Watch how the birds prepare for the winter

The usual body temperature in birds is + 41 ° C. To keep warm in the blood, small creatures need to eat intensively. But if there is a lot of food in summer and autumn, then winter, especially in our latitudes, is a time of severe trials. It is the easiest for urban birds. Pigeons, sparrows, crows and jackdaws will always find their livelihood near human habitation. In the same place, under the eaves of houses, in attics and at heating plants, they are saved from the cold. But what do birds do in winter in the forest or near water bodies?

Migratory, nomadic and sedentary species

The higher the latitude of the terrain, the more birds leave these regions for the winter. In the tundra, except for the polar partridge, almost no one remains. Long before the cold weather, until the ponds and rivers were covered with ice, the shoals of geese, swans and other waterfowl are stretching to the south. Fly away and insectivorous birds. So, in the Moscow suburbs of 300 species that live there in the summer, only 50 remain for winter. But the lower the latitude, the more sedentary birds are found . For example, thrush in Russia is a migratory species, and in Ukraine it does not leave its native places. Nomadic birds are a special type. They feel what winter will turn out, and, based on this, fly away or remain. Such species include waxwings, walnuts, some types of tits, tapas, jays, bullfinches and others. By the way the birds prepare for the winter, You can guess what the weather will be like. For example, if there are frosts or a thaw will come.

Forest birds

In winter, the inhabitants of the thickets are particularly affected. Moths and bugs hid or died, the grain covered a dense layer of snow, the fish could not be caught from under the ice, frogs and small rodents fell asleep. Here, forest ptahs are selected for human habitation. Especially a lot of them in the winter near the country houses and in the villages: in the gardens dry berries still wobble on the branches, you can also profit on the vegetable garden. For pizuhkovkami fly and predators: eagles, owls, hawks.

Sedentary species know what awaits them, and therefore they make reserves. How do birds prepare for winter? For example, a woodpecker carves the hollow with branches and moss. This insulation allows him to sit out the most frosty nights. Some birds, which live separately or in pairs at other times of the year, in the winter flock to large flocks, sometimes consisting of several species. So it's easier to find food and, more importantly, keep warm, getting together in a heap. In the autumn, before the onset of cold weather, many birds eat intensively, accumulating fat reserves. However, with the rapid exchange of substances this is not enough to save them. But the autumn molt, after which the body of the bunny is covered with thick down, it protects it from frosts better.

Bird's "nest egg"

Anticipating a hungry time, some species are reserved for food for future use. Maybe you noticed how the birds are preparing for the winter: the jays instill acorns and nuts in moss and grass, grain linden grains and other forage at high altitude are pounded under the bark of trees. And birds of prey, even after killing rodents in the fall, do not eat them all. Some of the corpses they hide in the hollows of trees, just on a hungry time.

Feathered Optimists

But there are species that do not get cold. While the birds are preparing for the winter, Going to fly south or making supplies, they ... take nests. These are the crossbows. January (the coldest month) is their time. In the frigid cold they bring out the chicks. Because the cones are ripening, the main feed of the mites. With their beak bent like a parrot, they extract pine and cedar nuts. The wood grouse also feels good in the winter forest , it feeds on pine needles. A lot of food and black grouse, grouse. They eat juniper berries, alder earrings.