15 of these birds are called flying gems. Birds. A bird that is not afraid of frost

These tiny, butterfly-sized birds are called hummingbirds. Hummingbirds are most commonly found in North America, and there they are called the "flying gem". This name is very suitable for these unusual birds, as their plumage sparkles with all the colors of the rainbow, like real gems. The hummingbird has a ruby ​​neck, and the bird itself does not exceed 8-10 centimeters from the tip of the beak to the tip of the tail.

When a hummingbird flies up to a flower, you can’t even immediately distinguish where the flower is and where the bird is. And hummingbirds do nothing but hover over the flowers, because they feed on their nectar and those tiny insects that fall into the center of the flower. Although the word "flutters" does not quite fit the way hummingbirds fly. It seems that they do not fly or flutter, but simply hang in the air near the flower, launching their curved beak into it.

This impression is created because hummingbirds flap their wings very often. Try to time yourself and blink your eyelashes: you will see that in a second you can lower and wave them no more than 3-4 times, or even less. A hummingbird flaps its wings 55 times in one second. Such a crazy pace requires a colossal expenditure of energy, which is replenished by increased nutrition: in order to survive, hummingbird crumbs must eat 60 times a day!

It is absolutely impossible to follow their movement, only a luminous halo around their little body is visible. Despite their tiny size, hummingbirds have very strong muscles that allow them to flap their wings so quickly. In addition, hummingbirds do not flap their wings vertically, like all other birds, but horizontally. Therefore, they can even fly forward with their tail.

Hummingbirds differ from other birds not only in their extraordinary abilities. They have an extraordinary way of life. Take, for example, the fact that hummingbirds never land on the ground. They spend their whole lives in the air, and hang upside down on branches at night, just like bats.

Unlike all other birds that sleep very sensitively, hummingbirds do not just fall asleep, but fall into hibernation, into suspended animation. At this time, their heart function slows down, breathing becomes barely noticeable, and body temperature drops by 2 times. Thus, the birds completely relax in order to take up their usual business with new energy in the morning: fly from flower to flower in search of nectar or arrange themselves a cozy nest of plants, cobwebs and moss, where they will later lay no more than two testicles, the size of a pea. .

You might think that such crumbs are completely helpless and anyone can offend them. But hummingbirds, although very small, are very brave birds. They never let themselves be offended, and if someone wants to feast on their eggs or chicks, they will not do well at all. Hummingbirds fearlessly rush at enemies and can drive away a crow, a hawk, throw a tree snake to the ground.

Who are amphibians?

The word "amphibian" in Greek means "living a double life." Another name for amphibians is amphibians. This is the name of animals that live both on land and in water.

All amphibians, of which there are 1040 species, are divided into three groups: frogs, salamanders and worms. Of all the amphibians, perhaps only the frog is best known to us, but salamanders and caecilians are almost unknown.

Salamanders include different types of newts, and caecilians are blind creatures without legs and tails that live in burrows.

Most amphibians spend most of their lives on land, but during the breeding season they go into the water and lay eggs there. Therefore, the tadpole fry born from them spend the initial period of their life in the water, and only then move to land.

All amphibians care for their offspring in different ways. The Surinam toad, for example, carries eggs on its back; a female tree frog in Brazil builds a mud nest for its eggs while the male sits nearby and croaks.

Those amphibians that treat their offspring with care and protect them lay fewer eggs. But you can find rows of several hundred eggs left unattended in the water, laid out in a row and stuck together with a sticky substance. This is also the future offspring of amphibians, but left to itself. As a rule, most of these homeless eggs die, but the rest give strong and viable offspring.

Most adult amphibians have lungs, but they also breathe through the skin, in addition, the skin glands of many of them produce poisonous substances with which they protect themselves from enemies. This is especially important, as amphibians, as a rule, do not differ in strength and do not move very quickly.

What are the teeth?

In our country, bison are now found only in nature reserves. They are guarded, because there are always many hunters for their meat and skins, not without reason in wild nature bison almost completely disappeared. All this happened despite the fact that bison are very frightening animals in appearance and can instill fear in anyone.

However, bison only look so ferocious. If they are not touched and not frightened, they are quite docile and even good-natured.

Bison belong to the family of wild bulls. Their close relatives are American bison, which also almost completely disappeared due to the greed of people. American bison are, in fact, the same bison that appear on US nickels.

Once upon a time in America, bison, or bison, lived in huge herds, numbering thousands of animals. Most of them were found in the areas between the Alleghenies and the Rocky Mountains. They write that the prairies were black from the abundance of these animals, and it was impossible to pass or drive along the roads. Even trains would stop, waiting for hours for the buffalo herds to cross the railroad. And if the animals wanted to cross the river, then steamboats stood for hours. But that was a very long time ago. They were exterminated by hundreds and thousands because of their skins, and the Indians were very fond of their meat, which they ate both fresh and salted. Clothes were sewn from their skins, horse harness, shields and boat coverings were made. Even bones, tendons and horns were used. By 1800, there were very few bison, and somewhere there were none left at all.

Currently, there are approximately 15,000 bison living in two countries - the USA and Canada. There have never been so many bison in our country, but they were exterminated no less.

By appearance bison are similar to large bulls, only they have an even more powerful front part of the body - shoulders and head, which is also covered with long shaggy hair.

The rest of the bison's body is covered with short hair and, in comparison with the front part, seems almost naked. Bison have short curved and very strong horns. Male bison are usually larger than females and can weigh up to 900 kilograms, and the largest ones can weigh as much as a ton.

Do canaries live in the wild?

Many people have canaries living at home, in cages. These birds seem so pampered and helpless that it is hard to imagine how canaries live in the wild, fly in flocks, fight over food and hide under eaves on roofs in winter cold.

However, canaries are not such pampered birds. If they have enough food, they can tolerate the most severe frosts - up to 45 degrees. Nevertheless, canaries do not live in the wild with us. Their homeland Canary Islands, Madeira and Azores.

These small, up to 14 centimeters long, birds are very beautiful in appearance with their olive-green coloration, with brown stripes on top and a greenish-yellow abdomen.

In other countries, canaries now also live more in captivity, although they feel great in cages, because they are specially bred birds that do not know what will is.

People have long paid attention to the bright color of canaries, their beautiful singing, and decided to domesticate these birds so that they live in houses and delight their eyes and ears with their beauty and singing.

For the first time, canaries were put in cages in the 16th century, and since then even a special breed of domestic canaries has appeared - domestic birds are so different from their wild relatives. This happened because for many generations people tried to breed birds with certain properties. Some wanted to have singing canaries, others preferred canaries with a beautiful body shape, others - with a beautiful, bright color. You can, of course, raise birds to meet all the requirements, but this is not so easy.

Singing canaries are the most popular. The best songstresses of them are canaries from the Harz mountains in Germany. Singing canaries are also loved because they perfectly imitate the voices of other birds. They can sing exactly like orioles, starlings, larks, and some sing in such a way that their singing cannot be distinguished from that of a nightingale. This does not mean that canaries do not have their own songs. They are, and very beautiful. Canaries can be easily taught the songs of other birds by playing records of the trills of tits, nightingales, etc.

Do you know that relatives of canaries live near us? These are sparrows and linnets. They, like canaries, belong to the family of finches, which, in turn, are included in a large order of passerine birds.

People prefer to keep canaries in cages, not only because they are excellent singers and have a beautiful color. Canaries are unpretentious birds, they are easy to care for. The only thing they love is clean sand at the bottom of the cages, fresh drinking water and daily warm baths.

These birds are unpretentious and eat the usual bird food and some chopped greens: grass, lettuce. It is not only necessary to feed them sour fruits, although they peck with pleasure, as well as cuttlefish bones, from which they get the lime they need.

Despite the fact that canaries can withstand severe frosts, they do not like and are afraid of drafts, so in winter it is not necessary to hang their cages close to windows.

"Beautiful inhabitants of the blue skies"

Quiz

"Their element is the sky"

Job done

5 "A" class students

MOU "Average

general education

school number 2 with in-depth

learning mathematics"

Kargopol

leader - teacher

biology Safonov

Nadezhda Alexandrovna.

2017

1. A bird that is not afraid of frost

White chests, black frock coats, and a funny walk give the penguins such a funny resemblance to people that they arouse some special sympathy in us. These birds have adapted to the harshest climate on Earth. They thrive in icy fields and bitter cold. Their body is covered with thick waterproof plumage, and a thick layer of fat perfectly protects from bitter frosts.

Now on our planet seventeen species of penguins live. Oddly enough, but among them there are those who moved to live on the shores of Africa, South America and Australia. Although penguins cannot fly and are very clumsy on land, in the water they can compete with agile seals and dolphins. The wings serve as magnificent oars for them. With their help, the penguin develops a speed of up to 40 km / h. They can dive several tens of meters and jump out of the water one and a half to two meters, landing directly on the ice. Tirelessly roaming, penguins sometimes swim hundreds of kilometers in icy water, and then by land they get to traditional nesting sites. They nest in colossal colonies - a million individuals or more.

2. These birds are sociable and served as a symbol of homesickness for people.

Cranes have always served people as a symbol of homesickness. A rare person, being far from his native places and having heard the dreary chirping of cranes, did not dream of returning to the warmth of his native hearth. Cranes are beautiful birds. Their body is rather long; the neck is also long and thin, and the head is small. The legs are long and very strong, the wings are large, long and crescent-curved, and the beak is quite strong, straight and somewhat laterally compressed. Cranes live in large swamps, especially often in those that border cultivated fields. These birds walk measuredly, going quite deep into the water, they can swim, they fly high and beautifully and often soar, describing wide circles. These are smart, brave, and sometimes even bloodthirsty birds. From early morning they are busy looking for food, all kinds of amphibians, small insects, worms and small fish. But still, their main food is seeds, buds, tubers and roots. Cranes are very sociable birds. A pair of cranes is always very faithful to each other. These birds show touching respect for other relatives. True, sometimes serious quarrels break out, and some naturalists even argue that cranes punish the guilty by death. Cranes really do not tolerate disorder and do not like quarrels. They warn troublemakers with menacing cries or beak blows. These birds are quite playful and sometimes, in a rush of fun, they perform real dances with the tossing of pebbles and chips. As already mentioned, the crane is a very smart bird, it is difficult to outwit it. A flock, for example, always puts up watchmen who guard the general peace. If the flock was frightened away, then before returning to its original place, it lets the scouts forward. Cranes are easily tamed and become very loyal and loyal friends. Before the annual autumn migration, these birds gather in large flocks in a certain area, from where they take off with loud cries and fly without rest day and night until they reach the wintering grounds. Each time they fly along the same path and deviate from it only in case of danger.

3. What kind of birds did people consider a fabulous bird, did their ancestors see dinosaurs?

The word "flamingo" comes from the Latin word "flammo", which means "flame". It is not surprising that since ancient times, people considered the flamingo to be a fabulous bird, a creature from a beautiful pipe dream. In nature, there are few such beautiful sights as the simultaneous flight of half a million flocks of flamingos. These birds have the longest necks and longest legs, of course, in relation to body size. Flamingos are quite large birds - up to 130 centimeters tall, and weighing up to 4 kg. An interesting fact is that they get their pink, or even red color, not from birth, but because of their nutritional habits. They eat blue-green algae, which turn pink during digestion. If they lack such substances, then the color of the flamingo turns pale. And when they are not at all, the bird becomes gray-white. Flamingos brought to the zoo turned white very quickly until they began to give them additional food containing a lot of carotene - carrots, tomatoes, red peppers. Flamingos feed in shallow water. They bend their necks so that their beaks turn upside down.

4. These birds - birds - are a legend, a symbol of kindness and happiness.

5. These birds are treacherous and vicious creatures.

It cannot be said that herons beautiful birds in our understanding. Naturally, they, like every other creature of the Earth, possess some beauty and grace, but clumsy movements and strange, awkward postures nullify all beauty. Nevertheless, herons are better than other birds adapted to life among swamps and reservoirs. They maneuver well in the reeds and swim well. The voice of the herons is very unpleasant, and in some it resembles a frightening roar. Herons- insidious and evil creatures. Despite the fact that they live in communities, they are by no means friendly. Each heron will not miss an opportunity to harm a neighbor. Herons feed mainly on fish, and on occasion, , shellfish and . Birds build their nests in reeds or on tall trees. The female lays and incubates 3 to 6 eggs. At this time, the male feeds her. It is surprising that having such powerful weapon for protection like a beak, herons completely helpless in front of enemies. The usual picture: when it arrives , the heron, without resistance, gives him the opportunity to take his children. And in other situations, you can’t call them caring mothers - , , all and sundry can eat heron eggs. To captivity herons they get used to it pretty quickly, but watching them is a thankless task, because a heron can stand on one leg all day, and you will fall asleep faster than she changes her leg or moves her head.

6. These birds are cheerful and intelligent and quickly get used to captivity.

ibis prefer to live in the countries of the hot zone, and those that are found in the northern latitudes are migratory birds. They choose bogs, swamps and wooded areas as their place of residence. All morning the ibises are busy looking for food, during the day they rest, and in the evening they go to sleep in the trees. Food ibis birds consists of fish and mollusks, and in marsh species it also consists of all kinds of reptiles and small aquatic animals. Ibis nests are arranged on the branches of trees or bushes. In them, females lay from 3 to 6 eggs. Strangely enough, ibis have few enemies, although their meat is very tasty. Even people shoot these birds a little, and try to catch more, because this bird is very cheerful and intelligent and quickly gets used to captivity.

Sacred dwells in Egypt ibis. Since ancient times, people have worshiped this bird. In one of the pyramids, many mummified ibises were found. According to the stories of travelers of those times, similar honors were paid to ibis for their irreconcilable war with snakes. But there is a version: ibis appeared at the time of the flood of the sacred Nile River, and the Egyptians understood this as a sign sent by the gods.

Bullfinch. Goldfinch. Chizh.

Ibis.

7. Which birds are harmless to snake venom?

The serpent-eater has excellent eyesight: from a height it notices its prey, hovering over it and falling sharply down. The snake-eater grabs the snake with its paws just behind the head, and then finishes it off with the help of its beak. After that, the hunter swallows the prey and leaves the hunting place.
Mostly snake-eaters catch snakes and snakes, but they also happen to deal with real dangerous snakes: viper, gyurza or muzzle. That is why the movements of the short-toed eagle are fast and precise, because a mistake or delay can lead to the fact that the bird will miss the prey or get a bite. Usually, dexterity and quick reaction help the predator to avoid danger, besides, its legs are covered with horn shields that protect against snake attacks. However, there are also failures. Snake venom is not harmless to birds, although it is not always fatal. A snake-eater that has been bitten by a snake can get sick and recover for a rather long time. Predators hunt not only from the air, sometimes they pursue their prey on the ground or in shallow water.

Rice. one.

Many birds of prey also enjoy eating snakes. Moreover, it is enough for them to simply lift the snake in its claws higher and slap it against a stone in order to eat it without fear. These birds include hawks, falcons, storks, herons, and even a peacock does not really give in to reptiles. This is how the secretary bird deals with the snake (Fig. 1.)

8. What birds can take the most fantastic poses?

In art, to take the most fantastic poses bittern surpassed many birds of our planet. She skillfully can pretend to be a snag, a stump, a dry tree or an old sharp stake. All bent, or vice versa, stretched out to a string, she can stand motionless for a long time until the danger threatening her disappears. Bittern, or bull, a very lazy, cowardly, but at the same time cunning, vicious and insidious bird. She literally attacks everything that moves, provided that it is smaller than her size. She avoids meeting with large enemies, but if the situation is hopeless, she fights to the last breath. At the same time, she marks her beak directly in the eyes, so that after several of her attacks, the enemy very often retreats. Even in captivity, her character and habits do not change. At bittern dense body, long but thick neck, narrow, high beak, wide wings, medium-length legs and dense plumage. It is painted in a rusty-yellow color with many brown spots, dashes and strokes. It feeds bittern fish, snakes, lizards, frogs, young birds and small mammals. She hunts at night and is incredibly gluttonous. The bittern has a very strange heart-rending cry that looks like a bull's roar. You can hear it for several kilometers.

9. A bird that uses its beak like a spear.

Birds from the cormorant family, to which the darter belongs, or anhinga, live on sea coasts around the world. But darters live on rivers and lakes. All members of the family are united by the fact that their bones are dense and heavy, and there are noticeably fewer subcutaneous air cells than in other copepods, which, thanks to them, stay on the water, like corks. The darters, while swimming, sit deep in the water. Another feature of these birds is that their plumage gets wet, and therefore they rarely rest on the water and, having had their fill, get out onto land. On the shore of the darter, wings half-opened, they are dried in the sun and in the wind. Only then are they ready to fly again. The drying ritual is often preceded by skirmishes over the most convenient places. Snakes get their food thanks to their surprisingly long neck, which really resembles a snake when moving. The peculiarity of their method of catching fish is that they do not grab prey with their beak, but use their long, flexible neck and sharp beak like a spear. No other bird hunts this way. Darter is an outstanding swimmer and divers. They can swim under water for a very long time, chasing the intended victim, until they are at a distance of a meter from it. Then they swiftly throw their muscular neck, like a harpoon, in the direction of the prey. At the same time, they do not open their beak, but pierce the victim with it, as if putting it on a needle. Having emerged to the surface with a fish impaled on its beak, the bird with sharp movements of the head throws the still trembling prey into the air, quickly opens its beak and picks up the falling fish. It is interesting to observe which food grasping techniques are inborn in birds, and which they must learn from adults. Young birds often throw the fish too high and then fail to catch it in the air, so the fish falls into the water. Thus, deftly opening the beak and swiftly picking up falling prey is not an innate instinct, but is achieved by endlessly long exercises. The darter, while still only a chick, sitting in the nest, plays with a stick, throwing it up and picking it up in the air with its beak.
In addition to fish, these birds eat crayfish, frogs, newts and large aquatic insects.

10. Which birds are distinguished by agility, mobility, but they lack intelligence, are they very quick-tempered, arrogant, but cowardly?

Huge size - that's what first catches your eye when looking at an ostrich, because this bird is not inferior to a large horse in height. The height of an ostrich from the tips of its paws to the top of its head is 1.8-2.7 m, its average weight is 50-75 kg, but the heaviest males can weigh up to 131 kg! Of course, most of the height of the bird falls on the long legs and neck, but the head of the ostrich, on the contrary, is very small compared to the size of the body. Even smaller is the brain, which in ostriches does not exceed the size walnut. Such a small brain size determines the low level of intelligence of these birds and indicates their primitiveness. The ostrich is a stupid bird, but very cautious. During feeding, ostriches often raise their heads and look around with a keen eye. They can see a moving object on the smooth surface of the plain from a kilometer away. If danger is suspected, the ostrich tries to leave in advance, preventing it from approaching the predator. Therefore, the behavior of ostriches is often followed by other herbivores, which are not so vigilant and rely more on the sense of smell. If necessary, an ostrich can run at a speed of 70 km / h, that is, it freely overtakes a horse, in exceptional cases an ostrich can accelerate to 80-90 km / h (in a short distance). While running, the ostrich can make sharp turns without slowing down, and also suddenly lie down on the ground. During incubation of masonry and caring for offspring, they turn into very bold and aggressive birds. During this period of time, there can be no question of hiding from danger. The ostrich reacts instantly to any moving object and goes across it. First, the bird opens its wings and tries to scare the enemy, if this does not help, then the ostrich rushes at the enemy and tramples him underfoot. With a paw strike, a male ostrich can break the skull of a lion, add to this the enormous speed that the bird develops as naturally as when escaping from the enemy. Not a single African animal dares to engage in open combat with an ostrich, but some take advantage of the bird's short-sightedness.

11. What birds are called

travelers?

My opinion is that all migratory birds are excellent travelers!

12. These birds are predators, they eat only fish, they are excellent parents. They take care of their chicks until they learn to fly.

An osprey circling above the water, at a height of 15-30 meters, notices a fish, hangs in the air for a moment and dives with half-folded wings down, and putting out its paws with spread claws. A moment later, she crashes into the water with her paws and disappears among a cloud of spray. After a few seconds, she emerges, and under her elongated, like a torpedo, brown-white body, a fish clamped in its claws glistens.The only feathered predator that feeds only on fish, the osprey flies and glides superbly. It is relatively large (50-60. centimeters long with a wingspan of up to one and a half meters) and is armed with deadly claws on all four fingers, of which the outer two are reversible, that is, when it grabs prey, two fingers can be turned forward, and two back. Under the claws of this bird there are special pads with spikes that make a powerful grip even more reliable. Ospreys only eat fish that they themselves catch. But sometimes they also eat fish killed by someone else, if it is whole and fresh. An osprey can choke on a fish that is too big before it can release its claws. This danger is one of the few that threaten her. The osprey lives everywhere except New Zealand and Antarctica. They build their one and a half meter nests built of twigs and branches along the shores of lakes, seas and rivers, on dry trees, on rocks, on the ground. There is a case when the nest was used from year to year for 40 years. Usually the female lays three white eggs with reddish-brown spots. The incubation of which lasts about five weeks, and then the parents take care of the chicks for two months until they take to the wing and return to their native nest only for the night, before flying away forever and starting an independent life.

13. What birds are called "Feathered cats"?

An owl in Russia was called a "feathered cat". A rounded facial disk with a "cat expression", silent movements, keen hearing, nocturnal lifestyle, most species of owls feed on mice - all this was the prerequisite for such a name. Soft, loose plumage, a specially curved fan of feathers with half-split beards hide the rustle and whistle of wings that occur during flight. A slight rustle is enough to detect and catch prey even in absolute darkness.
Owls are predators. Their beak and claws are convincing proof of this. The whole organism of owls is adapted for night hunting. Depending on the size of the bird, large insects, birds, fish, small mammals. During the years of increased reproduction of mice, owls actively and in large numbers destroy these harmful rodents.
The owl usually does not build a nest. If there is a ready-made crow, suitable in size and location, it will take it, tweak it a little. There is no alien nest - the female eagle owl will trample a hole in the ground and incubate two or three, or even five white eggs without any soft or hard "lining". In a hollow on bare wood, in a hole on damp ground, on stones in a rock crevice, or somewhere under the roof of a barn, owls with their offspring are well settled.
Owls bathe in water and sand when there is no water. A fine warm rain is a wonderful shower for them. Forgetting everything, they circle for a long time in the air in the rain, fluffing up and spreading their tails like a fan. Owl eggs are white, with a shiny shell. Newborn owlets are covered with down, but they are blind and deaf. The eyes and ears of the owls open after a week, and soon the chicks begin to molt, changing the original fluff to soft feathers.
There is an opinion that owls do not see well during the day or do not see anything. This is far from the case: owls see no worse, while others better than a man. Moreover: they perfectly distinguish the silhouettes of soaring birds.
Owls call a lot in spring. The voices of others are dreary, monotonous, all night long they sound with a jerky groan on the same notes, frightening random travelers. Others have melodic voices.
Owls are distributed all over the world, except for Antarctica. They live in forests, deserts, tundras, mountains. Small owls live for about 20 years, and large owls lived up to 68 years in captivity.

14. What birds are called "Forest flutes or forest cats"?

It happens that you hear a wonderful bird's voice in the forest: as if someone is playing a flute. And suddenly, from the same tree, from where the melodious singing came, such sounds will rush that even plug your ears - as if a cat had stepped on the tail. Of course, no one wants to see this cat that ruined the forest musician's concert. But on<флейтиста>interesting to see. However, to see<музыканта>not easy: he always hides in dense foliage. Even from the south, it arrives later than other birds, when the foliage is already rustling with might and main, and always flies away earlier, until the leaves have fallen. But when you get to know the singer, you will understand why he needs dense foliage. He already has a very bright and noticeable plumage: a yellow-golden chest, head and back, and wings and tail are velvety black.

The oriole is one of the most beautiful birds and one of the best songbirds in our forests. It should be added that by eating a lot of harmful insects, the oriole brings us great benefits. Of course, you want to know who is yelling so disgustingly? It's hard to believe, but the same bird makes both beautiful and unpleasant sounds. No wonder the oriole is called a forest flute and a forest cat. Its tropical origin is confirmed by the fact that it is a migratory bird, which is a short-term guest in our area. She arrives one of the last, as a rule, in the first days of May. He likes to settle in old parks, gardens, alleys, in thickets with enough tall trees along the banks of streams. But she also lives in deciduous forests, even in light forests, and avoids dark and dense coniferous forests. The nest of the Oriole is easy to recognize: it looks like a basket of leaves and stems of grass, bast, plant fibers and strips of birch bark. The nest is fixed with bast and other long grasses on a horizontal fork of thin extreme branches. It is very difficult to find an oriole's nest artfully suspended in the green branches of trees. It is not always possible to see a wonderful bird flying quickly from tree to tree. Despite the beautiful plumage, it is not easy to notice the oriole in nature. She is timid and cautious, keeps all the time in dense foliage. The main food is insects, which the oriole catches in flight, collects from trees and on the ground. It also feeds on spiders and small snails. And most importantly, she eats such caterpillars, which, apart from her and the cuckoo, other birds do not eat.

15. These birds are called "Flying Gems".

The "Flying Jewel" is the name given to the kingfisher birds. There is a legend according to which this bird got gray plumage. But she did not want to be like that and flew into the sunset. The sun painted her breasts red-brown, and the blue of the sky fell on her back. The ancient Greeks revered kingfishers. Even the name of one of the genera - Halcyon - goes back to ancient Greek myth about Alcyone. Alcyone is a woman who drowned herself after learning that her husband had died in a shipwreck. Taking pity on them, the gods turned them both into kingfishers, and it was even believed that kingfishers hatch their chicks in a floating nest during the winter solstice. These days, the supreme god Zeus himself makes sure that the sea is calm. There are 84 species of kingfishers on earth. The largest number of species of this bird is distributed in Southeast Asia and eastern India. But kingfishers are also common in Africa, North and South America and in Australia. Most kingfishers are robust birds with a large head, short legs and a strong beak resembling a spearhead. Forest kingfishers forage not in water, but on land. Therefore, they can often be found in the savannas, where they prey on insects and small lizards. Aquatic, or real kingfishers live and forage near water bodies. They love fish and are very good at hunting it. These birds are no larger than a sparrow, but there are also quite large ones, such as the piebald kingfisher. This bird is not inferior in size to the famous dove. Large kingfishers fly low over the water in search of fish, while small ones prefer to sit on branches and fly out only when the fish are very close.
Most often, kingfishers live in small flocks, but there are also loners among them. So, the malachite kingfisher simply cannot stand the company of relatives. Only during the mating season can you see a pair of kingfishers. And then they somehow look askance at each other.

Literature.

1. Animal life in 7 volumes / V.6 Birds / Under the editorship of V.D. Ilyicheva and others - M .: Education, 1986. - 527s.: with ill.

2 Internet resources:

http://hipermir.ru/topic/pticy/vyp/

http://animals-birds.ru/c2.html

The bright colors of nature are reflected in the animal world, namely in the color of birds. There are a huge number of them on Earth. And each species has its own characteristics. The fastest, brightest, largest and smallest are all about them, about our smaller brothers. Introducing the TOP - the most beautiful birds in the world. Nature generously endowed these birds and now they delight us with their appearance.

The only representative of the genus of maned pigeons. This type of pigeon lives on the uninhabited islands (Nicobar and Andaman), hence the name. The main decoration of this bird is a train of bright multi-colored long feathers around the neck. In the sun, his feathers shimmer like precious stones. These beautiful birds do not fly well, this is the reason for their small number. In this species, males also bypassed the beauty of females, they are much brighter.

This is a beautiful and romantic bird with an aristocratic noble appearance. The charm is given to him by a yellow fluffy crest, which looks like a fluffy ball. He has a pair of red and white dots on his cheeks. The bird is quite large, its wingspan reaches two meters. But these birds have no external differences in gender. The crowned crane is the national symbol of Uganda, depicted on the emblem and flag of the country. It is listed in the International Red Book as a vulnerable species.

The name of these birds comes from the word "clown". Probably, none of the feathered inhabitants of the planet can be compared with its brightness of color. It ranks first in the number of flowers in its plumage. The brightness of plumage helps parrots avoid many dangers, because they fit well into a bright tropical landscape. A feature of this species is that in addition to the traditional diet of parrots, they like to feast on nectar and pollen. Loris are very active and lively birds. Their main enemy is the tree python. They live in the Philippines, Tasmania, Australia.

An interesting color entitles this bird to be considered one of the most beautiful in the world. Even in largest cities, always busy passers-by pay attention to these feathered beauties. The base color is noble gray with a pinkish tint, yellow, red, white and black stripes are clearly visible on the wings and tail. The head of the waxwing is decorated with a small crest. Waxwings gather in noisy flocks, which attract the attention of city dwellers. Sometimes you can observe "drunk" waxwings. They become drunk from the juice of berries, which, with the onset of heat, begin to ferment.

It lives in the eastern states of the United States and in the southeast of Mexico and Canada. It has a bright, noticeable and also noble appearance. With such a beautiful appearance, she also has an incomparable voice. The trill of the red cardinal is very similar to the singing of the nightingale. That is why this bird can be found in homes as an exotic poultry. In America, they love and appreciate the red cardinal. It symbolizes Christmas and New Year, it is depicted on holiday cards. These birds are monogamous, they choose a mate for themselves once and for life. During the mating season, the female builds a nest for herself, and the male helps her. They almost never use artificial housing for themselves.

This bird belongs to the pheasant family. The birthplace of the golden pheasant is China. Bright plumage and a rich tail belong only to males. This representative of birds looks proud and majestic, because the plumage of the head resembles the headdress of the pharaohs. On the "collar" orange feathers with dark tips. In general, the bird looks very impressive! This handsome man became the prototype of fairy-tale characters, for example, the Firebird. In European countries, the golden pheasant is most often found in zoos, because life in the wild is always threatened by predators because of such a bright bird color.

And here are the winners of the beauty contest among representatives of the duck family. Bright colorful plumage, the original combination of colors will not leave anyone indifferent. And again - bright and elegant (especially during the mating season) - only males, and poor females - brown and nondescript, and even without a tuft on their heads. Where is the justice here? These ducks are great swimmers, fly fast, take off almost vertically. They live mainly on Far East winter in Japan and China. In China, these ducks are valued and revered. The image of mandarin ducks can often be found in the halls for marriage ceremonies, because they symbolize eternal fidelity.

A bright extravagant fashionista - this is how you can call this bird of paradise. In its coloring there are the brightest and most saturated colors. In addition to such a bright appearance, she is the owner of a bright fluffy luxurious tail, which, like an expensive fan, complements the image of a feathered beauty. This beauty loves a warm climate, so she lives in Indonesia, New Guinea, in the high mountain forests of Australia. Again, the males were brighter than the females. With such unearthly beauty, the bird of paradise is a representative of the passerine family and is related to ordinary crows. These birds rarely create pairs, usually they stay alone and rarely catch the eye. Looking at such a beauty, for sure, no one has a question why she was called the Bird of Paradise.

Very smart and at the same time incredibly beautiful birds. It can be easily taught to speak, the vocabulary of this parrot reaches more than a hundred words. These rainbow birds live in nature from Mexico to Ecuador, and also in the tropics of the Amazon and Bolivia. Ara has a bright defiant plumage color. It is almost all bright red, the feathers above the tail and the bottom of the wings are blue, the red feathers are separated from the blue ones by a bright yellow stripe. Adult parrots reach a decent size (up to one and a half meters), and the wingspan reaches forty centimeters. Apparently, for all the listed advantages, the macaw was awarded the title - the King of Parrots. Although its ardent coloring brought a lot of problems. The Indians ate its meat, and beautiful feathers were used for decorations. This attitude towards birds almost led to the complete extinction of this species. And yet - these parrots are centenarians, on average they live eighty years.

One of the most beautiful birds on earth. Its beauty is glorified in literature, legends, it is depicted on luxury items and art objects, depicted on state symbols. In Judaism, the peacock is considered a sacred bird, it is also considered a symbol of wealth and power. And although it is a unique and beautiful bird, it is a close relative of ordinary chickens, and belongs to the pheasant family. The peacock is a monotypic species, which means that it has no subspecies, it has several types of color. Only the male has beautiful plumage. The male spreads his chic tail during the "courtship" of the female. Although what everyone is used to considering as a tail is not a tail at all, but the covert upper feathers of the uppertail. On the "tail" of the peacock are beautiful bright spots that resemble an eye. Despite the long “tail”, peacocks run great, easily make their way through thickets, fly up trees without any problems. Only in India, peacocks live in the wild, in the rest of the planet it can be seen in zoos or specially created places.

Kingfisher

Alcyone

Flying gem

There is one ancient legend that says that after the creation of the world, one bird got a gray ugly plumage. But she did not want to remain so ugly and hurried after the setting sun. The sun tinted her breasts red-brown, and the blue of the sky fell on her back.

Due to its characteristic colorful plumage, it is difficult to confuse the common kingfisher with other birds. Found in Europe, the red-billed kingfisher, or white-breasted kingfisher, and the small piebald kingfisher are larger, of a different color and nest in southern Turkey.

In Russia, flights into the Volga delta of a small piebald kingfisher are possible.

Kingfishers are stocky, heavy-billed birds that live in various types of woodlands. They ambush small animals, including large insects, rodents, snakes, and frogs, and some also catch fish. The kingfisher settles along the banks of natural or artificial fresh water bodies - rivers, streams, irrigation ditches, canals, lakes and large ponds.

The main condition for choosing a place of residence is the abundance of small fish no larger than 10 cm. It is equally important that the water be transparent and partially shaded by trees, because you can only look out for prey where there are no blinding sun glare on the surface. Therefore, the kingfisher chooses to live only those places where tree branches hang low over the water, providing a convenient observation point.

In addition, there must certainly be a steep bank of a river or stream nearby, suitable for building a nest (this is the only bird that digs minks). At the beginning of the nesting season, a pair of kingfishers begin to dig a mink and a corridor leading to it, not embarrassed by the fact that the chosen place may be some distance from the hunting grounds. A residential burrow is easily recognizable by the smell of rotten fish and streaks of droppings.

Outside of the nesting period, the kingfisher is far from being so picky in choosing a haven: for example, in winter it can be found on a rocky sea coast and even in urban areas. .

In the Far East of Russia, flights of collared and fiery alcyone have been registered.

Eastern pygmy kingfisher flew to Sakhalin

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Top photo: "White-necked Kingfisher (halcyon chloris) emerges from the Kinabatangan River, Borneo" by photographer C.S. Ling from Singapore submitted to the Altered Images competition. The image was composed of ten successive shots in Photoshop. The picture was taken in Sabah, Borneo, in July 2011.