Barnacle Goose - a bird from the Red Book

Try to guess the name of the bird by its description. It has a large body, 60-70 cm long and weighing 1-2.5 kg. The plumage is white below. The mask is white, but with black bridles on the cheeks. The upper plumage is black, just like the legs and beak. Who is it? Of course, the Barnacle Goose. About this representative of birds and will be discussed in our article.

Habitat

Barnacle goose meets very rarely. Its main habitats are the sea coasts, the wet tundra. Prefers rocky northern cliffs, steep slopes, banks of mountain lakes and streams. Great for her east of Greenland and Svalbard. He also likes that the mountain landscape alternates with valleys covered with green, juicy grass. In our country she lives on the islands of Vaigach and Novaya Zemlya. For nesting selects cliffs, rocks, coastal islets. Such places that predators can not reach to ruin its nest.

A hard journey

With the onset of cold weather, goose goose to the Netherlands, to the northwest of Germany, sometimes to Belgium and to the northwest of France. In the winter season, in search of food, they can move to populated areas. In the spring, the Barnacle Goose, the photo of which is presented in this article, returns to the north.

Scientists have found out that they always fly on a certain route. Initially heading west, the Barnacle Goose gradually changes its route. It flies over the northwestern regions of Germany, then over the Jutland peninsula. After that, rushes to the southern islands of Denmark and the southern coast of Sweden.

Of course, such a long way to the birds can not fly without stopping. Therefore, they rest first on the island of Gotland, then in Western Estonia. Having rested for the third time on the peninsula of Kanin, the Barnacle Goose finally makes the last flight and is on Vaigach Island or on Novaya Zemlya.

Lifestyle

Described birds prefer to live in packs. They feed on plants and crops. At night, the Barnacle Goose is not active. In natural conditions, they can live up to 25 years. But this is because they find it difficult to get food, to protect themselves from predators. In captivity, where this bird lives in comfortable conditions with abundant food and lack of danger, it can survive for 30 years.

Hunting for a Barnacle Goose is prohibited. This bird reproduces not very actively, because it lives in small spaces and will not be able to feed more numerous offspring. If you allow hunting for this bird, then this species can quickly disappear from our planet. That's why the Barnacle Goose is under protection. The Red Book, which contains information about it, is proof of this.

Recently, it is believed that the population of these birds began to grow. Therefore, some hunters began to extract this bird and even make manoches on the Barnacle Goose. Do not rush to conclusions. Population can be drastically reduced as a result of such actions, which are also prohibited.

The Myth of Reproduction

This bird nests its nests in such secret places that for a long time people could not see how its chicks are born. This contributed to the fact that in the Middle Ages her meat was allowed to be used in fasting, since it was believed that the geese of the goose were born in a miraculous way, not peculiar to animals.

Funny, but just a few centuries ago, people thought that these representatives of birds are born in seawater, according to one version, from spruce wood that fell there, on the other - from special shells. Beloshchekuyu goose was even called a sea dowel. But still, taking into account her lifestyle, reminiscent of duck, poultry meat was banned from eating.

Actually

Nestlings of Barnacle Geese are born from eggs, which these birds lay in nests for 3-5 pieces. Bunnies nest in colonies up to 75 pairs. But do not munch, but keep the distance between the nests of up to 10 meters. For their nest, they choose natural grooves, which are lined with moss, algae, lichen, their down. In addition, they make a roller around it from the same material.

Nasizhivaniem engaged in the female, but the male also takes part in the fate of future offspring. He does not depart from the nest, but protects him from extraneous encroachments.

Nesting begins usually in May, and ends in September. The newly born chicks are covered in down. They do not remain in the nest, but, having dried, leave it and descend the rocks down to their parents, who take them to the feeding places. Most often to freshwater reservoirs. Flying chicks can already after 40-45 days.

Breeding begins at the age of two years. In rare cases, males become sexually mature, reaching one year. Sometimes a couple is created later, when both partners are about 4 years old. Experts specify that the age of maturity can vary depending on weather conditions and environmental factors.

Interesting bird

Barnacle goose is very interesting gotta. She makes sounds very much like a dog barking. If you hear them from the outside, you can not say for sure that the bird screams like that. Especially noisy is on feeding. The Barnacle Goose is a sociable bird, so, even with food, it does not close its beak.

These birds can fly and swim well. But during moult often can not get up in the air due to problems with plumage. Therefore, nature awarded them with strong, strong legs, which help them escape from predators.

Barnacle goosefish are kept in zoos of different countries. Firstly, because this bird is very beautiful. Secondly, they multiply perfectly in captivity and are unpretentious in their content. There is such a bird in the zoo in Moscow. Come see it. Aesthetic pleasure is guaranteed.