Birds with a crested waxwing. An amazing miracle - the waxwing bird
As soon as the cold weather sets in, you can immediately see brightly colored birds on rowan bushes in city parks. They are especially distinguished by the color of their plumage among the rest of the bird kingdom. They are like noisy foreign guests visiting an unexpected bird world. It's actually a waxwing.
The waxwing has a charming and expressive appearance. People have always considered this bird to be only beautiful, but it could not sing. This is where this bird got its interesting name. In the Old Russian language, her name meant “whistle, shout.” But if you still listen to the singing of this bird, then, of course, you can argue with the ancient name: after all, this bird can sing well, sonorously, and melodiously. There is a second interpretation of the name of this bird, and it is already associated with the sound of the waxwing. Distinctive features appearance of this bird are:
- A small body that can reach 20 centimeters.
- The plumage is gray-pink, but the wings are black with bright yellow and white stripes, and even small red splashes.
- The tail is black with a yellow edging.
- Pink and funny tuft on the head.
- Black spot on the neck.
- Black arrows around the eyes.
- The beak is short and with a small tooth.
Waxwing species
The waxwing family is small. It includes 3 subfamilies and 8 species, but, unfortunately, they have not all been studied yet. IN wildlife Today the following main types are distinguished:
- Ordinary.
- American.
- Amursky.
Waxwings mainly live in forests, which can be coniferous, birch or mixed. The habitat is the northern regions of Eurasia and North America. The waxwing also lives in the Russian taiga.
Is the waxwing a migratory bird or a sedentary one? This question interests many bird lovers. The answer to this question cannot be given in the affirmative, since the question itself is controversial when it comes to waxwings. Many scientists are still recognized as nomadic birds, which leave their habitats, going in search of fruits and berries in a southwestern direction. It is during such migrations that scientists study them. But at other, normal times for waxwings, they try to be inconspicuous and secretive.
When birds migrate, they settle for a short time in those places where there is food, and then continue to move on. So, in Russia they sometimes fly to the Crimea and the Caucasus. Along the way of their nomadism, they have to cross the middle zone, and sometimes they do this twice. As soon as spring warming begins, the camps return to their native northern regions. In their nesting areas, waxwings are sedentary and secretive, which is why ornithologists try to study them during flights.
Flocks of waxwings can be very different: from 5 to 30 birds. The flight of these birds is very beautiful. In their movement, they usually hover in a curved line until they begin to rise again.
The waxwing also has many enemies:
- Martens.
- Squirrels.
- Falcon.
- Hawk.
Waxwing nutrition
The waxwing can feed both plant and animal feed:
These birds are forced to roam in search of food. Therefore, in those areas where they can find a lot of berries, waxwings stay longer. In winter and hungry times, these birds turn into real vegetarians.
They pick berries from the branches in an interesting and funny way. To do this, they hang upside down and very deftly and resourcefully try to reach and pick the berries. Usually after them there is nothing left on the bush. In such a strange position, they can reach even the most distant berry.
There is another name for the waxwing - “mistletoe”. They got their nickname because love white and juicy mistletoe fruits. In the area where this berry sprouts, they linger as long as possible.
By the way, it’s very easy to find out that waxwings have appeared. You need to carefully examine the snow under the bushes. If red specks of berries appear on the snow, or you can find pecked seeds in the snow that the waxwings were unable to digest, this means that the bird is in your area.
Such marks in the snow remain because the waxwing’s stomach is small, but as soon as these birds see bright and tasty berries, they begin to stuff a huge amount of them into their crop. Of course, the body cannot cope with so many berries, because for a small bird it is too much food.
Accordingly, many berries are excreted from the intestines in the same form as they entered the body, without any changes. Consequently, waxwings are the most useful seed dispersers in a rather original way. This is confirmed by the germination of those seeds that waxwings transferred in a similar way.
Waxwings, when eating, unlike other birds, for example, from bullfinches or thrushes, practically never come down to earth. But on the branches they remove all the remnants of the berries, leaving nothing behind on the branches.
But often the berries also become the cause of death of waxwings. It happens like this: constantly eating all the berries, overeating, the birds do not notice when they eat fermented berries. Intoxicated and besotted birds begin to get confused in the area, losing their bearings. Sometimes even they cannot fly and, when trying to take off, they can crash. This is sad.
But unfortunately, people do not always understand what happens if a waxwing suddenly starts hitting a shop window or glass in a house. It is generally believed that if any bird hits the windows of a house, it is a bad omen. But this behavior of waxwings can occur not only in winter, but also in spring. And then the reason for their strange behavior may be fermented maple sap, which waxwings find in damaged bark.
But it is impossible to find out when the waxwings will arrive or, conversely, are about to fly away. Their flights are influenced by the following factors:
- Weather.
- Berry yield.
But any arrival of a waxwing is, of course, a holiday. After all, the bright and motley bird itself can bring joyful and good mood both children and adults.
Reproduction and lifespan of waxwings
Waxwings make their nest in the place where they return after their winter wanderings. But the mating season begins for them even before departure. If a pair manages to form, then they go on flights together.
The waxwing bird begins to build nests around May, but maybe in June. Therefore, at this time it is almost impossible to meet them: they become cautious and secretive.
They choose nesting territory near some bodies of water, in open forests. The nest is built on a tall spruce tree, approximately 13 meters above the ground, where the crown is very dense. To build a nest they use the most different material which can be found:
- Thin branches of spruce.
- Needles.
- Feathers.
- Pieces of lichen.
- Thin grass stems.
- Reindeer wool.
The waxwing's nest is made spherical, similar to a huge bowl, but at the same time strong and warm. In one nest there can be from 4 to 6 eggs, which are dark purple in color with small dark specks. Females incubate eggs for approximately 14 days. But the male brings food to the female all these days.
The chicks grow for about 2.5 weeks, and then begin a nomadic lifestyle along with the adult bird. Every year new couples are created. It is known that the average life expectancy of a waxwing is 13 years.
Naturally, the birds' bright and colorful plumage attracts those seeking to adopt waxwings. It is known that it is easy to keep this bird in captivity; there is no special hassle with it. She gets used to it easily in captivity, but becomes lethargic and inactive. Therefore, it is worth keeping them in flocks so that she can live longer.
Waxwing (Bombycilla garrulus) - also Common Waxwing. Medium-sized songbird. Body length - 18-23 cm, weight 60-67 grams. There is a small crest on the head. The color of the plumage is pink-gray, the wings are black with yellow and white stripes, the tail is black, and the neck is also black. The bird also has a black stripe running through its eye. The tips of the secondary flight feathers look like small bright red plates that can only be seen up close. There is a yellow stripe along the edge of the tail; there is a narrow stripe on the wings of the bird white. The undertail is orange. The paws are black.
Young birds are dimmer and brighter than adult birds. Females are similar to males. In flight, the birds are very fast and straightforward.
Distribution area of the Waxwing
The Common Waxwing lives in taiga forests in the Northern Hemisphere.
Habitat Waxwing
The waxwing inhabits various coniferous and mixed forests, forest-tundras, clearings, highlands, shrub tundras, humid forests; the biotope of this bird is very diverse. Found at any altitude.
During the period of feeding migrations, birds do not adhere to certain routes, arriving in a place where there is a good supply of berries.
Food Waxwing
Waxwings stay in large flocks during feeding flights. The diet in summer includes insects; the bird catches them during flight, and also feeds on insect larvae.
The bird also feeds on plant foods: plant shoots, fruits of bushes and trees, berries, lingonberries, viburnum, rowan, mistletoe, barberry, buckthorn, juniper fruits and others.
In winter, birds feed only on rowan, so it is very difficult to find other food in winter.
In a couple of days, a flock of waxwings can remove almost all berry harvest forests, leaving forest inhabitants without food.
In winter, in order to escape the cold, birds begin to eat a lot, basically it turns out that on short winter days, they have no other activity than searching for food and absorbing it.
Voice of the Waxwing
The song of the waxwing is similar to a murmuring trill.
Waxwing Reproduction
Sexual maturity of waxwings occurs at the age of 1 year.
Waxwings return to their nesting areas in May, when the forests and taiga already have many different insects on which the birds feed until the berries ripen.
The nest is built by the female - in open forests, on trees, spruce, birch, in the interweaving of roots, at the edge of the forest, near ponds or near other nesting pairs of birds. The nest is cup-shaped, with a side entrance. To weave a nest, the bird uses grass, moss, thin twigs, lichens or coniferous tree branches. The female lines the nest with silky feathers.
After construction, the female lays a clutch consisting of 4-7 eggs with black specks, which she incubates for 13-14 days. At this time, the male brings her food - insects and various berries.
The chicks are fed by both parents, bringing them insects and various small invertebrate animals, and then the diet gradually includes fruits, berries and various fruits.
The chicks become independent at the age of 15-17 days after hatching.
Every year, the waxwing bird looks for a new mate to reproduce. While courting the female, the male feeds her with various berries.
The lifespan of a waxwing is 13 years.
You can often see elegant crested birds in cities. They scurry about in noisy groups, bursting into loud chirping. They can also be seen in winter. These are waxwings and migratory birds or not - we will tell you now.
Waxwings - crested goldfinches
Our ordinary sparrows have a close relative - the waxwing bird. They got their name from the sounds they make when singing: svi-ri-ri. But unlike the gray and rather inconspicuous sparrow, nature gave the waxwings a beautiful outfit.
Appearance of waxwings
The bird is small, up to 20 cm long, weighing only about 70 g. You won’t confuse this dandy with anyone thanks to the protruding crest on its head and its unique coloring. The main color of the body is delicate Pink colour with gray shades. But the wings are multi-colored, with black, yellow-orange and white stripes. The crest is pink, and there are also stripes at the tip of the tail.
In a word, not a bird, but a sight for sore eyes!
There are three main types: common, American and Amur. But they are all very similar in appearance. Males and females are almost the same. However, as always, there are exceptions. There is a species of waxwings in which the color is completely black in males, and gray in females.
Where do waxwings live?
The main habitat of these birds is the taiga and forest-tundra zone of Eurasia. They also live in North America. Flocks of calling birds can be seen not only in coniferous forests, but also in mixed forests, where spruce and birch trees grow.
Listen to the voice of the waxwing
Birds are not migratory, but they can be called nomadic. In winter they move south in search of food. During these migrations, scientists study their behavior. During normal times of life in the north, the birds are quite secretive.
In the summer, waxwings feed on shoots of young plants, berries, and seeds. They open their short beak and, like flycatchers, catch midges, mosquitoes, dragonflies and even butterflies right on the fly.
In winter, their main food is berries. In central Russia they feed in fieldfare, in other areas they peck the berries of barberry, mistletoe, viburnum, rose hips, lingonberries, and indeed any berry bushes.
Waxwings eat a lot and fill their stomachs tightly. But most of these berries are not digested, so in winter the place where the crested beauties feasted is easy to recognize. Under a bare tree, the snow is strewn with bright spots of semi-digested berries with seeds and peeled peels.
In nature it has great importance: The fallen seeds then germinate into a new plant.
In the warm weather of autumn, many berries spoil right on the bushes and begin to ferment. Voracious waxwings, having pecked at these berries, experience a state similar to intoxication. As a result, they are poorly oriented, crash on any obstacle and die. In the spring, this happens when birds drink fermented maple sap.
Waxwings begin to build nests in May-June from any available materials. The materials used are twigs, fluff, blades of grass, and moss, twisted into a neat ball. Northern species build a nest, like crossbills, in spruce branches, where no one will notice it.
Reproduction of waxwings
During the mating season, the male, unlike other birds, does not dance, but brings berries to the female. And while she incubates her 5-7 laid eggs, she also feeds her. The eggs are gray-blue, speckled. The male does not sit in the nest, but after the chicks hatch after 14 days, he helps the female feed them.
Common waxwing- in late autumn, when the trees have shed almost all their foliage and most migratory birds have left their native places, ringing iridescent voices will suddenly be heard in the empty park, and a flock of crested pinkish-smoky birds with a wide yellow stripe on the tail will descend on a rowan tree red with berries.
It is from the northern taiga that waxwings arrived to us for the winter - small birds, about 20 cm long and weighing 55-58 g (the size of a starling). From now on, flocks of these birds will begin to wander through groves and gardens in search of food, the basis of which during this period is rowan. If the rowan harvest is large, waxwings can stay in our area for a long time, and in lean years they will move further south.
Ripe rowan fruits attract many birds and animals. They are eaten different kinds blackbirds, northern guests - shuras, black grouse and hazel grouse, crows and jackdaws peck. Bullfinches spend whole days on rowan trees and, chewing the fruits, select seeds from them, throwing the pulp on the ground. Berries thrown to the ground by birds or the wind are picked up by mouse-like rodents, eaten by hares and even predatory animals - foxes and wolves. And yet, the main consumers of rowan berries are waxwings and rowan thrushes. By looking at the rowan bush on which the birds were feeding, without even catching them themselves, you can find out which of the birds visited the fruit-bearing plant.
A flock of blackbirds, having flown onto a rowan tree, sits all over the crown and begins to greedily tear and swallow the tart fruits. At the same time, the birds drop quite a lot of fruits, and then immediately rush down after them and jump through the snow with long, light jumps, picking up the fallen berries.
Waxwing tracks and droppings
Waxwings, in a denser flock, sit on the top of the bush and, as they eat the fruits, descend down to the still unpicked branches. They jump onto the snow much less frequently than blackbirds, and move along it in short leaps, placing both legs almost at the same level.
The footprint of the common waxwing is noticeably larger than that of the bullfinch, but smaller than that of any of our blackbirds. The size of the print is 3.5×1.5 cm, the length of the jump is 6-13.5, the width of the track is 4.5-5.6 cm.
If the blackbirds are scared away or they themselves, having had enough, fly away from the food plant, then you can see that the bush has become sparser than it was before, and that the berries on it are eaten evenly from the entire crown. Waxwings pick fruits from the top of the bush, but leave many berries below. Having had enough, they fly to tall trees and the whole flock rests on them for a long time.
There is always more droppings under such trees than under the trees or bushes on which the birds fed. Waxwing droppings are either oblong lumps consisting of crushed semi-digested fruits, or blurry rusty spots. Birds swallow the fruits whole, and some of the seeds, after passing through the digestive tract, do not lose their viability. Thus, both waxwings and thrushes can be considered berry distributors.
In the middle zone, waxwings most readily eat the fruits of the common rowan and just as willingly feed on the small fruits of the Siberian apple tree. But the fruits of chokeberry (chokeberry) are eaten reluctantly and are visited when there are no more attractive fruits or the harvest of other berries has been poor. I have caught waxwings feeding on different types shrubs, including rose hips, which had medium-sized elongated fruits, and small-fruited varieties of hawthorn. Once, in a year with no rowan harvest, I found a flock of these birds clinging to the cotoneaster bushes,
on which many berries were blackened. By the end of autumn, the fruits of this shrub become almost empty, as the pulp in them dries out, so the waxwings did not last long on the bushes and, having eaten almost nothing, flew away. And at the beginning of winter, when snow had already fallen, I observed a solitary waxwing darting through the snow-covered bushes near the river. It turned out that he was looking for rare fruits of the bittersweet nightshade, turning red on thin stems. In Moscow, I saw a waxwing pecking at an apple core lying in the snow. And another time, during a thaw, I found a waxwing pecking at a piece of bread soaked in a puddle.
A hunter I know accidentally shot a waxwing in a forest swamp, mistaking the bird’s tufted head sticking out from behind a hummock for a hazel grouse. The waxwing was pecking at the cranberries. I listed only those fruits that I myself saw being eaten by waxwings. In fact, the range of fruits eaten by these birds is much wider. They eat viburnum, and juniper, and buckthorn and white fruits of mistletoe (in Ukraine, waxwings are called “mistletoe”). In the spring, when the supply of berries has dried up or dried out and lost their nutritional value, birds begin to peck at the swelling buds of larch and other trees.
Little is still known about the nesting of waxwings. The first nests of these birds were found only in 1856. Birds usually make them on old coniferous trees (in the Lapland Nature Reserve in the second half of May I saw a waxwing carrying building material onto a tall pine tree). The outside is laid out with dry spruce branches and pieces of lichen squeezed between them. The tray is lined with lichen and bird feathers. The diameter of the nest is about 20 cm, the height is about 10, the tray is 9x5.6 cm. There are 3-7 eggs in the clutch, measuring about 24x15 mm. Numerous speckles of brownish-black color and pale purple spots are scattered across the violet-gray background of the shell. Fledglings appear at the end of July.
Student Research Project primary school"Wonder bird waxwing"
Author: Mikhailova Anastasia, 3rd grade student of the Yakshur-Bodinskaya Secondary School of the Yakshur-Bodinsky District of the Udmurt Republic.Supervisor:Baikuzina Elena Gennadievna, teacher primary classes MBOU Yakshur-Bodinsky secondary school Yakshur-Bodinsky district of the Udmurt Republic.
Description: this work talks about feathered representatives of songbirds - waxwings, their habits, habitat and living conditions.
Purpose: the material is useful for children of primary school age.
Target: find out the habits, habitat and living conditions of feathered representatives of songbirds - waxwings, and also find out what they eat.
Tasks: find information about waxwings: pick up literature in the school and district library, study Internet sources.
One day, returning home from school, I discovered on a rowan bush a flock of amazingly beautiful birds that had a bright and unusual color: pinkish-gray plumage, a white breast, and a bright yellow tip of the tail. There was a crest on the head. I especially remember their singing: a quivering, lingering trill, somewhat reminiscent of the chirping of grasshoppers. I became very interested in who these songbirds were and, when I came home, I looked into the encyclopedia. It turns out that these elegant crested birds are waxwings. I wanted to learn more about the habits, habitat and living conditions of these feathered representatives of songbirds, and also find out what they eat. This was the goal of my work.
In order to find out, I set the following task for myself: to find information about the waxwing: select literature in the school and district library, study Internet sources.
Description of the waxwing
Waxwings are small, very beautiful songbirds common in the northern regions of Eurasia and North America. Representatives of the waxwing family are poorly studied today, so much of their life remains unknown even to biologists. The small family has only 3 species.
The waxwing is popularly considered a “beautiful bird” that cannot sing, but only chirps and whistles, emitting characteristic trills - “sviririri...”. Flocks of waxwings, elegant crested birds, always attract the attention of people in cities and countryside. These short-legged birds are slightly smaller than a starling. The tops of their heads are decorated with large pink tufts. The body (about 15 - 18 cm long) is covered with pinkish-gray plumage. It is brownish-gray with red plumage, and from a distance it looks pinkish-gray. Stripes of yellow and white coloring are clearly visible on the black wings. The tail, throat and stripe near the eyes are black. The tail is edged with a yellow stripe, the wings are decorated with a narrow white stripe. Up close you can see the red tips of the flight feathers.
Waxwings have a dense build with silky and beautiful reddish-brown plumage. On the long wings of the songbird, white and yellow segments are clearly visible, and the tail is decorated with a yellow outline. The beak is straight, ending at the end with a tiny tooth. The colorful appearance of the waxwing is completed by a small crest on the head and a red undertail. Females and males are similar in appearance.
They build their nests at different heights of trees. The nest is made from the building material that is always nearby. These are dry twigs, grass stems, moss and lichen. The entire structure (more than 20 cm in diameter and about 10 cm in height) is lined inside with soft feathers and down.
Habitat
Waxwings usually live in coniferous and birch forests; in eastern Siberia they are recorded among larch forests. They are not migratory birds, although in winter they roam in large flocks south of their usual habitats. During this period, they can be seen in Crimea, the south of France, Italy, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, and Turkey. And also in the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Greenland.
The summer habitat and nesting area of waxwings is the entire taiga zone of Russia, including the forest-tundra. These are coniferous forests, mixed forests and clearings in the northern part of the country. Most often, waxwings are found in places where spruce, birch and pine trees grow.
Waxwing nutrition
In their homeland, waxwings feed on berries, small fruits, buds, young shoots and insects. Birds have become adept at grabbing mosquitoes, dragonflies, butterflies and midges on the fly and finding larvae. In autumn, waxwings have to fly away from these places not so much from the cold as from hunger. They are driven by the need to find places where there is a lot of food. Waxwings usually become "vegetarians" during their travels. If there are a lot of berries, then the birds stop for a while and eat their fill. They like the berries of rowan, juniper, viburnum, rose hips, barberry and other trees and shrubs.
Waxwings have an excellent appetite. Voracious waxwings eat a lot and quickly. They swallow the berries whole. In such quantities that their stomachs do not have time to digest food.
In the warm weather of autumn, many berries spoil right on the bushes and begin to ferment. Voracious waxwings, having pecked at these berries, experience a state similar to intoxication. As a result, they are poorly oriented, crash on any obstacle and die. In the spring, this happens when birds drink fermented maple sap.
These birds sometimes visit feeders and willingly peck seeds and dried berries.
Conclusion.Having studied literature in the library and Interesting Facts From Internet sources, I learned a lot about this wonderful bird, the waxwing, about their habits, habitat and living conditions.
Caring for birds during a particularly cold and difficult winter period is necessary, because the fate of many birds largely depends on the kindness, generosity and mercy of humans. There is a proverb: “He who is full is not afraid of the cold.” This will be my goal further work on making winter treats for birds.
Poem.
Do you remember the birds - fringes among the snow
On a spring day they flew before us,
It turned out they were waxwings,
We didn't even know about these.
Curious points of the eyes
In plumage of bright colors,
Trembling slightly on a lilac branch,
They looked at us fearlessly.
There were bird calls everywhere,
These two were just shaking a bush,
They were silent about their waxwings,
Only the wind ruffled the tufts.
And although the waxwing is our singer,
But he did not give out the March trill,
It’s not time – maybe it will flare up in April
His silver bell.
With a red tint, like a parade,
An excellent tail with a yellow stripe,
And according to the book he is “ordinary”
Our sparrows are our blood brothers.
He is gluttonous and eats berries,
Unable to cope with food at times,
And accidentally their seeds
It scatters the surrounding lands.
That's how sweet the hawthorn is here,
And the expanse of raspberries, mountain ash,
And lingonberry-blueberry mixture
Covers forest hollows.
Soon the snowy bed will melt,
Dragging us into spring...
Let us know that there is such a bird,
Our forest cockerel is a waxwing.
(Vladimir Lanin)
Literature:
Birds of Russia. Determinant/A.A. Mosalov 2013
Encyclopedia of animals and plants. More than 750 species. F. Dierschke, 2013
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