A bird that moves up a tree upside down. The nuthatch is a migratory or wintering bird. Project. Wintering birds: nuthatch. Which bird has a tongue covered with spines?

“Reproduction and development of birds” - Respiratory system. Forebrain. Muscles. Poorly developed. Yolk. The development of the embryo begins when the egg passes through the oviduct. Shell. The chicks are naked, blind, helpless. The chicks are capable of independent movement after drying. Excretory organs. Reptiles and birds. Development of the embryo in the egg.

“Bird Day” - 6th competition: “Eight Birds”. It turned out that there was a comfortable place, a completely bare place. Instill love and respect for native nature. Extracurricular activity dedicated to " International Day birds." 2. “They call me the caretaker of the forest.” 1st competition: “Greetings”. The girl set up canteens for the birds. I fed large birds here with sausage and porridge.

"Birds in nature" - Birds -. Fieldfare has absolutely no sonorous whistle notes. Birds are our winged friends. Our friends. Puzzles. Shape and dimensions of the nest. The fieldfare is not very picky when choosing nesting sites. Cup-shaped nest. Features of masonry. Egg dimensions: (26-32) x (19-24) mm. Lives in light forests and parks.

“Characteristics of the class of birds” - Class Birds. The fastest bird is the eider. Get well. The puffin seabird can carry up to 40 fish in its beak. Let's get acquainted with the features of the internal structure. The largest bird on Earth is the ostrich. The smallest bird is the Cuban bumblebee hummingbird. About what bird we're talking about. And the sky without birds is not sky.

“Birds 7th grade” - Signs: long narrow wings, notched tail, insectivorous mouth. Birds of the forest. Birds of swamps, coasts and open water bodies. Environmental groups birds. Signs: strong hook-shaped beak, powerful legs. Bird habitats. The result of the study Birds of the forest. Birds of swamps, coasts and open waters. Purpose of the study.

"Bird Facts" - Nervous System. Interesting Facts. Excretory system. A little about birds. Digestive system. Bird eggs. Evolution of birds. The meaning of birds in nature. External structure. Variety of birds. Reproductive system. Circulatory system. Birds in human life. Bird class.

There are 28 presentations in total

Table XII

Birds have the following mutually exclusive characteristics: 1) crawl along vertical tree trunks (Fig. 104A, B); 2) have a clearly visible crest on the head (Fig. 105,106); 3) have a very long or unusually short, upturned tail (Fig. 104D, 114E). Most birds in this group can be seen all year round.

A. Birds crawl along tree trunks, sometimes even upside down.

See paragraphs. 1 and 2.

B. Birds with a clearly visible crest (Fig. 104 A).

See paragraphs. 3 and 4.

B. Birds with a long, sometimes very mobile tail.

See paragraphs. 5, 6 and 7.

G. Birds with a very short upturned tail. The size is very

small. The color is brownish.

See paragraphs. 8 and 9.

1 . Size smaller than a sparrow. The color is not piebald (brownish-brown or gray). The bird does not chisel the bark.

See paragraphs. 1a and 1b.

2 . Size larger than a sparrow. The color is piebald (a variegated combination of black and white areas). The bird chisels the bark with the habits of a woodpecker (Fig. 179).

Small woodpeckers(see Table VIII).

1a. The bird is very small. With a long ringing cry of “tsi-tsi”... it crawls along tree trunks, always from bottom to top. Having climbed one trunk to a height of 3-4 m, it flies with a squeak to the base of a neighboring tree and begins to climb again (sometimes in a spiral), inspecting cracks in the bark and extracting small insects from there (Fig. 104B). The color on top is grayish or brownish-brown, with light small specks. The bottom is white. The tail is wedge-shaped and pointed (with sharp ends of the middle tails). The beak is thin and slightly curved.

Pika(Certhia familiaris L.).

(Order passerines.)

1b. The bird is slightly smaller than a sparrow. With an abrupt cry “tsit-tsit” or a loud whistle “tyu-tui-tui”, it flutters fidgetily and crawls along the trunks, often clinging to them upside down. Often joins mixed tit flocks. Color: bluish-gray top, black stripe across the eye, light bottom, red sides. A very short blunt tail and a strong (awl-shaped) straight beak (see Fig. 104B).

Nuthatch(Sitta europaea L.).

(Order passerines.)

Note. Wed. also table. XIX, paragraph 12 (vertical neck).

3 . Size smaller than a sparrow or only slightly larger. The beak is not long. The color is not piebald (brownish or grayish-brown.)

See paragraphs. 3a, 3b and 3c.

4 . The size is noticeably larger than the starling (about the size of a large blackbird). The beak is long and thin. The coloring is very variegated. The chest and head are light brown. The wings are black with white stripes. The crest is very large, reddish, with black spots, sometimes unfolds in the form of a wide fan (Fig. 106). The bird is found only from spring to autumn in the steppe and forest-steppe zones. Often walks on the ground, collecting insects. In spring, a characteristic voice is a loud, cuckoo-like three-syllable cry of “whoop-whoop-whoop”...

Hoopoe(Upupa epops L.).

(Order Roller.)

3a. The bird is very active, noticeably smaller than a sparrow, brownish, with light underparts and a black throat. Pointed variegated crest (see Fig. 104A). The voice is a sharp trill “ter-tererere...” and a thin whistling. Doesn't run on the ground. From the second half of summer (and winter) it is found in flocks, often in coniferous forests.

Tufted tit(Parus cristatus L.).

(Order passerines).

3b. The bird is sluggish, larger than a sparrow. The general tone of the plumage is gray-brown, brighter on the forehead and undertail. (There is a bright yellow stripe at the end of the tail. The throat is black). The crest is brownish-brown, sharply combed back (see Fig. 105). The bird does not run on the ground. It is found only in autumn and winter (from November to March), in flocks that feed on berry trees (rowan, currant, juniper), sometimes even in gardens. The voice is a high, rather drawn-out, sort of “silver” trill.

Waxwing(Bombycilla garrulus L.).

(Order passerines.)

3v. The bird is about the size of a sparrow and runs well on the ground. The color is gray-brown, with dark streaks (Fig. 107). The bird is common and resident in Ukraine, but (less frequently) occurs further north. Stays near villages. In the spring it rises into the air singing.

Crested lark, daredevil(Galerida cristata L.).

Note. See also table. XIII, paragraph 6.

5 . The birds run well on the ground (or buildings), swinging their long tail (with white outer tails) up and down. The crown and throat are not white. Approximately the size of a sparrow. Birds of open places.

Wagtails- see paragraphs. 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d.

6 . Birds don't run on the ground. They climb deftly in the thickets. The crown and throat are white or very light (grayish). Size smaller than a sparrow. Birds of the forest (bush) or found in the reeds.

See paragraphs. 6a and 6b.

7 . Birds soaring in the air.

See table. XI, item B and 1a (Fig. 102B, 103).

Note. See also table. XIII, p. V. (Uragus).

6a. There is a lot of white in the plumage (head, entire underside). Birds are always found in flocks (broods in summer), very mobile, deftly somersaulting in the branches (Fig. 114E), calling to each other with thin and clear whistles (“ti-ti-ti” and abrupt cries like “churk...churk...”). . Sometimes descending to the ground, they hold the long stepped tail obliquely upward (the outer tail tails are shorter than the middle ones and are white).

Long-tailed tit(Aegitkalos caudatus L.).

6b. There is little white in the plumage. Reddish or wine pink tones predominate (especially on the sides). The head is gray (in the male) or with an ocher tint (in the female). The male is characterized by clearly visible black mustaches on the sides of the beak. Birds can be found only in the southernmost parts of the covered territory, in reed thickets along the banks of large rivers, where they hide well, calling to each other with cackling calls.

Titmouse(Panurus biarmicus L.).

5a. The underparts are white with a large black spot on the throat (and chest). The forehead and cheeks are white, the crown is black. The back and wings are gray. The tail is black (with white outer tails; see on the fly). Common widespread wagtail (Fig. 108). Often stays near housing and water.

White wagtail(Motacilla alba L.).

5 B. The bottom is yellow (all). The head is gray (with a light edge), the back is brownish-green, the wings are brown. A characteristic bird of large water meadows (see color table II, Fig. 6).

Yellow wagtail(Motacilla flava L.).

5v. The bottom is all yellow. The head is all yellow. The back is olive-gray, the wings are dark brown. The bird can be found (in meadows) only in the eastern half of the European part of the USSR and in Western Siberia.

Yellow-headed wagtail(Motacilla citreola Pall.).

Note. One of the subspecies of the common yellow wagtail, the yellow-backed wagtail (Motacilla flava lutea Gmel.), found in Western Siberia and here and there in the Volga region, has a completely yellow head, but the back is not olive-gray, but noticeably brighter, with a greenish-yellow tint. In addition, the lower yellow color is very bright (in males).

5g. The bottom is yellow. The throat is black (in males). The head and back are ash-gray. The wings are dark brown. The bird is found along rocky mountain rivers and streams.

Mountain wagtail(Motacilla cinerea Tunst.).

8 . A tiny, very mobile brown (with small streaks) bird (Fig. 104D). It quickly scuttles and flutters low from the ground in forest coniferous thickets, nettles, dry brushwood, with a sharp crackling cry “tick-trick-trick...”, which, when alarmed, turns into a loud crackling sound. The tail is very short, upturned.

Wren(Troglodytes troglodytes L.).

(Order passerines.)

9 . In the first half of summer, dull-colored, short-tailed chicks that have just left the nests can be found in a variety of places (see Fig. 21,22,189). They are easy to recognize by their uncertain movements, weak flight and lack of timidity characteristic of old birds. Up close, you can see the yellowish coloration of the corners of the mouth. In most cases, their parents are kept near the chicks, and they should be identified.

Note. See also table. XVIII, paragraph 4 (kingfisher) and table. III, pp. 5b, c, d, d.

Birds that can run along tree trunks...

It is not difficult to meet a nuthatch in the forest, especially in late autumn and winter, when migratory birds have already left our region, and the deserted forest that has shed its leaves can be seen for a long distance.

At this time, mixed flocks of tits, kinglets and other birds wander through the forests in search of food. The easiest way to meet such a flock is in a spruce forest or in a mixed forest near a group of coniferous trees. If you come here early in the morning or, conversely, in the late afternoon, when the birds are especially diligently busy searching for food, you will soon hear a quiet squeaking sound. Follow the birds' voices and soon you will see the little birds themselves, flitting from bush to bush or scurrying around on spruce paws. And although different birds gather here, you can easily find nuthatch among them. Most often, he announces his presence with a short, clear whistle, “two-two.” And, turning around to hear the whistle, you will see on the tree trunk a bluish-gray bird with a long, pointed beak and a short, as if clipped, tail. And the most important thing is that this bird quickly moves straight along the trunk, sometimes up and sometimes upside down!

If you behave quietly and do not make sudden movements, the nuthatch will allow you to come very close to itself. Now we can take a closer look at it. It's the size of tree sparrow, about 15 cm in length, due to the loose and abundant plumage, especially if it fluffs up in the cold, it may seem larger. The nuthatch is bluish-gray above, and below, from the chin and almost to the tail, its plumage is white. The flanks and undertail have a rusty-brown color to varying degrees. (In nuthatches living in the western regions of Europe and the Caucasus, the entire underside, except for the throat, has a thick red tint.) From a close distance, you can notice that birds that stay close to each other differ somewhat in the details of their coloring. One side and undertail are darker, chestnut-brown - this is a male. In the female, these places are reddish-buff with blurred edges.

Although the nuthatch's voice can be heard quite often, this bird cannot be called noisy. His “woot-toot”, which we hear most often, is a call, this is how he talks to his girlfriend, with whom he stays together even in winter. Something like ours: “Where are you?” To which the answer is heard: “I’m here.” But if the same whistle is heard, but louder and repeated many times, this means that something has alarmed the bird and it is giving a danger signal. Maybe the silhouette of a hawk flashed behind a tree, or a fox sneaked past.

Often the alarming cry of one bird is joined by the voices of others. A general commotion begins in the pack. Many times, approaching restless voices to find out the cause of the alarm, I noticed an owl “cursed” by the birds, probably dozing calmly on a branch until a nuthatch or some tit came across it.

So, wandering through the forests together with other birds, or even alone, examining the bark and cracks of trunks and large branches in search of food, nuthatches spend late autumn and winter. At dusk they hide in hollows, where they remain until dawn. Moreover, if the cavity of the hollow goes up from the entrance, nuthatches often climb into the upper part, and if a nocturnal predator, for example an owl, looks into the hollow, the nuthatch that climbs up apparently has a greater chance of remaining unnoticed than a bird that spends the night on bottom of the hollow.

But then, through the breaks in the clouds, the blue sky began to appear more and more often. Rows of crystal icicles hung under the roofs, and the air was filled with the smell of melted snow. Nuthatches are among the first to respond to the early signs of spring and begin to return to their nesting areas. Areas of old forest where many hollow trees remain become especially attractive to these birds. Sometimes already at the end of February in an old park or forest you can hear the first nuthatch song. But it is not easy to spot the singer himself even on bare branches - usually the singing nuthatch sits high, stretched out along a thick branch and with its head raised up. Once, while still in the snow, I caught a nuthatch, singing a song, leaning out of last year’s hollow of a great spotted woodpecker.

The nuthatch is a typical hollow nester. Most willingly, he occupies old woodpecker hollows, but often finds a natural hollow that is suitable in size. He might like it too artificial nesting site, hung in the forest, especially if it is a nest box and not a wooden birdhouse. In exceptional cases, the nuthatch itself can hollow out a hollow if the wood of the selected tree turns out to be very rotten.

The nuthatch gets along well with other birds - not only does it willingly join flocks of nomadic tits in winter, but it can also nest in the same tree with other hollow nesters (in a separate hollow, of course). The only thing he does not tolerate around him is other nuthatches. If in winter you see two nuthatches not far from each other, you can be sure that it is a male and a female who formed a pair last spring, and perhaps even earlier. With its mate, a nuthatch can regularly fly to the same feeder and feed side by side with it next to sparrows and tits. But as soon as a nuthatch-stranger appears here, a scandal begins, and the stranger is forced to leave without a quick slurp. The nuthatch unceremoniously drives other nuthatches out of its nesting area, which is quite large. I have never found hollows inhabited by these birds close to each other. The closest hollow was located half a kilometer from the other in a straight line. At the same time, an asphalt highway with a high embankment ran between them, dividing the forest into two sections. According to research by ornithologists, there are usually no more than three hollows occupied by nuthatches per 1 km2.

The nuthatch most often lives in hollows at a height of 3–8 m from the ground. Only once did I find a hollow of this bird in the trunk of a twisted birch tree at a height of only 1 m. When the hollow is selected, the female alone begins to equip it: she clears it of old debris, levels the bottom, plucking out protruding chips. The edges of the hole are coated with clay, adjusting its diameter to fit its size - about 3.5 cm. Often the inner walls of the hollow are also plastered with clay. The clay mixed with the bird's saliva dries and becomes so hard that no predators, such as martens or predators, can penetrate into the nest. bird eggs squirrels, nor the well-known nest destroyers - crows, magpies and jays, nor larger and stronger nest competitors. I was looking at lists of songbirds in whose nests cuckoo eggs or chicks had ever been found. Among more than a hundred species of potential cuckoo breeders, there were birds that nested on the ground, in the grass, and on bushes or tree branches. Cuckoo eggs were found in the nests of city and barn swallows, and in the closed nests of long-tailed tits and wrens, and in the nests of many hollow-nesting birds: various tits, sparrows, and pikas. But the nuthatch was missing from these lists. Its cuckoo nests are inaccessible.

Having prepared the hollow and reliably protected it from the invasion of uninvited guests, the female begins to line a soft bed for future chicks. To do this, she uses a very unusual material: most often thin plates of the surface layer of pine bark. Sometimes the bird has to fly very far to get this material. And only when there are no pines in that area at all, bark plates are collected from other trees: apple trees, pears, spruce trees, elms, or replaced with pieces of dry hard leaves, most often oak. As an exception, the nest may be lined with dry grass stems, hair and feathers. So the nuthatch’s home can almost always be unmistakably distinguished from the nests of other birds both by the edges of the entrance plastered with clay and by such an unusual nesting litter. The female spends about two weeks preparing the nest for laying eggs.

Mating is preceded by mating games: the male either crouches in front of his chosen one, spreading his tail like a fan, or stands up and stretches out in a column, moving his beak raised up from side to side. In response to this, the female stretches out along the branch and slightly puffs up the feathers on her back. The first eggs laid in the nests of nuthatches in the central zone can be found from the second half of April. In shape and color, they most closely resemble the eggs of a great tit - also white, with small rusty-red spots - but usually slightly larger than tit eggs (about 19 x 15 mm) and more glossy.

Having laid from 5 to 9 (most often 7–8) eggs, the female sits down to incubate. The male does not take part in incubation, but feeds the female, calling her outside by whistling and passing the food on one of the nearest branches. But when, after two weeks of incubation, the chicks appear in the nest, both partners begin to work almost equally. From dawn (4.30 am) until late evening (10.30 pm) they collect food and carry it to the nest. During these 18 hours, the parents manage to fly to the nest more than 300 times. Not only do the birds work all day long, looking for food, they also manage to keep the nest clean, regularly removing white capsules of droppings. While the chicks are still very small, adult birds, bringing food, climb inside the hollow. But when the chicks grow up, they begin to crawl out to the entrance itself, and it is enough for the feeding bird to shove food into the wide-open beak of the hungry chick.

Feeding continues for up to 25 days. During this time, the chicks manage to fledge and grow stronger and leave the hollow capable of flying reasonably well. The hatching of chicks can be observed at different times in June. Nuthatch fledglings differ little in color from adult birds, except perhaps a little duller. During the first days, the brood stays together and is fed by the parents. At night, the chicks do not hide in a hollow, but sit on one branch and fall asleep, huddled closely together. When the chicks get stronger, the family begins to wander through the forests, and at the end of August joins flocks of tits and other birds.

Nuthatch chicks are fed caterpillars and pupae of small butterflies: cutworms, moths, leaf rollers, beetle larvae, flies and other soft insects and spiders. Adult birds feed on both animal and plant foods. Food is collected mainly from the surface of the bark of trunks and large branches, crawling up and down the trees and examining the cracks and folds of the bark. If they find prey in any crack or recess in the wood itself, they can use their beak to expand access to food. Inspecting the loose bark from all sides, the nuthatch reaches insects located in the upper part of the tree, which is usually missed by pikas and tits. The bulk of invertebrates destroyed by the nuthatch are forest pests. First of all, these are beetles: weevils, leaf beetles, bark beetles, click beetles, borers, longhorned beetles, as well as hymenoptera: sawflies and their larvae and nut-creators. Of the butterflies, the nuthatch most often eats cutworms and moths and their caterpillars and pupae. It can also cope with large insects. In the spring, during the flight of May beetles, nuthatches grab them on the fly, and more often they collect them from the leaves and peck them, pushing them into a crack and holding them with their paw. I once saw how a nuthatch, having discovered a large blue ribbon moth (one of our largest moths, up to 9 cm in wingspan) on the bark of a willow, hit it hard sharp beak. From this blow, the butterfly fell to the ground and began to fight, losing the ability to fly. The nuthatch came down to her, grabbed her with his beak and carried her up a tree.

I have found the wings of these and other large butterflies at the base of tree trunks many times. Most likely, they were eaten by nuthatches or tits. The Scops Owl often catches large butterflies. But in our forests (in the middle zone) it is very rare. In addition, it eats prey while sitting on a convenient branch, and the torn off wings and other half-eaten remains of its meal fall to the ground away from the trunk.

In autumn, plant foods begin to play an increasingly important role in the nutrition of nuthatches. These birds have a highly developed instinct for storing food. In August, nuthatches can often be seen on hazel bushes or oak trees, where birds climb thin branches to look for nuts or acorns. At this time, more often than usual, nuthatches jump to the ground at the foot of nut-bearing plants and look for nuts among the fallen leaves. Having found a nut or acorn, the bird grabs it with its beak and carries it away to hide it. It is difficult for a nuthatch to grab a particularly large nut or acorn, and it is not easy to break through the shell of a large nut, so among the fruits stored by this type, the vast majority are medium-sized nuts with a thin shell. Nuthatches living in the Caucasus and western regions of Europe also collect beech nuts, and nuthatches living in Eastern Siberia and the Far East take away and hide the nuts of Siberian and Korean cedars.

After a good harvest of nuts at the end of winter, it is easy to find pierced empty shells on the trunks of many oak trees, wedged in cracks in the bark. These are traces of the work of nuthatches. But whole nuts, even in autumn and early winter, are almost never found in cracks in the bark. Apparently, nuthatches hide most of the fruits very carefully, away from the eyes of jays, nutcrackers, squirrels and other nut lovers. I was convinced that nuthatches remember at least some of their “stash” when I saw how a nuthatch dived into a hollow in flight and immediately jumped back out, carrying a nut in its beak.

Nuthatches tolerate captivity well, especially if they are allowed out of the cage from time to time to walk around the room. Then, if there are cockroaches in the house, dark days are coming for insects. I am closely acquainted with bird lovers who kept nuthatches. They were all pleased with their pets for their lively, cheerful disposition. In captivity, nuthatches can live up to 9 years.

But, in my opinion, it is even more interesting to train the nuthatch to visit your feeder in winter, which is not difficult to do if you live outside the city or at least near a city park. Sunflower seeds, watermelon seeds, melon seeds, pumpkin seeds, pine nuts, peeled hazelnut kernels and pieces of unsalted lard should be placed on the feeder. Then after a while you will be able to observe nuthatches and other birds every day at close range...

1. Who is the “forest rooster”?

(grouse)

2. What bird can walk underwater?

(Dipper)

3. What bird can climb a trunk with its head down?

(Nuthatch)

4.Name a bird that can fly tail first.

(Hummingbird)

5. The largest bird in Europe?

(Swan)

6. Which bird has the largest nest?

(at Eagle)

7. What birds can chase a car?

(Ostriches)

8. Name a bird that can sleep while flying.

(Stork)

9. Which bird has a tongue covered with spines?

(PENGUINS use it to hold slippery fish in their mouths)

10. What kind of bird is called things?

(Crow)

11. Which bird digs holes instead of nests?

(Kingfisher, shore swallow, roller)

12.Which birds tell themselves what their names are?

(Jackdaw - “ga-la”, cuckoo - “ku-ku”,

pika squeaks all the time)

13. I’ll visit everyone during the day, I’ll tell you everything I knew. Who am I?

(Magpie)

14. Which bird has the longest tongue?

(for a woodpecker - 15 cm.)

15. What bird makes a bedding in its nest from fish bones?

(Kingfisher)

16. What bird does not land on the ground, on water, or on a tree?

(Swift)

17. Which bird has three different colors throughout the year?

(Ptarmigan)

18. Which birds have wings covered not with feathers, but with scales?

(at the penguin)

19. When is a sparrow’s body temperature lower - in winter or summer?

(same)

20. Which night bird does not build nests?

(Nightjar)

21. Which bird has green females and yellow males?

(at Oriole)

22. A bird that eats carrion?

(Sip)

23.A bird that exterminates rodents?

(Owl)

24. A bird with completely black plumage?

(Crow)

25. Birds that breed in winter?

(Crossbill)

26. A waterfowl that destroys large numbers of fish?

(Cormorant)

27. A bird of prey that doesn’t build nests?

(Peregrine Falcon)

28. What does the word “Archaeopteryx” mean?

(ancient wing)

29. What is the name of the bird that eats snakes?

(Snake eater)

30. Which bird has a floating nest?

32. Who has the most amazing nose?

(Klest has a cross, flamingos have a boomerang)

33. Give the name to the bird: long legs - stilts (stilt)

bald spot on the head (coot)

green from head to toe (greenfinch)

shakes its tail (wagtail)

white eyebrows (white eyebrows)

legs are white (white-legged).

34. How many species of birds are there on Earth?

(8500 species)

35. What are the fastest birds?

(Falcons - 300 km/h; Swift - 170 km/h)

36. Is the bird a fisherman?

(Cormorant, pelican, gull, merganser, guillemot, eagle, loon,

heron, kingfisher).

37. What birds do not hatch eggs?

(Cuckoo)

38. What birds hatch an egg holding it on their feet?

(Penguin)

39. What does “pelican” mean in Greek?

41. Which bird screams “it’s time to sleep, it’s time to sleep”?

(Quail)

42. Which birds are the only ones among the chicken relatives that are migratory?

(Quail)

43. Which birds have exactly the same name as mushrooms?

(Toadstool)

44. Crawling birds?

(Nuthatch)

45.Which bird sings with its tail?

(Snipe)

46. ​​Name five songbirds.

(Nightingale, lark, finch,

Which runs briskly along tree trunks. It lives in old deciduous forests throughout much of Eurasia. Description of the bird with video and photo

Squad - Passeriformes

Family - Nuthatches

Genus/Species - Sitta europaea. Common nuthatch

Basic data:

DIMENSIONS

Length: up to 16 cm.

Weight: 20-25 g.

REPRODUCTION

Puberty: from 1 year.

Nesting period: from April to June.

Carrying: 1-2 per season.

Number of eggs: 5-8.

Incubation: 13-15 days.

Feeding chicks: 23-25 ​​days.

LIFESTYLE

Habits: Common nuthatches (see photo of the bird) stay in pairs during nesting.

Food: insects, caterpillars, larvae, nuts and seeds.

Lifespan: There is information about a bird that lived for more than 10 years.

RELATED SPECIES

There are 31 species in the nuthatch family. Other members of the family are the Carolina and Canada nuthatches.

The common nuthatch is a small but very smart bird. She can fix a nut in a crack in the bark of a tree and beat it with her beak until she breaks the hard shell and gets to the tasty pulp of the nut.

REPRODUCTION

Nuthatches form pairs and occupy nesting sites suitable for them already in March - early April. Around the same time, birds begin to build nests. Nuthatches nest in abandoned hollows, natural cavities in tree trunks, or in birdhouses. Such a hollow, as a rule, can be located at a height of 3-10 meters from the ground. Birds carefully “plaster” the hole leading into the hollow, leaving a very narrow entrance. This is necessary in order to protect your nest not only from competitors - other birds that nest in hollows, but also from predators, for example. The female lines the tray with small scales of pine or birch bark, and then lays eggs there. The female incubates the clutch for two weeks, and the male brings her food all this time. Later, the parents feed the chicks together.

WHERE DOES THE NUTHAT LIVE?

Common nuthatches are found in the forests of Eurasia from its western borders to Kamchatka. They rarely appear in coniferous forests, preferring old deciduous and mixed forests with a large number of oaks, elms and beeches. Nuthatches can also be found in old parks and city gardens or on linden trees growing along roadsides. These birds are easy to observe in places where people hang nest boxes and prepare bird feeders for the winter. Nuthatches fly to the feeders along with other species of birds. Nuthatches move through trees as easily as woodpeckers do. However, unlike woodpeckers and nuthatches, when running along a tree trunk, they do not rely on their tail.

WHAT DO NUTHATH EAT?

During the spring-summer period, the nuthatch feeds exclusively on insects, for example, ants, butterflies, leaf beetles, caterpillars, weevils, etc. With its beak pointed at the end, it pecks them out of cracks and holes in the tree bark. From some trees, in the process of searching for food, the nuthatch tears off small pieces of bark.

In autumn, the bird regularly feasts on berries. In winter, as well as in late autumn and early spring, common nuthatches feed on acorns, seeds of spruce and pine trees, and nuts of cedar, hazel or beech. The favorite food of these birds is hazelnuts and beech nuts.

• The nuthatch, moving along tree trunks, does not rely on its tail feathers.
• It is believed that the nuthatch is one of the most territorial birds that nest in Central Europe.
• The common nuthatch often builds nests in gardens; here this bird occupies empty birdhouses. The nuthatch “plasters” the entrance and the cracks between the walls with clay so that the “house” meets the owner’s requirements.

DESCRIPTION OF THE NUTHATH

Beak: resembles the beak of woodpeckers. With its pointed beak, the nuthatch can crack nuts and hard seeds.

Carrying: the female lays 5-8 white eggs with reddish-brown specks in the hollow. The tray is lined with pine or birch bark.

- Habitat of the common nuthatch

WHERE DOES IT LIVE?

The nuthatch is found throughout Europe. The bird also lives in Morocco, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Asia Minor, South-West Africa, the Kuril Islands, Northern Russia to Kamchatka, China and Japan.

PROTECTION AND PRESERVATION

In Central Europe, the common nuthatch is a fairly common bird. These days, this bird is not in danger of extinction.

Handmade bird Nuthatch! Eats straight out of your hand! Video (00:01:51)

The wild bird Nuthatch has become tame! Very interesting.
Filmed by Romtor

The nuthatch eats a pine nut for lunch :). Video (00:00:36)

September 2012, outskirts of Krasnoyarsk. The nuthatch, having treated itself to a pine nut from my palm, secured it in the bark of a tree and “butchered it into a nut” :)))
I haven’t noticed this before with these birds :)

Nuthatch bird in high resolution. Collects worms from the trunk of a pine tree. Video (00:00:46)

The nuthatch is unique. This the only bird of all our most inveterate tree climbers, not to mention the actual songbirds, which can move upside down on a steep trunk. The most poisonous poison dart frog.
Even the name “nuthatch” itself fits perfectly with this small, short-tailed bird of a soft ash color with a bluish tint to the upper body and white belly plumage. It is impossible to think of a more apt name. Once you see a nuthatch “crawling” along a trunk equally easily and naturally in any direction, its appearance will forever remain in your memory. As a rule, if you find yourself in a real high-trunk forest, you will first hear the characteristic call of the nuthatch: “toot-toot-toot” or “tweet-tweet-tweet”. Usually you'll see him right away. “This “tweet” is repeated hastily many times in a row, sounds very loud and round and is the most characteristic sound of a nuthatch.”
But it’s best to stop, and then the curious nuthatch, and this is also its expressive feature, will certainly approach you “by chance,” as if there is no more room in the forest or its most attractive and tasty corner is around you. At the same time, the nuthatch pretends seriously that it is very busy and came across you in the forest completely by accident and is even annoyed by such a “interference”, expressing this with its ringing whistle “sit-sit-sit”, like a coachman on the road: “Take care-and-and -is!” At the same time, with inimitable slyness, he every now and then peeks out from behind the next trunk.
The grace and flexibility of a nuthatch on a tree trunk is simply amazing. It is impossible to take your eyes off this nimble, graceful bird examining the trunk of some forest giant easily and slowly, like a skillful housewife preparing dinner in her kitchen. Our nuthatch is equally irresistible on the trunk of any species, be it a pine in the forest, a cedar in the mountain taiga, a birch in the nearest sapling, a poplar in the city or an old bird cherry in the garden.
The nuthatch's paws and toes are very strong and mobile, armed with sharp and steeply curved claws. Thanks to this structure of the legs, there is no fear of falling not only from the gnarled trunk of forest giants, but also from young trees with smooth bark. The nuthatch, unlike the woodpecker, does not need to use its tail as an additional support point on the trunk. The strategy of his movements is completely different - he runs along steep trunks, like a squirrel.
The woodpecker moves along the tree in jerks, only upside down and with constant support on its tail. Its attachment to the barrel is rigid using levers that together form a triangle. The nuthatch uses its set of levers differently: square - diamond - square - diamond, like a speed skater on ice.

Nuthatch and squirrel. Video (00:01:30)

Winter, outskirts of Krasnoyarsk. The nuthatch is the bravest of birds - he happily treats himself to seeds from his hand :) And the squirrel is right there :)

Nuthatch. Nuthatch. Allvideo. Video (00:04:05)

Nuthatch on a bird feeder with seeds (Bird Lovers Window Seed Feeder).
The common nuthatch (or driver, lat. Sitta europaea) is a small bird from the nuthatch family, widespread in Europe, Asia and North Africa. In search of food, it deftly moves along tree trunks and branches, often upside down or even upside down.
A small, agile bird 12-14.5 cm long, wingspan 22.5-27 cm and weighing 20-25 g; with a dense build, a large head and a short, almost invisible neck. The plumage is fluffy and thick. Coloration varies greatly depending on the area of ​​​​habitat, with the upper part of the body always having different shades of bluish-gray.

nuthatch. Video (00:02:16)

Hand nuthatch. Video (00:00:15)

I tame a nuthatch. Kaluga region, Obninsk

nuthatch. Video (00:01:10)

Nature: Yew, Nuthatch. Video (00:05:16)

A small bird from the nuthatch family, widespread in Europe, Asia and North Africa. Common both in central Russia and in Siberia, where it nests in deciduous, coniferous and mixed forests, as well as gardens and parks settlements. In search of food, it deftly moves along tree trunks and branches, often upside down or even upside down.

Yew (lat. Taxus) is a genus of plants of the Yew family (Taxaceae). Species of the genus are slow-growing trees or shrubs with a height of 1 to 10 m. The trunk diameter can reach 4 m.