 10,000 birds, and the entire flock after breeding - up to 40 million.
Weavers are exclusively granivorous birds, in nature they feed on grains and seeds of wild grasses, and in cultivated landscapes they willingly feed on the fields of grain crops. Due to the huge size of the flocks and the general abundance of all types of weavers, they play a significant role in the circulation of substances. In total, billions of weavers annually destroy thousands of tons of seeds, turning them into tons of live weight. In turn, the weavers themselves represent the same massive prey for many species of animals. Weavers fly out for feeding early in the morning and look for food until noon, in the hot season they take refuge in the thickets and sleep or go to the toilet, in the evening they again go in search of food until dark.
African Darter
The body length of the African darter reaches 80 cm. This bird is widespread in the humid regions of Africa south of the Sahara. It feeds on fish, frogs and crustaceans. During the hunt, only the head of the bird is visible, sticking out of the water - its long neck remains under the surface of the water to grab prey. After hunting, the darter lets its feathers dry, sitting in the sun with open wings.
The African Darter often nests with herons and cormorants. On the branches of a tree, the female builds a pile of branches with leaves and bare twigs, which the male carefully brings. The bird usually lays 3-5 whitish-blue eggs and incubates for 28-30 days. The chicks hatch completely naked and are fed by both parents. In case of danger, the chicks deftly crawl out of the nest like young hoatzins and hide in dense grassy vegetation. If the alarm sounded in vain, they again return to their familiar place. Having reached the age of two weeks, the grown chicks often fall out of the nest into the water, but then return on their own, without the help of their parents. On the outer edge of the nest, bird droppings accumulate, drying under the sun's rays, it takes the form of a white coating and gives the bird's dwelling an untidy look.
yellow-billed toko
The yellow-billed toko belongs to a small species of the hornbill family. Toko are absolutely unpretentious to food and feed mainly on what they come across in the area where the birds nest. An important element of the diet of hornbills are insects. In addition to them, birds eat berries and fruits, which they pick up from the ground or find on trees. Yellow-billed Toko also do not refuse to eat small lizards and other animals, which, having pressed their paw to the ground, are killed by a blow of a powerful beak. These birds swallow their prey whole, later regurgitate undigested fruit bones and chitinous insect skeletons.
Yellow-billed tokos live in areas near bushes and forest clearings, usually in pairs or small flocks of up to 12 birds. These birds do not sleep the whole day, but the peak of their activity occurs in the morning and later in the afternoon. Toko have surprisingly powerful voices that can be heard even from a distance. They can whistle, cackle, quack and make trumpet sounds. The beak of the toko is not as strong as that of the two-horned hornbills, but no less imposing, and their shape resembles scimitars.
The color of the toko's beaks plays a fundamental role in the classification of the species of these birds: there are red-billed, yellow-billed and black-billed tokos. All hornbills are good fliers, but they walk rather clumsily on the ground.
After the appearance of the chicks, the female spends about 10 days in the hollow. By that time, just as during the incubation of eggs, the male feeds her. The male feeds the chicks with a mushy mass, which he regurgitates directly into their beaks. As soon as the chicks get a little stronger, the female makes a hole in the wall with her beak and flies out of the nest. Starting from this period, both birds feed the chicks. The chicks make their own holes, leaving a gap through which the parents feed them. Young toko birds fly out of the nest only after three weeks. It is interesting that adult birds cheer up the chicks that get out of the nest with calls, but do not help them with this.
spectacled penguin
Spectacled (donkey, black-footed, African) penguin - reaches a length of 65-70 cm and a weight of 3-5 kg. The spectacled penguin is distributed on the coast of South Africa and Namibia and nearby islands in the area of the cold Bengal current. This penguin received one of the names because of its voice reminiscent of donkey cries. It nests, like all penguins, in colonies. These penguins in the water can reach speeds of up to 20 km / h, dive deeper than 100 m and hold their breath for 2-3 minutes, while feeding they swim 70-120 km in the ocean. This species feeds mainly on small fish (fry of herring, anchovies, sardines, etc.). Donkey penguins begin to breed at the age of 4-5 years. Their clutch consists of two eggs, which are incubated by both parents in turn for about 40 days. The chicks are covered with brownish-gray down, later with a bluish tinge. The breeding season is not clearly defined and varies depending on the location.
Today, the population of donkey penguins is estimated at 140-180 thousand individuals. The species is listed in the International Red Book and in the Red Book of South Africa. The number of these penguins declined sharply at the beginning of the 20th century as a result of active egg collection. So, for example, on the island of Dassin in the 1920s. about 1.5 million birds nested. For the period from 1900 to 1930, 450 thousand eggs were collected per year, and in 1919 a record number of 600 thousand eggs was collected. In the 1950s, 100 thousand eggs were collected per year, but already in 1956 the number of donkey penguins numbered only 145 thousand individuals, and in 1978 it decreased to 22.4 thousand.
African marabou
The African marabou is a bird belonging to the stork family. This is the largest representative of the family from the order Ciconiiformes and the genus Marabou. The body length of the largest representative of the stork order varies between 1.15-1.52 m with a wingspan of 2.25-2.87 m and a body weight of 4.0-8.9 kg. Individual specimens can have a wingspan of up to 3.2 m. In general, males are larger than females of such a fairly common stork family.
The appearance features of the African marabou are almost completely absent, and the description is typical for a significant part of feathered scavengers. The area of the head and neck of the bird is covered with relatively sparse hair-like plumage. Also on the shoulders there is a well-developed and pronounced downy "collar". Particular attention is drawn to the large and rather massive beak, the total length of which often reaches 34-35 cm.
A resting bird is characterized by the location of the beak in the region of a swollen and fleshy cervical protrusion or throat pouch, which is called the "pillow". The skin, located on completely non-feathered areas, has a pinkish color, and well-marked black spots on the front head. The main difference between the young African marabou is the presence of a duller upper part and a significant amount of feathers in the collar zone.
Marabou belong to the category of socialized birds that settle in fairly large colonies and are not at all afraid to be located near a person. In some cases, birds of this genus appear near villages and landfills, where it is possible to get enough food for themselves.
This species of birds in natural conditions performs an extremely important task - as a result of eating corpses, a very effective cleansing of the earth occurs and the development of diseases or large, dangerous epidemics is prevented.
In the wild, the African marabou lives, as a rule, no more than a quarter of a century. When kept in captivity, birds of this genus easily live up to the age of 30-33 years. Despite the specifics of the diet, adult birds of this family have a fairly high resistance to the most common diseases of birds.
griffon vulture
The griffon vulture is a large bird of prey of the hawk family, a scavenger. Distributed in arid mountainous and flat landscapes of southern Europe, Asia and North Africa, also breeds in the mountains of the Caucasus (although at other times it occurs far outside this region); an isolated population in the Crimea has been preserved. The range and the total number of this species are gradually decreasing, although the World Conservation Union does not consider it as any vulnerable up to the present.
Very large vulture with long wide wings and a wide tail. Body length 93–110 cm, wingspan 234–269 cm. The appearance characteristic of vultures is a disproportionately small head covered with white fluff, an elongated hooked beak, a long neck with a collar of elongated feathers, and a short rounded tail. The general color of the body is brown, somewhat lighter with a reddish tint below. Flight feathers and tail feathers are dark brown, almost black. The iris is yellowish brown, the cere is grayish, and the legs are dark gray. In color, males and females do not differ from each other. The plumage of young birds is paler and monotonous reddish-brown.
Soaring bird, from a flat surface with difficulty rising into the air. In the air, it draws in its neck, lowers its head and widely places the primary primaries (look like “fingers in a fan”). Wing beats are rare, slow and deep. It screams quite rarely, although compared to other vultures it is considered more talkative. Voice - a variety of hissing and hoarse croaking sounds, made mainly when prey is detected or at rest. Usually found in groups.
secretary bird
The secretary bird was first described by the zoologist Johann Hermann in 1783. It is distributed throughout Africa south of the Sahara Desert, with the exception of the Namib Desert, coasts, and dense equatorial forests.
Open grasslands and savannahs are preferred habitats for the secretary bird, although they are also found in semi-deserts and areas with sparse forest cover at an altitude of no more than 3,000 above sea level. The bird prefers areas where the height of the grass does not exceed a meter, which provides it with a good overview of the area. In a real desert, as well as in dense forests, you will not meet a secretary bird.
An adult grows in height from 0.9 to 1.2 meters, while having a weight in the range from 2.3 to 4.2 kg. The wingspan varies from 1.2 to 1.35 meters, females are slightly smaller in size than males.
The secretary bird has a rather unusual appearance for a representative of the falconiformes. It has a relatively small head, a gray-white beak, a long neck, and an eagle-like body. However, unlike other members of the detachment, the secretary has extremely long legs, ending in short fingers with blunt claws. From the side it seems that the bird is standing on stilts.
It is assumed that secretary birds form pairs for life. Breeding is possible throughout the year, but peaks between August and March. The mating season proceeds quite rapidly, the male takes care of the female, both in the air and on the ground. Mating usually takes place on the ground, rarely in trees.
Both individuals participate in the construction of the nest, which is usually located on the flat top of an acacia or other thorny tree. The secretary bird's nest itself has the shape of a platform with a diameter of 1.5 to 2.5 meters, made of branches and lined with a thick layer of grass, wool, dung and other materials. The pair returns annually to the old breeding nest, and only abandon it when its mass becomes too large and there is a possibility that the nest will fall to the ground.
The African razin stork is a black bird from the stork family, one of two members of the genus of razin storks, the second member of the genus is the Indian razin stork. Like another member of the gongal stork genus, the African razine stork has a unique beak with a gap between the mandible and mandible, well adapted to the feeding behavior of both species. These storks mainly feed on large water snails, and such an unusual beak is useful for extracting molluscs from the shell. The average height of the African razin stork ranges from 80-94 cm, and the weight is 1-1.3 kg. Males are usually larger than females. The plumage is black and has a glossy green, brown or purple tint on the chest. The beak is large, with a brownish tint. The gap between the mandible and mandible is about 5-6 mm. On an almost straight mandible, there are several small columnar pads (about 20-30) that help the bird to extract molluscs from the shell. The eyes are gray and the legs are dark.
The African razin stork is found in Africa, south of the Sahara, and also in Madagascar, mainly in the western regions of the island. This species of stork regularly migrates to West Africa during the dry season. Migration occurs in flocks, but these flights are not yet well understood.
African stork storks mainly live in vast freshwater wetlands, lakes and rivers, rice fields and flooded plains. They prefer areas close to tall trees for nesting.
Reproduction occurs during the rainy season, from August to May, with a peak in January-March. African razin storks form colonies with different numbers of pairs. They nest in trees, usually above water, and sometimes in reeds. This medium sized bird builds a relatively small nest about 50 cm wide. The building materials for the nest are twigs and reeds, and the litter consists of aquatic vegetation, sedge, grass and leaves. The female lays 3-4 oval, chalky white eggs. Throughout the entire incubation period, about 25-30 days, both sexes alternately incubate the clutch. At hatching, the chicks have a dark fluff and a beak with a gap, like in adult African razine storks. The gap gradually increases over several years. Independence from parents occurs at the age of about 50-55 days after hatching, when the plumage is fully formed.
crowned crane
The crowned crane lives in the savannas of Africa, preferring to settle near acacia thickets in flood meadows and on the shores of freshwater lakes and swamps.
Basically, the crowned crane looks like all members of the crane family. However, this beautiful bird has a number of distinctive features, the main of which is a lush crest on its head. The tuft is formed by stiff golden feathers, thanks to which the crane got its name. On the chin of the crowned crane there is a bright red earring, which is a throat pouch like a turkey or a rooster.
With the help of a throat pouch, birds make flapping sounds during the mating season to attract the opposite sex. These representatives of cranes, unlike their relatives, settle down for the night on tree branches. Therefore, birds have a long rear toe, with which the crane is held on thin branches during sleep. It must be said that the crowned crane reaches a weight of up to 5 kg, and the height of the bird is about 1 m with a wingspan of just under 2 m. Therefore, it is not so easy for such a large bird to stay on a tree. And the crowned crane is not difficult.
The crane feeds on almost everything that it meets on the way. With pleasure, it regales itself with plant seeds, rice shoots and grain, does not refuse various kinds of insects, among which flies and grasshoppers predominate. The menu of this crane is complemented by amphibians and reptiles, as well as fish and crabs. The crowned crane is a sedentary bird. Therefore, it migrates in search of food and a partner during the breeding season exclusively within its range.
Interestingly, parents do not have to take care of the chicks for long, since newly hatched babies are able to go on an independent life after a day.
The hoopoe is a small bright bird with a crest and a long narrow beak. The hoopoe lives in the south and in the center of Europe and Asia, as well as in Africa, in open areas with shrubs or trees, in savannas, meadows and pastures. You can also meet hoopoe in orchards or vineyards. The hoopoe is not a shy bird, but still eschews humans.
The body length of the hoopoe is from 25 to 29 cm, the wingspan is 44-48 cm. On the head is a characteristic crest of feathers, orange-red in color with black tips of feathers. It is 5 to 10 cm long and is usually folded, but upon landing the hoopoe unfurls it into a fan shape. The head, neck and breast vary from pink to chestnut in subspecies. The wings are wide, rounded, with black and whitish-yellow stripes. The tail is of medium length, black with a white stripe. The tummy is pinkish-red, with black longitudinal stripes on the sides. The beak is long, about 4-5 cm, thin, curved.
The hoopoe feeds on small invertebrates: insects, their larvae and pupae (May beetles, dung beetles, carnivores, grasshoppers, butterflies, steppe fillies, flies, ants, termites), spiders, wood lice, centipedes, and small mollusks. Sometimes a bird includes amphibians and reptiles in its diet, for example, frogs, lizards, snakes.
Hoopoe looks for food on the surface of the earth, in low grass or on bare ground. The long beak allows the bird to poke around in manure, garbage heaps, rotten wood, and make shallow holes in the ground. In addition, hoopoe can find food near grazing livestock. Due to the short tongue, the hoopoe cannot always swallow prey from the ground, so at first it throws it into the air, and then it catches and swallows. Large beetles hoopoe breaks into pieces, gouging on the ground.
honeyguide
Honeyguides are birds that are close relatives of woodpeckers. They live in Southeast Asia and Africa from Senegal to Ethiopia. The name of the birds is quite consistent with their occupation. In the wild, they look for bee nests by some signs known only to honeyguides.
This species of birds is called as soon as they are called: honeyguide, haze, bee cuckoo, indicator, black-throated honeyguide, cuckoo - honeyguide, large honeyguide. Birds are sedentary and widely settled throughout Africa.
The honeyguide resembles a sparrow, but larger and more colorful. A bird with a dense build, a short brown tail and long wings. The back is covered with grayish-brown feathers, the abdomen is whitish-gray, the throat is black, there is one yellow spot on the shoulders.
Numerous streaks are scattered on the wings. The eyes are brown in color, the iris is bordered with a lead-colored ring. The beak is not too massive, yellowish-white in color, brownish-gray legs are rather short.
The honeyguide is a big gourmet, it eats not only honey, but also wax, and the bees themselves. In the absence of such food, it is able to feed on other insects. Not all animals are able to digest wax; these fat-like substances are too complex in structure. But the small African bird does a great job with digestive problems.
Not only does the bird destroy bee nests, it also attracts other animals to robbery - baboons, mongooses, badgers. Having found honey, the bird makes special sounds that lure the badger out of its hole. In Africa, this animal is called the ratel. He goes after the honeyguide. Help destroy nests and baboons. People are also not averse to using the services of a honeyguide, finding honey, they always leave the bird its share. This is what the Boran tribe does, lacking sweet food, and turns to the indicator for help. The collected honey is stored in the shell of ostrich eggs and serves as a special treat for dear guests.
Bird - honey badger leads a secretive lifestyle. Variegated plumage allows the bird to remain invisible against the background of dense foliage of trees. Sometimes the honeyguide leaves its nest to catch and swallow a gaping insect, but the behavior of the bird changes fundamentally if it is possible to find a bee nest. She twitches her tail, freaks out, screams incessantly to attract a larger ravager to her aid.
song shrike
The genus Shrike, numbering more than a dozen species, is widespread in Eurasia, Africa and North America. These birds are both songbirds and predatory at the same time, such a rare and memorable combination.
In the description of all species of shrikes, there are common features: the birds are small in size, the length of the tail exceeds the length of the wing, and there is a “mask” of black feathers in front of the eyes. Their beak is quite large with a hook-shaped mandible, like most birds of prey, which helps to tear apart prey. The color is dominated by black, white, gray and red colors. Only some southern species of shrikes are distinguished by brighter and more noticeable plumage. Females are usually a little lighter and more modest in color than males.
Despite their melodiousness and modest size, shrikes are true predators. They feed not only on beetles, butterflies, spiders, caterpillars and other insects, but even small rodents, frogs, lizards, small birds.
Each species of shrike is distributed in a certain area. In general, their habitat is very wide, and does not include only Australia and South America. In all other parts of the world, one or another species of this bird is found.
The shrike prefers to live in the forest-steppe, bushes, groves and generally prefers open spaces with tall trees, which helps it in hunting. The seasonality of shrike migration depends on where the bird species lives. For example, residents of the northern regions of the gray shrike and the common shrike are migratory birds, and migrate south of their usual range for the winter. All other shrikes are sedentary or nomadic.
Giant heron, or gigantic heron
The goliath heron, or the giant heron, or the giant heron is a near-water bird from the heron family. The goliath heron is the largest member of the heron family. It reaches a height of 155 cm, weighs at least 7 kg, the wingspan is 210–230 cm. The head and neck are chestnut-brown, the body is gray-brown, and the chin is white. The beak is of medium length, very powerful. The goliath heron is found throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Occasionally flies and breeds in Asia. Adult birds are sedentary, young ones migrate from nesting territories to feeding ones.
Goliath herons live in swamps, in places secluded from people, never settle in colonies. They feed on fish weighing from 30 g to 3.5 kg. They also eat amphibians, including the largest individuals of the African burrowing frog, rodents weighing up to 1 kg, and reptiles, including mambas and monitor lizards.
brilliant starling
The size of the bird is 30 cm. The main color of the male is green, the lower back, rump and chest are purple, the wings are brilliant purple-violet with a bluish tint. The wing coverts sparkle under the rays of the sun - each feather has a greenish shiny edging. The tail of a brilliant starling is black with a grayish-blue border, the top of the head is purple-violet, the cheeks and throat are gray-green, the neck is brilliant-green. In flight, its wings make a characteristic whistling sound, and its back, thanks to its upturned plumage, looks a little humpbacked.
The purple brilliant starling is distributed south of the Sahara Desert, from Senegal in the west to Sudan, Kenya and Uganda in the east. Like many starlings, the brilliant purple plumage helps this bird camouflage both against foliage and on the ground. Although traditionally these starlings nest in tree cavities, in recent times they have adapted to use the roofs of buildings and even drainage pipes for this. Only the female incubates and feeds the chicks, although the male stays nearby and guards the nest. At first, the diet of chicks consists exclusively of invertebrates - this diet provides the chicks with proteins and helps them grow faster and take to the wing. Outside the mating season, starlings gather in large flocks, the number of which can reach several thousand individuals. They feed on invertebrates, fruits and berries.
African duck
The African duck is a small bird from the duck family. A small duck 48–51 cm long, weighing 450–700 grams. In adult males in breeding plumage, the head and upper neck are black, the chin is sometimes grayish. Lower neck, upper chest, lower back and rump are bright chestnut, flanks are light chestnut, lower chest and belly are silver grayish brown. The wings are greyish-brown above with buffy markings. The blackish tail feathers are sharp and narrow. The iris is brown, the legs are slate grey, the beak is cobalt blue. Females and males out of the breeding season resemble the female of the American blackhead, but the alternation of colors on the head is less pronounced. They are greyish-brown above, with brown and dark yellow markings, flanks are ash-brown, with yellow-white stripes and few markings. The coloration of the unfeathered parts is like that of the male in breeding plumage, but the beak becomes slate gray. Juveniles resemble the adult female, but are more uniform in coloration, less striped above, and brown rather than greyish on the underparts.
It lives in East Africa from Eritrea, the highlands of Ethiopia and Kenya to eastern Zaire and Uganda, and in southern Africa from Rhodesia and southern Botswana to the Cape of Good Hope.
It nests in relatively deep freshwater bodies with developed above-water vegetation, both in natural and man-made (reservoirs and sewage reservoirs). Be sure to have open areas of water. Outside of the breeding season, it is noted in a variety of large and small water bodies, permanent or drying up, fresh, salty or alkaline, which may be completely without surface vegetation.
Flamingo differs in surprisingly graceful coloring, from the simplest - white, to amazing dark pink. Since ancient times, people have considered flamingos to be a fabulous bird, a creature from an impossible and beautiful dream. In nature, there are few such beautiful sights as the simultaneous flight of a half-million flock of flamingos.
Flamingo has the longest neck and the longest legs, of course, relative to the size of the body. These birds feed in shallow water. They bend their necks so that their beaks turn upside down.
Flamingo live mainly in Africa, in Kenya. But there are also in the south of Europe, Asia, on the island of Madagascar and in South America. Flamingos settle in huge colonies along the shores of large lakes. Caribbean pink flamingos build very peculiar nests. These are cones made of clay with a cut top. They are from 7 to 45 centimeters high. Each cone has a recess where the female lays one single egg. Both parents incubate it for 28-32 days, and then feed the chick, belching a special bright red liquid. In terms of nutrition, it is not inferior to milk and thanks to it, the chicks grow very quickly. Parents always distinguish their chick by its special squeak, even from a thousand exactly the same, and they will not feed someone else's, no matter how much it resembles their own.
The life span of these birds in natural conditions is not known. But in captivity, they live up to 30 years. Such longevity, compared with the average lifespan of most birds, looks very impressive. But even more striking is that flamingos, seemingly very fragile, have been living on earth for several million years. So, the fossil remains of this bird, 30 million years old, were recently discovered. Scientists claim that these birds were found even earlier and their ancestors saw dinosaurs.
The African ostrich is the largest bird in the world and the only representative of the ostrich order, the ostrich family, the ostrich family. Belongs to the class of birds, subclass ratites.
The biological name of a flightless bird, translated from Greek, literally sounds like “camel sparrow”. Such a well-aimed allegory arose due to the characteristic features of an ostrich: it has the same expressive eyes as a camel, framed by long eyelashes, two-fingered limbs and a pectoral callus. The comparison with a sparrow probably arose due to small, poorly developed wings. The African ostrich is a bird unique in nature that cannot fly, has no keel, and has only two toes, which is also an exception in the class of birds.
Being the largest birds on the planet, large individuals of the African ostrich boast a height of 2.7 meters and an impressive weight of up to 156 kg. However, the usual weight of an ostrich averages about 50 kg, with males slightly larger than females. The plumage of an ostrich is loose and curly, relatively evenly distributed over the surface of the body. There are no feathers on the head, neck and legs: they are covered with soft, short fluff.
The ostrich is an omnivorous bird, and although the diet of young individuals is predominantly animal food, adult birds feed on all kinds of vegetation. Their diet consists of herbs, shoots and seeds of plants, flowers, ovaries, and fruits, including rather hard ones. However, adults are far from being vegetarians and, if possible, will not refuse various insects, for example, locusts, as well as lizards, small rodents, and carrion in the form of half-eaten prey of large predators.
Ostriches live in Africa. Birds avoid tropical rainforests, preferring open grassy landscapes and semi-deserts north and south of equatorial woodlands.
African ostriches live in family groups consisting of a mature male, 4-5 females and their offspring. Often the number of flocks reaches 20-30 individuals, and young ostriches in the south of the range live in groups of up to a hundred birds.
nile goose
The Nile goose belongs to the duck family and is the only species in the genus Nile geese. This bird is widely distributed in sub-Saharan Africa. The highest concentration is observed in the Nile Valley. This species was imported in the XVIII century to such countries as Great Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, France. They were brought there in order to make them decorative. But many birds escaped and formed wild populations in areas rich in lakes. These geese are also called Egyptian geese.
The body length is 63-73 cm with a weight of 1.5-2.3 kg. The plumage of females and males is identical, the only one, males are on average larger than the weaker sex. The front of the head is white, the back of the neck and the front of the chest are pale yellow. The rest of the body is grey. The limbs are red, the beak is also red with a black tip. The wing coverts are brown, the inner part of the wings is white. The white color is clearly visible in flight when the wings are fully extended. The voices of females and males are different. Males have a hoarse, muffled voice. Females are noisier. They make loud hoarse sounds at the slightest disturbance or in case of aggression.
These birds create couples for life. Nests are made in different places, but tree hollows are preferred. A nest is built from reeds, leaves and grass. The female is engaged in construction, and the male looks for and brings the appropriate material. Eggs are laid at the end of the dry season. The clutch contains 5 to 12 eggs.
These birds show aggression towards foreign offspring and can even kill him if there is a question about the survival of their own chicks. Such situations arise when the amount of food resources is reduced. These birds swim well, but in flight they look heavy. You can meet them not only on the ground, but also on trees and buildings. The diet consists of seeds, leaves, plant stems, grass. Locusts, worms, and other small animals are eaten from time to time.
The bustard bird (or otherwise dudak) in appearance is very similar to an ostrich, only in smaller sizes. Belongs to the crane family. It is an inhabitant of the semi-desert and steppe zones of Eurasia. Often settles in pastures and farmlands. Previously, the bustard was numerous, now it is an endangered species.
The bustard is a large-bodied bird, heavy, massive, with a thick neck and a wide chest.. In terms of weight, males are twice as heavy as smok: with a body length of about 105 cm, their weight reaches 7-16 kg. That is, they are about the size of a large turkey. Females, with a body length of 75 cm to 80 cm, weigh 4-8 kg. The tail of this bird is long and rounded at the end. The bustard does not have a coccygeal gland.
The wings are wide and long - their span is from 190 cm to 260 cm. It is easy to distinguish from other feathered bustards not only by wings and large size, but also on powerful non-feathered paws, ideally adapted to moving on the ground, as well as digging up roots, worms and insect larvae. The legs of the bustard bird have a greenish-brown hue, are strong and rather long. The number of fingers is three. There are pads on the bottom of the paws.
The plumage of the bustard is prone to variegation and is a combination of several colors.- black, gray, white and red. The neck and head of the bustard bird are ash gray, with variations in hue depending on populations. The rest of the top has an ocher-red tone with a transverse dark jet pattern. The underside of the wings, undertail, belly and chest are white.
Bustard species are so diverse that they inhabit the territories of several continents., differing from each other in size, color, feeding characteristics, habits.
Bustard food is varied, but mostly vegetable. They peck at seeds, fruits, soft roots, grass leaves, flowers and shoots, choosing a wide variety of plants - aster, legumes, cabbage, bluegrass, roadside, and so on. It eats bustards and animal food, which includes mainly insects and their larvae. These are grasshoppers, bears, locusts, ground beetles, leaf beetles, weevils, etc. Nestlings feed on formica ants and their larvae. On occasion, adult bustards can also eat lizards, frogs, snails, worms, and so on as food. Interestingly, they do not drink water (most types of bustards).
Eagle buffoon
The buffoon eagle belongs to the falconiformes order, the hawk family. It got its name for the wonderful aerial acrobatic pirouettes that it performs during the breeding season.
Eagle - buffoon or buffoon - a very beautiful bird of prey. Body length 56-75 cm, wingspan 1.7-1.80 m, weight 2-3 kg. In adult males, the head, neck and ventral side are black; the back is brown in different shades; black wings with white underwings; the shoulder feathers are whitish grayish or buff with black markings.
The plumage of the female buffoon eagle is similar to the color of the feathers of males, but they have grayish secondary flight feathers with black spots. From the typical serpent eagles, the buffalo is distinguished by the unfeathered skin of the bridle, the presence of a short crest on the back of the head, wide wings, and a very short tail with a straight cut.
This predator is easy to spot while flying because it appears to be tailless due to its short tail feathers. Young birds in the first annual plumage with a grayish-brown back, with pale colored feathers on the head and the ventral side covered with whitish, indistinct mottled spots. The iris of the eye is dark brown.
The cere and bare skin of the face are orange in adult buffoon eagles, blackish or greenish in young birds. Legs orange-red in adults, bluish in young. Bill and claws are blackish, legs are orange-red in adults, bluish in young. Age-related changes are significant, and buffoon eagles acquire their final color at the age of six years.
The unusual appearance and peculiar behavior of the buffoon eagle gave rise to various superstitious signs. The natives of East Africa claim that the shadow of this bird is fatal. In other parts of the African continent, the buffoon is viewed with a certain reverence, considering him a healer who brings roots that have wonderful healing properties. The Abyssinians called this bird "sky monkey".
The buffoon eagle lives in Africa, south of the Sahara. It is found from southern Mauritania, Mali, Senegal and Guinea to central Sudan, Ethiopia and western Somalia, in the southwest of the Arabian Peninsula.
African corncrake
The African corncrake is a bird of the shepherd family. Inhabits various open and semi-open landscapes in sub-Saharan Africa, including cultivated ones. Numerous, sometimes common bird. The abundance and sufficient height of grass cover is one of the key factors in habitat selection. In areas with a pronounced seasonal fluctuation in precipitation, where the grass burns out during the dry season, birds tend to migrate towards the wetter equatorial zone.
It is a small, starling-sized bird with a short, reddish beak, red eyes, and short, rounded wings. The top is black with brown streaks, the front of the neck and chest are bluish-gray, the sides and belly are in black and white stripes (they play the role of a marker when communicating). A wide light stripe is developed above the eye. Of the wide vocal repertoire, a series of fast vibrating sounds, transmitted as "krrr", stands out in particular; it is used to mark the site and call the female. The African corncrake is active during the day, often at dusk or overcast weather. Territorial throughout the year, skirmishes are not uncommon between neighboring birds.
It breeds during the rainy season, nesting in a shallow grass bowl in a depression on the ground, often under cover of a tuft of grass or a small bush. It feeds on a variety of invertebrates, frogs, fish, grass seeds. In general, a safe species, the main risk factors are the development of agriculture, the drainage of swamps and urbanization.
The African peacock was previously considered related to the genus of Asiatic peacocks. But later a number of differences were discovered, which allowed them to be distinguished into a separate genus. Compared to Asiatic peacocks, African peacocks show slight differences between males and females, there is no feather plume with eyes in the male, and there are significant differences in the sexual behavior of individuals. The Congo peacock was first described by American zoologist James Chapin in 1936. This is a wild peacock that lives in the forests of Zaire and the Congo River basin.
The male is 64-70 cm long, without plumage on the head, blue-gray, orange-red in the throat area. The neck is covered with short velvety black feathers. On the head is a tuft of upright feathers. The bird's body is bronze-green above with large purple edging. The rump, like that of Asiatic peacocks, is covered with bright oval spots. The tail is black with a greenish-blue border, the undertail is black. On long legs, there is one spur each in both the male and the female. The beak is gray with a blue tint. The female is 60-63 cm long, has a chestnut-brown crest, the bare parts of the head are gray-brown in color, and the neck is red. The body is green with a metallic sheen and light brown stripes. African peacocks are a monogamous species. In nature, they build nests on stumps, in the forks of branches. The female lays and incubates 2-4 eggs for 26-27 days. The male is constantly nearby and guards the nest.
martial eagle
The martial eagle is the only species in the genus Polemaetus. This species inhabits mainly open areas of Africa south of the Sahara and is absent only in forest regions in the very south of South Africa. Despite the fact that its only enemy is man, in recent years there has been a constant decline in the number of the martial eagle. It is hunted as soon as it approaches human settlements, as many farmers fear for their animals. This rare species is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List.
The back, neck and wings of the martial eagle are dark brown, the belly is white with brown spots, which are more pronounced in females than in males. The eyes of this bird are yellow. The seated martial eagle has an upright posture, and the head is roughly in line with the sharp claws. Females are slightly larger and heavier than males, the size of which is on average only 75% of the size of females. The body length of the martial eagle ranges from 78 to 96 cm, the wingspan is from 188 to 227 cm, and the weight is from 3.01 to 5.65 kg.
Martial eagles form permanent pairs, each of which occupy a territory of more than 1000 km². Pairs nest at a distance of about 50 km from each other, which is the lowest population density of any bird in the world.
The mating season for martial eagles lasts from November to July, depending on the geographical latitude. The female usually builds a nest almost alone in a fork of branches or on a flat crown of a tree. The diameter of the nest can reach 2 m, height - 1.5 m. In the laying of the martial eagle, there is one beige egg with brown patches, which weighs about 190 g.
Martial eagles feed mainly on terrestrial small and medium-sized mammals and birds (chicken, stork, anseriform, etc.), they prey on young impalas, duikers and other antelopes, hyraxes, meerkats; reptiles (snakes, lizards), as well as domestic animals (dogs, goats, sheep).
Bright-breasted sunbird
This is a rather large sunbird, its body length reaches 15 cm, weight 10-11 g. It has a long beak curved down and pointed at the end and a long, narrow tongue with a longitudinal groove and a tassel at the end. The color of the plumage of the bright red-breasted sunbird varies markedly depending on sex, age and season. During the nesting period, the male looks saturated black with a contrasting scarlet spot on the chest, which catches the eye from afar and immediately attracts attention; and the top of the head and throat of the male is green. But after the end of breeding, the males put on a dull grayish-brown outfit, in which it is rather difficult to distinguish them from females and young birds. The plumage of the female is dark brown above and light brown below.
The bright red-breasted sunbird is distributed in western and eastern Africa from Senegal to Kenya, south to Zimbabwe. The natural habitat is open forests and savannahs, river banks, as well as tropical regions, parks and riverine bushes. These birds stay mainly in the tops of the tree, but often come down to the ground. Males are more aggressive and unsociable and more often than females make calling calls. Males can often be observed chasing rivals from their territory.
Along with insects, caterpillars, locusts and spiders, the bright red-breasted sunbird feeds on the nectar of flowers (leontis, false nightshade, aloe). She uses her sharp beak to pierce the thick perianths of these flowers, then sucks in the juice with her long, tubular tongue.
The nesting period of the bright red-breasted sunbird lasts from August to March. The female builds a bowl-shaped nest from leaves, straw, cobwebs and other parts of plants for one week at a height of 2-10 m above the ground. She then lays 2 white or light gray oval eggs with olive gray spots. The female incubates the eggs for 14–15 days, the chicks spend 16–19 days in the nest. Only the female takes care of them.