Borogroves by tit (Parus montanus) or in another way the snow is called a bird of small size, mostly living in forests of Asia and Europe. This species was first described by the Swiss naturalist Thomas Corned von Waldenstein.
Previously, the majority of authors considered Gacek as a subgenus of Poecile, belonging to a larger family of great Tits (Parus). Latin name Parus montanus widely used throughout the world.
However, recently, scientists on the basis of genetic tests have found that bird has only a distant relationship with the rest of the Tits. Therefore, the American ornithologists demanding the return of the former name of the bird which in Latin sounds as Poecile montanus.
Distinctive features
Hallmark from blackheads poecile is the preference of this species of birds live in the coniferous forests. In this regard, tit poecile is most common in the Northern latitudes. For his dwelling place borogravia poecile choose dense forests, overgrown river banks and other places, remote from humans. Despite this, puhlyake feel to person of great interest, and prefer to eat remains of human food. This kind of Tits has a settled way of life.
In the diet borogroves poecile included as plant food in seeds of plants, and animal as larvae and invertebrate insects. To nest this bird low over the ground. Place prefers to breed in the trunks of lifeless trees. Season of incubation for this species is April – may. The hollow tit pulling herself with his beak, but also not averse to use and the finished housing other birds. In the nest of this bird can be found from 5 to 9 eggs, white with red speckles.
This species is one of the most common among all kinds of trailing big Tits. The name of the pudgy bird was due to the fact that in the cold season it fluff up and become more voluminous in size.
Looks like belogolova atricapillus?
This type of bird has a nondescript plumage grayish-brown color. Big head located on a short neck. The bird has a small size, but dense physique. Top of the head and neck plumage is black. The color of the neck extends far into the front region of the back. The rest of the back, wings and shoulders, lower back and uppertail are painted in a brownish-gray color. Cheeks whitish.
Sides of neck also bright, but with a hint of ochre. On the front of the throat there is a mark in the form of large black spots. The lower part of the bird has white-gray feathers, with a touch of color ochre on the sides and undertail. Characteristic for these birds the beak is brown. The legs of this bird is dark gray.
Borogrove the marsh tit often can be confused with blackheads. Hallmark borogroves tit is a black crown, setting the back matte, not shiny color. Due to the large black spot and the streak of gray in the field of feathers it can also be distinguished from blackheads poecile.
Singing borogroves poecile
An important feature is also the vocalization of the birds. Unlike blackheads poecile, belogolova has a more limited repertoire.
The birds are only 3 types of songs:
- demonstrative – this type of singing is used to attract the attention of the opposite individuals. Sounds typical for demonstrative songs are a set of dull, steady, whistle, such as “Chi-Chi” or “TII-TII”, published at the same altitude or high-pitched for just one note. The whistle varies with the kind of populations. For mountain, in contrast to lowland populations is characteristic of a more gentle and prolonged sound, which may consist of up to seven syllables. This kind of singing can be heard throughout the year but are most active this is the period from beginning of February until the end of may and second half of the summer;
- territorial – this song is used for marking the breeding range. For a song characteristically quiet gurgling tweet, and it is often performed by males, rather than females;
- babbling – some ornithologists also highlights another song performed by males to attract females. In this song you can hear the high syllablessuch as “Chi-Chi-Chi”, which are replaced by coarser “Gee-Gee”.
Reproduction
The season for reproduction borogravia of Gacek is the period from April to may. In July the birds show up, ready to fly. Its a pair of these birds find themselves in the first year of life, mainly in winter, and live in such a composition until then, until one of the partners dies.
During courtship, you can see how the male runs after the female, while both sexes make podrachivaya motion of the wings, and hollow out the body. Before mating, the male presents the female representatives food and this time sings its rippling song.
Equipment socket
These birds nest mostly in one area, which is protected throughout the year. The nest, as has been described above, is created at a height of 3 meters and is equipped with the trunks of dead tree or stump trees such as birch, aspen or larch. Pulling the hollow recess for the powder itself or uses ready after other birds. Sometimes as a hollow borogravia poecile use of nest protein.
Equips and equips socket female Gacek. This process is lengthy and takes from 4 days to 2 weeks. If this is preceded by adverse conditions, the process of nest-building is delayed until 24-25 days.
The size of the nest in the depth of these birds is equal to 10-20 cm, and the diameter reaches 2.5 – 3.5 cm Other tit often builds up in the wall with moss. Borogravia poecile for these purposes typically use the bark, small pieces of bark, bast in the form of strips, as well as the wool and feathers of small size, and only sometimes used in the construction of the moss.
Eggs and Chicks
After construction was completed, poecile rest to 5 days, and then since the laying of the first egg continued to shoot nest of soft materials. As a result, when the female begins to lay eggs, the nest is completely lined with litter. Belogolova tit lays eggs of white color in an amount of from 5 to 9 pieces. Hallmark eggs have red spots and dots, growing closer to the blunt end.
The process of incubation lasts about 2 weeks. While the female is preparing the eggs to the hatching, the male guards her and the area adjacent to the nest territory, but also cares about nutrition. In rare cases the female, not waiting for the male, she goes in search of food.
Chicks do not appear all at the same time, but separately. This process may take 2-3 days. For baby Chicks characteristic the Pooh rare brownish-gray color that covers small areas of the head and spine. Different Chicks and yellow or yellow-brown tint of the cavity of the beak.
Feeding of nestlings is carried out by both partners and bring their food up to 300 times a day. At night and in cold weather warms the female Chicks his body and not away even for a minute. Already through 17-20 days after hatching the Chicks are able to fly, but still do not know how to themselves to get food, so their lives are still entirely dependent on parents.
In the period from mid-July fledgling Chicks join their parents and other birds, forming flocks. Sometimes in flocks there are other types of birds, such as wrens and yellow-headed nuthatches. Such a composition they wander from place to place until late winter.
In winter in flocks there is a hierarchical authorityin which the males are placed above females, and pairs of old birds dominate younger gacchami. This species most often lives on the same territory, in rare cases, changing the location within a radius of 5 km.
The power of birds
- In the winter the poultry diet consists of plant foods in the form of seeds of juniper, pine and spruce. One-fourth of the total ration is food of animal origin in the form of sleeping insects, which atricapillus actively extracts from the hidden places of the trees and pine needles.
- In summer, the diet is half of the plant food in the form of fruits and berries and animal origin as larvae and insects.
Young birds mainly eat spiders, larvae of sawflies, and the caterpillars young future butterflies. Then, in your diet young poecile add food of plant origin.
In adults the diet more varied, and in food of animal origin includes:
- butterflies in all stages of development;
- spiders of small size;
- small beetles, mostly weevils;
- Hymenoptera insects, such as wasps and bees;
- Diptera insects: flies, gnats and mosquitoes;
- lacewing insects;
- grasshoppers;
- earthworms;
- snail;
- ticks.
In plant food include:
- grains, such as oats, corn, and others;
- seeds and fruits of plants such as burdock, sorrel, knapweed and others;
- seeds and fruits of trees such as birch and alder;
- the berries of shrubs and trees such as blueberries, mountain ash, cranberry, cranberries.
Eat puhlyake in the middle and lower layer of the forest, and lowered to the ground on rare occasions. These birds love to hang upside down on slender twigs in such a state they can often be found in the forest or other habitat.
Stocks borogroves poecile
Puhlyake very Thrifty birds. To store food for the winter birds start to summer and autumn. Sometimes found the food to borogravia poecile hide and winter. Young individuals begin collecting supplies in July.
Where stored reserves of Gacek, can be very diverse. Most often birds hiding food in trees and on the bushes and stumps. To reserves have not been discovered, puhlyake cover them with pieces of bark. Just one day this little bird can build up to 2 thousand of these caches of food.
These birds often forget where food was hidden, and find some food accidentally. Some stocks are implemented immediately after their construction, and some perepryatyvat again. The action of the food is distributed throughout evenly. In addition borogravia of pain, these stocks are used by other birds.
Life expectancy
In the wild this bird lives 2 to 3 years. According to ornithologists, in rare cases, this kind of birds can live up to 9 years.
