29.03.2024

Hunting for a big turtledove

The largest of turtledoves, resembling a blue dove in stock. The total length of the body is 340-345 mm, the wingspan is 590-600 mm. Body coloration at distance brownish-brown, head dark gray, belly and chest pinkish-red, contrasting black and white spots stand out on the back side of the neck.

The beak is thin, short. To see the big turtle do it more often sitting on dry tops of trees or wires of telegraph lines; Body landing is usually horizontal. He feeds himself willingly along the sides of paths and country roads, moves on the ground with rapid steps.

The big turtledove flies quickly, rectilinearly, usually at low altitude, the take-off is sudden and accompanied by a noisy flick of wings. Holidaymakers in the trees gorlitsy admit a man close to him, then quickly fly from the opposite side of the crown and fly away. In places where it is not disturbed, a comparatively inadequate bird, allowing for 10-30 m; where turtledoves are hunting, they are very cautious and do not let in 100 meters. The flight speed reaches 55-60 km / h, the flying bird clearly distinguishes a light transverse band at the end of the tail.

The voice of the big turtledove sharply differs from the voice of other species of turtledoves, it can be heard from males during the breeding season; the rest of the year is extremely silent. A rough bassy cooing is audible for 0.5-1.5 km, it consists of five two- or three-syllable sounds: “Ubu … .ubu … tu-bu-bu; Ubu … Ubu … Tu-bu-bu … “. Reminiscent of a deaf howl howl of the beast. The first syllable sounds short, the next is more lengthy, after several repetitions there is a pause, often quite long.

From other species, turtledoves are more large in size and dark in color. From the ringed turtledove is also distinguished by a motley coloring of the plumage of the back and mottled spots along the sides of the neck, much sharper wings; from the short-tailed – also the color of the back. It is very similar from afar to a rock pigeon, but differs in the nature of the habitats.

The external appearance, behavior and nature of the flight is similar to an ordinary turtledove and in flight is practically indistinguishable from it; on the ground in joint flocks is distinguished by size and color.

Coloring. A male and a female in a wedding dress. Males and females are painted the same, sexual dimorphism is absent. Head from above is gray, on the back of the head with an ocherous coating. Saddle brownish-gray with ocher coats on tops of feathers. Chin and throat are whitish-buffy. On the sides of the base of the neck along a large mottled patch of black feathers with contrasting gray fringes. Back and nadhvoste gray-gray with narrow brownish vertex rims, forming a motley pattern.

The upper covering tail is brownish-gray with narrow light gray fringes. Shoulder, inner secondary, mahovye and upper covering wings are dark-aspid gray with wide rusty, sometimes whitish-buffy vertex fringes; The outer wings of large coverers with bluish edges. Goat pinkish-gray or pinkish-brown, chest and belly pinkish-wine, whitish to the tail of the belly. Body sides grayish-gray, lower covering tail gray-gray or white. The wings are gray-gray. Primary mahovye dark brown with narrow grayish-white apical ridges, extending into the outer feathers of feathers. The helmsmen are dark-aspid gray with white or light gray tops.

The average steering pair is dark brown. When comparing a female to a male, she has a noticeably more dull and pale coloration of the chest and belly, grayish-brown goiter rarely stands out against the background of the pinkish-palatine breast. Seasonal outfits are not pronounced.

Downy outfit. The nestling is covered with a rather long, hairy, thin, hard fluff of yellow color of various shades. All the first-order beards are devoid of rays in fluff. The length of down on the head reaches 2-4 mm, on the shoulders 12-15 mm, on the back 10-12 mm, on the chest 11-13 mm. Do not put down your chin, areas of the sides of the head and the area around the eyes, on the neck and goiter, in the center of the abdomen and on the back. The nestling is born blind, with closed auditory passages, its mass is 7.2-7.5 g. The beak of the beak is brownish-blue, the ramfite is brownish-black, brightening to the apex of the beak. Legs are dark brown. The iris of the eyes aged 5-6 days and older is yellow. In the newborn baby, the skin is pinkish, its darkening begins already from the first day and on the second day the skin is very strongly pigmented, dark-blue in color (Neifeldt, 1970a, Shkatulova, 1974).

Jack-out attire. Similar to the dress of an adult female, but more pale and dull, there are no mottled spots on the neck, sometimes several black feathers with gray fringes are noticeable. All mahovye and humeral pale ocherous or rusty margins are narrower than in adult birds. The lower side of the body is grayish-brown or whitish, feathers with ocher tops, chest and belly are the same in tone. The head, neck and back are monotonously grayish-brown. Intermediate outfit. In the wedding attire, there are still separate contoured feathers of nesting clothes, flight and helmsmen.

Structure and dimensions

Primary flywheels 11. Formula wing: I-II-III-IV-V … Helmsman 12. Dimensions (in mm): wing length 175-220 (average 193), tail 130-150 (average 145), beak 15- 18, forging 24-28. The mass of males is 195-240, females 180-260 g. On the island. Kunashir, the mass of males is 243-254 g, in the south of Western Siberia at the beginning of July 228-240 g, at the end of August 260-275, in females in July 175-190, in August 198-235 g (Kotov, 1973).

Minor differences are noted in a large series of turtledoves caught on a flight in southern Kazakhstan (the sample size is 50-55 specimens): in spring, the length of the male wing is 194.3 ± 0.8, the female is 191.1 ± 0.8 mm, the mass of males is 234 ± 3.7 g (maximum 287-294); in autumn in adult males the length of the wing is 192.7 ± 0.9, in females 190.1 ± 0.7 mm, ma

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