Saxaul Jay – on the territory of Russia this bird now will not meet. It inhabits the deserts of Central Asia, but before I was able to watch her among the overgrown saksaoul sand dunes near Bukhara, where these birds were quite numerous.
At the meeting it was easy to learn, as there almost was not like her birds.Except that desert grey Shrike resembled by its size and color. But it only takes a little while to watch the bird as it became clear who is in front of you.
It is small, the size of a Blackbird: length about 24 cm, weight approximately 900 g. the Plumage on top is ash-grey, bottom-pink-buckskin-colored Wings and tail, black with a blue tint, but a lot of white wings. The craw of a large semilunar black spot, and from the beak to the eye black strip stretches. The beak is long, thin and tapered at the end. Legs are light brownish-grey, fairly long.
Saxaul Jay restless. Most of the time she spends on the ground under the bushes where cleverly runs, highly raised front part of the body and making long steps. The length of the foot print 4.5 cm (back finger about 2 cm long, about 1 cm accounted for claw). The step length of 27-34 cm on level ground and up to 40 cm downhill. When a person approaches, the bird quickly escapes, deftly maneuvering between the bushes. The wing rises reluctantly.
Food this Jay is looking for, wandering under the bushes or running out on the caravan road, where willingly wallows in the excrement of animals, choosing insect-coprophagia and their larvae. Picks up spilled grain, catches small lizards, Scorpions, spiders. With the abundance of food can make the food, burying it in the sand under the bushes.
Nest these birds before. From thin twigs of saxaul and other shrubs to build nests in the form of deep bowls with a roof, like the magpie nests. Usually the tray is lined with thin stems, animal fur, and rags. Nest placed in a Bush at low altitude, not higher than 2 m, often inside the old huts. In April and early may the female lays 4-5 eggs a small size of about 25×21.5 mm. Their colour is dark bluish with small and larger spots. Incubates them only female, beginning with the laying of the first egg.
