What kind of warm edges fly birds? Seasonal migration of birds. Causes of migration

For a long time, the first sign of the coming autumn cold was considered a truly beautiful sight, when the birds, gathered in packs, flew away to warm lands. Why are they leaving us? And why, with the onset of warm spring days, they surely come back?

Migratory birds

Birds are warm-blooded creatures. Their body temperature is forty-one degrees. Thanks to this, they would feel great in the frosty days. So why fly off migratory birds? The birds can not remain wintering because in cold seasons it is almost impossible for them to obtain food. Some fly away because of the cold. They migrate to warmer lands to save most of the individuals.

To migratory birds, that is, those who leave our region in the winter and fly away to the south, there are many species of birds. Among them, a chibis and a swallow, a wagtail and finch, a robin and a singing thrush, an Oriole and a redstart, a forest horse and a lark, and also a chiffchaff fur.

When and how birds fly away

At that moment, when the birds leave our lands, the weather can influence. However, as a rule, this happens at the same time. Autumn departure begins only when young birds become stronger.

Most birds gather in flocks. But there are some who fly in groups. Some species fly away singly.

Beautiful cranes in the sky are lined with cranes. But crows are usually placed in a chain. There are species of birds, in which males fly away later than females. Some young birds leave their habitat at once. Earlier individuals follow after some time.

Try feathers to move during the day, and at night to rest. In some species, the time of flight is night.

Settling birds

Leave the habitable area is not all representatives of the feathered world. Some stay to winter and make us happy with their songs frosty days. They live in their homeland the whole year, so they are called sedentary. The wood grouse does not leave its places. He eats pine needles and therefore in the winter he does not have to look for food. Juniper berries eat grouse and black grouse. They, too, are not going to fly away in the autumn. But the jay is a migratory bird or not? This species of birds refers to the sedentary. The jay eats vegetative and animal food. She loves acorns. With its beak, the bird easily splits the shell of these oak fruits. In autumn, jays harvest acorns in huge quantities. One bird, according to some reports, makes stocks weighing up to four kilograms.

To the sedentary are also woodpeckers and titmouses. But in the winter, even in the winter, the chicks are hatching. In doing so, he eats the seeds of spruce.

Nomadic birds

There are such species of birds that migrate to another place, if for them for some reason in their native country unfavorable conditions have developed. These are, as a rule, birds that live in the highlands. With the onset of severe cold, they migrate to the valley.

Birds are amazing creatures. In some places they can live as sedentary, while in others they can be migratory.

Why fly birds

Our lands are the first to leave the cuckoo. Behind them - swallows, and a little later - swifts. From the end of August to September, several species change the climate to warmer.

What are the causes of bird migration? Fly birds with the onset of cold weather. However, the main reason for their migration lies not in the season change. The decisive factor is the lack of food. So, the cuckoo eats up to a hundred caterpillars in one hour, and during the cold the insects disappear. Most of them die, leaving a large supply of eggs, from which the offspring will appear in the spring. Some insects hide in secluded warm places.

The stork feeds on small fishes and frogs in the summer. In winter, he is not able to get his food, which is under the crust of ice covering the reservoirs. Birds that can not get their own food, fly to the south. There are no problems with food.

Annual feather cycle

Life of birds, as well as other animals, on a larger territory of our planet takes place in a changing season. Exceptions are only those areas where tropical forests are located.

The annual cycle of birds consists of four main stages. The first of these is the breeding season. Then there is molting, seasonal bird migration. The last stage is wintering.

As for seasonal migrations, they are not a continuous period for birds. Flights are spring and autumn. At the same time they are separated from each other by the wintering stage. Spring migration of birds can be considered as a phenomenon, which is partly associated with the preparation for the stage of reproduction. Autumn travel is the search for food to preserve the species.

Migration Paths

Where do birds fly in the fall? This question was answered in detail by ornithologists. By ringing the migratory specimens, they established wintering habitats of various species. What kind of warm edges fly birds? The suitability of an area for wintering determines, of course, its ecological situation. However, not always birds fly to places that are located near their nesting and have favorable conditions. To a greater extent, competition with other populations of a similar species plays a role here, which tend to occupy the most convenient areas for wintering. Thus, birds that flew from the regions to the north can be located in more southerly latitudes.

From Europe, birds can fly not only in a southerly direction. They arrange wintering in the west. Many northern European and Central European birds are sheltered by England. This country has feathers favorable climatic conditions, which are characterized by small snowfalls and mild winters. In England, in the autumn, fly away chibis and sparrows, woodcocks and other birds. However, more birds attract the Mediterranean and south-western regions of Europe.

Wintering places

What kind of warm edges fly birds? A large flock of birds is observed in the winter in the Nile Valley. Some Arctic and Siberian birds fly to African wintering grounds. Their numerous flocks are also located in the southern regions of China, in India, on the islands of the Indo-Australian archipelago. Quail and waterfowl are arriving in the Northern regions of Africa and in Western Europe . The path of some species of birds to wintering areas is very far. So, the Icelandic sandpipers and the East Siberian windbreakers reach the shores of New Zealand.

To answer the question about where the birds fly for the winter, the research of ornithologists helps. So, ringing the birds, they established that our thrushes and starlings rest in the south of France and in Portugal. They are based in Spain and Italy. Ducks and cranes like to travel to the banks of the Nile. Hoopoes and nightingales hibernate in the African savannah.

Some species of waterfowl do not leave the territory of Russia. In cold seasons, they settle in the reserves located in the Southern Caspian. Cry ducks can be found in the winter in Transcaucasia. They rest on the Azov and Black seas.

What kind of warm lands fly birds living in the north of the American continent? Here, their migration due to the influence of the Gulf Stream is only in the southern direction. Thus, polar terns, who live in the north of America, settle for wintering in the south of the continent. Sometimes these birds migrate to African countries. They also get to the Antarctic.

What are the places for wintering birds choose?

As a rule, birds are justified where the habitat is similar to that in which they live in their homeland. If birds choose forests for their nesting, then they will look for such zones in areas with a warm climate. Feathered, living in steppes, meadows or fields, will search for habitation conditions that are familiar to them. This will find the usual food for them. Thus, birds fly away to those regions, the living conditions in which differ little for them from the usual.

The road to wintering places they find thanks to a perfectly developed navigation system. For some birds, large landmarks are mountains, seashores and so on. There are species that calmly cross the waters of the ocean, which are not different in variety.

Those species of birds that fly during the day are guided by the sun. Those birds, who travel in the dark, rely only on their own navigation system.

Winter colds will recede, and the birds flying back to the warm regions will return home. They will be aware of the coming of spring with furious trills and will prepare for the next stage of their lives.

Now you know what kind of birds birds fly to. I wish you success in further study of birds!