The Swamp Owl. The detachment is ovoid-like. Description, photo

So it has long been believed that owls are considered a symbol of wisdom and learning. And, of course, one can not but agree that they are amazing birds. Owls are beautiful and mysterious. They can not be confused with any other birds. These night predators with large heads, huge eyes and patronizing color plumage became the heroes of many documentary, artistic and animated films, fairy tales and songs.

Habitat

One of the representatives of the order of owls is the swamp owl. This bird, like the others of the family under consideration, deserves due attention to its person. Its habitats are all continents, except Antarctica and Australia. In the northern regions of the continents, it nests, beginning from the tundra to the steppe zones and semi-deserts.

It refers to the genus of eared owls. Unlike other representatives of their squad, these birds live near swamps, in meadows and fields, and also in beams. Swamp owls build their nests not on trees, but on the ground - under different bushes, moss hills or old snags.

In winter, these birds fly south, but if there is enough food, they can stay in their places.

A swamp owl in summer is a solitary bird, usually resting on the land. In the cold season, those individuals that do not fly to warmer regions, group in flocks and winter on trees. This is due to a lack of food, or, conversely, if the food is present in excess.

Description of marsh

The order of the owls includes more than 220 large and medium predatory birds. They include swamp owls. Visually, they are slightly smaller than crows. The body length is about 35 centimeters, but the wingspan reaches 110! Female, as a rule, more than males.

The color of marsh owls is yellowish-white with a darkish-brown, on the abdomen and on the head there are longitudinal pestriny. On the head, legs and sides of the white plumage predominates. There are also other color options - more red or gray shades. The eyes of these representatives of owl-shaped lemon yellow color.

Hunting and food

The marsh owl feeds mainly on small rodents, such as mice and voles, shrews and rats, rabbits and hamsters. In addition, her diet can include small birds, and insects, and sometimes even fish and snacks. With this way of life, the owl is a regulator of the number of different rodents.

Extraction of food takes place mainly at night, but it also happens in the morning and in the evening. These predators fly perfectly, practically without sitting down on the trees. Landing on the ground is carried out horizontally. Hunting, the wading owls float low over the open space, diving at their prey. Nonsense and methodically flying around at a height of two meters from the ground, birds can notice the prey even in tall grass. In this they are helped by their wonderful sense of smell.

Marriage period

The breeding season for the marsh owl begins in early spring, immediately upon arrival. After the justification on their summer territories, the birds begin their mating season. But if the food was abundant, and the owl representatives did not fly to warmer lands, mating can also take place in the winter hut.

Attracting sounds of a male are like a dead drum roll. In the process of mating games, he presents the female with food in order not to become a potential victim himself. Turning around the lady, the male tries to demonstrate himself in all its glory. And all this marriage ritual lasts a considerable amount of time.

Generation of offspring

Like all representatives of its species, very seriously approaches the breeding of offspring and the owl swamp. The description of this stage of life of birds is as follows. Owl nests are arranged annually in the same place. Each clutch has four to seven white eggs. The female incubates them twenty-one days. It should be noted that the size of the masonry affects the number of rodents, since in years of scanty food, owls can not multiply at all.

After the birth of the nestlings are in the nest for another eighteen days, and then the father and mother feed them already outside the parental home. Soviets are born blind and deaf, their bodies are densely covered with white fluff. Seven days later, the eyes and ears begin to work fully, and the fluff gives way to older plumage.

A month after the birth, the cubs are trying to fly. Sexual maturity occurs at one-year-old age. In the wild, the period of life of this species of owls reaches thirteen years.

Owl's enemies

Like all living creatures on the planet, has its enemies and a swamp owl. The photos and videos captured by the researchers prove that she also knows how to deal with them with dignity.

The most inveterate enemies are terrestrial predators - foxes, wolves, striped skunks. Also very insidious predatory day birds, exterminating swampy owls during the daytime. These include falcons, hawks, eagles, golden eagles. Cases are also known when crows became owlish killers.

Of course, owls show aggression if they meet the enemy at their nest. Regardless of the size of the predator, they attack it, beaten by wings, claws and beaks. There are many cases when, as a result of owl attacks, the researchers received serious injuries and even died.

Quite often, both adult birds and chicks, in order to scare off the enemy, take an awesome position - they spread their wings and bend over. Then they seem several times larger and frighten off small predators.

The attitude of man to owls

Strangely enough, but man always treated owls in a special way. The reason for this is also their "non-stereotypical" appearance, and a mysterious way of life, and a peculiar voice. All these qualities, which the swamp owl possesses in full, contributed to the appearance and spread among people of superstitions and fears.

In the early twentieth century, many representatives of these birds could be found in densely populated areas (mainly where the area is covered with shrubs), and not far from water bodies. However, in our days the number of marsh owls in many parts of the world has decreased noticeably. This was influenced by the unstable presence of a detachment of rodents, which form the basis of their nutrition.

The human factor, albeit indirectly, also plays a role. A considerable number of wading owls die near airports when they collide with airplanes. And in the middle of summer and early autumn, many young people die under the wheels of cars because of bad habits for a long time do not take off at the sight of moving vehicles (even with the lights on).

Precisely because of the rapid reduction in their numbers in some states, the necessary measures were taken. For example, the legislation protects a swamp owl in Belarus, Tatarstan, and also in some other countries of America, Europe and Asia.