Predatory bird

Birds of prey belong to a detachment of real birds, which consists of five families. Scopins, hawks, secretaries, falcon and American vultures number about three hundred species. The smallest predatory bird (falcon) has a body length of 15 cm and weight 35 g. And the largest (condor), respectively, 1 m 10 cm and 15 kg. Predatory birds are distributed almost all over the Earth, with the exception, of course, of Antarctica. From the northern and temperate latitudes, for the winter, some species fly south. Birds of prey of Russia number up to fifty species. There are no zones and landscapes of nature that they would not occupy.

The bird of prey has a strong, hook-shaped beak, the base of which is covered with a smooth, brightly colored wax. Just in it and open out the nostril holes. The legs of a bird of prey are strong, with sharp and long claws. The toes on the sole side have pads to make it easy to hold the prey. The bird of prey has a dense physique. The plumage is rather rigid, adjacent to the trunk. The color is dominated by brown and gray tones. The uneven part of the neck and head are characteristic of those species of birds that feed on carrion. Females are painted in the same way as males, but differ from them in larger sizes. And only in American vultures they are less than their partner.

The bird of prey feeds mainly on small mammals. The largest of them can catch even sloths, monkeys, dogs and small antelopes. There are species favoring fish or reptiles, especially snakes. Arthropods are rarely the main food, more often - additional. The carrion and vultures feed on carrion. Since the beak helps to cut the prey, it is the strongest and strongest among the fish-eating eagles, who have to deal with a slippery, dense scaly catch, and scavengers. Some are used to hunt from ambush, others look for a victim in flight and attack it or are pursued in the air. Some species are active at dusk and at night, although still most are daytime birds of prey.

It is known that for buzzards polyandry is characteristic, for some moons - polygyny. But mostly predatory birds are still monogamous. Couples during nesting select individual sites. Small falcons and sipes are kept by colonies. Both parents participate in the construction of the platform nests from the branches. They build them on the ledges of rocks or on trees. Falcons often settle in ready-made nests of crows or other birds (carnivores). In the masonry there are from one to six eggs and the female is hatched from 25 days to two months. During this period, it is fed to the male. When the chicks appear, they are fed by both parents. Because of the uneven development of the brood in many species, the older kill the younger. Or do it yourself parents. The larger the bird of prey, the longer its chick depends on the mother and father. For example, for almost six months, the only young eagle-harpy from South America sits in the nest. And then, having learned to fly, he still has to live half a year near the nest of his parents and continues to receive food from them.

Forty-six species of birds of prey nest in the territory of Russia. The largest representative of the forest zone and mountaineer. It feeds on hares, foxes, deer calves and roe deer, marmots, partridges, ground squirrels, black grouses, snowcups, ducks, geese and coots. Deaf and old forests inhabited by a goshawk-goshawk. Its food is birds and mammals. Peregrine Falcon, Saker Falcon and Gyrfalcon, whose flight speed reaches 200 km / h, catch prey directly in the air. The canyon is found in the middle zone of the country, the Rough-legged Buzzard in the tundra, and the mound in the steppes.

Since ancient times, predatory hunting birds have been used in many countries during hunting. Today, this fascination has been massively preserved in the East. In Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, you can still see the golden eagle with the golden eagle.