Reed (bird) where dwells? Photo and description

Kamyshovka is a bird that most ornithologists refer to the Slavkov family, and only in some classifications it is assigned to its own family called Kamishkovye. There are about thirty five species of this bird. All reed warriors are similar to each other: they are small, discreet, have an elongated body and a pointed head. They sing well. Among the species that can be found in Russia, the most common are reed and marsh reeds. They have a lot of similarities, but there are also some differences.

Bird's Reedbird - description and size

Body length from eleven to seventeen centimeters, weight - from nine to fifteen grams, gray-brown top and beige-olive bottom, light ring around the eye and a barely noticeable light patch on the tips of the winged wings. This is how a bird looks like a garden reed. Its description varies slightly depending on the age and season of the year. In autumn the color is somewhat brighter and fresher, and over time it becomes more faded. The plumage of young birds is more reddish than in mature birds. The males and females differ from each other almost outwardly.

Swamp reed on the size of a little below the sparrow. It has almost the same color as the garden, the only thing that distinguishes it - its colors are slightly warmer. The tail of the bird is a stepped one, with a round cut. Individuals of different sexes also look the same.

Habitat

Garden reed is a bird that can be found in Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, in the northern regions of Poland and Ukraine, in Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan, Central Asia, as well as in Iran, Nepal, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. To winter it flies to India.

The range of marsh reed is limited to the territory beginning in Western Europe and ending in the east of the Ural Mountains. If the winter is relatively warm, the bird spends it in Spain or Portugal, and if it is cold, it flies to the southeast of the African continent.

Habitat

What places does the garden reed choose for living, where does he live? Most of all, she likes to settle in forests, both in coniferous and deciduous forests. But often it can be found in thickets of shrubs or reeds, and even in open territories, near water bodies.

As for the marsh reed, it is the bushes most dear to her, and she chooses the appropriate places. It can be an open meadow where there are separate bushes, and the river valley, and the edge of the forest, a park or an abandoned garden. It is noteworthy that a bird called a swamp, marshy terrain actually shuns. It is often called a shrub.

Both species belong to the dry-loving. And if it happens that marsh and garden reed crossed in some territory, they can peacefully co-exist, living in the neighborhood.

Features of behavior

Garden reed is a bird that tries not to show itself to a person, although it is not afraid of it. It flies remarkably, it is active at any time of the day, very mobile and dexterously moving in the thickets of grass, where it hunts beetles, spiders and other small insects. Sometimes the meat ration of garden reed dilutes with berries.

But the swamp reed, in contrast to his "friend", does not like to fly. In addition, it does not work out very well. Another feature of the bird is the absolute absence of her fear of nettles. Burned, she is not afraid at all and can spend hours in the burning grass. In summer, marsh reed also hunts insects, and closer to the cold passes to berries.

Reproduction

How does the reed multiply? A bird belonging to the species of garden, usually returns from wintering in the first days of May and immediately begins to think about the continuation of the genus. The males start fights between themselves on the borders of their nesting territories, and when the families are finally created, the "husband" and the "wife" are taken to build a nest of dry leaves, stems, cobwebs and down. A great activity in this case shows the female. Garden reed nests are placed at a height of fifteen centimeters to a meter above the ground. In form, they are of two kinds - similar to a round basket or representing an inverted cone. Construction takes from three days to a week, and the incubation of the chicks lasts 11-13 days. Kids leave the nest, not yet able to fly, at about two weeks of age. They wander in the grass near the parents' house, trying to find food, and mom and dad feed them.

Male marsh reed in the "economic" case does not interfere - all the worries lie on his companion. He only sings nearby, watching as the female swings into the nest. The latter is located at the same height as the garden reed, and has a similar shape. Nestlings appear around mid-summer, when most food is. Feeding offspring is mainly the father, and the mother spends more time with the kids, especially in the early days. They are born naked and need its warmth. The chicks leave the nest, too, between the ages of ten days and two weeks.

In the brood, both types of reed have, as a rule, four to six babies. Parents often fly to the warm regions by the end of July, and the young are ready for this event only by the end of August.

Singing

Kamyshovka is a bird, the photo of which is not conspicuous. And in real life it's hard to notice against the background of dry grass or shrubbery. But you can hear this bird very well! Males have outstanding vocal data. Sing loudly and can do this for a long time. Their trills differ in complexity and virtuosity of execution. Most of all, the reed loves to sing at dawn or in the evening - during these periods her songs are especially beautiful.

The trills of the garden and marsh reed are similar, but there is one difference: the first after each phrase inserts the word "check", and the second never uses it in their songs, but only in troubled situations.

Singing is, perhaps, the brightest and most memorable feature of a small, inconspicuous bird, and the one who hears it sometimes is surprised to see the "performer". Imagination paints a handsome figure like a peacock, but in reality it turns out that the vociferous "artist" is even smaller and more homely than a sparrow.