gray heron - beautiful and very cautious bird.Be on the alert all the time it made the sad experience of their ancestors, who in the past almost disappeared from the face of the Earth.In the mating season of birds looks especially beautiful plumage color.That these trophies have long hunted humans, not giving the possibility to sit herons offspring.Ladies used the obtained hunters feathers as a decoration for their hats.Due to the time taken for the protection of birds measures, herons now live and breed.
gray heron: description
tell about these creatures - a pleasure!They are graceful and beautiful, there are some aristocratic in appearance.Heron - large long-legged bird.The weight of an adult comes up to 2 kg, a length of 90-100 cm and a wingspan of 175-200 cm. His head heron is quite narrow, decorated with pink yellowish huge beak resembles a large knife, rather than what is in birds and noseand mouth.On the back of the head has a "pigtail", a black tuft of feathers hanging down.The neck is very long and flexible, while flying back bends.The head, neck and underparts are dirty white, front visible dark streaks.Color feathers rest of the body is gray with blue.Paws and gray with a yellow tint.In the mating season the bird looks very nice, color beak becomes much brighter and dissolved the famous "pigtail".
Habitats gray heron
this beautiful bird can be found in a gentle climate in Europe and Asia, the African continent also boasts such residents.In countries where winter freezes the water in the reservoirs, gray heron flies winter in Africa.Russia is also included in the list of the cold, so the birds spend here only 6-7 months lead offspring and fly away on vacation in a hot country ostriches and hippos, but in the spring we will meet them again.A colony of gray herons does not change their place of residence, these birds are very loyal to their breeding sites.
usual place inhabited by birds - the coast of various bodies of water, such as rivers, lakes, streams, swamps.There is no difference, as long as there was water, though fresh, salty though.There is only one condition for the choice of the reservoir, it must be with shallow waters, which serves as a dining room for the kind of heron, where it feeds on.
Can the Heron sing?
gray heron, the description of which allows us to represent a beautiful, long-legged, proud bird, unfortunately, deprived of a voice.Simply put, it does not know how to sing, even quite the opposite, from its cries want to cover your ears.Especially if you are lucky enough to be near a colony of these would-be singers, they behave very noisy there.Time roost and feeding chicks accompanied by their loud cries, as they like to shout during the flight, often in the twilight.Heron gave a hoarse, harsh and croaking sounds that are heard as "fraark."These are the performers of this song!
Alert hunters bird heron
around the world know that the heron is the most dexterous hunter.This bird is looking out for the victim in the shallows.Thanks to its excellent eyesight and sharp as a dagger, long beak, gray dobytchitsa without food never is.No small fry from the water is safe from a lightning strike.
slowly and silently moving feathered predator in their "dining room" on the water, trying to search out their prey.If you got too big sacrifice, the gray heron, not a loss, once with force strikes it with its beak and shakes from side to side of the head, trying to kill before dinner.
bird swallows its prey whole, head first.Ration gray heron quite varied, but a vegetarian it can not be called.Her favorite food - fish, eels, Anura.In addition to these specialties, the menu herons can enter: insects, reptiles, crustaceans, and small rodents.
marriage between
gray heron is very interesting behavior in the mating season.Nest is built male.If birds wintered elsewhere, the stronger sex of birds coming to the area of the first nest and immediately tries to take better nest.If there is none, the male, like a real man, to build it myself.
next stage of the wedding ceremony is the female, male Baby yourself with a good "home" flies to him naprashivayas a wife, but the first time he is sure it runs.To curry favor with the master socket, the bride must be persistent and patient.Chased the female several times, the male finally let her into their territory.This is a kind of courtship ends, and a pair of a family, but the marriage did not last longer than a year.The next season, the birds are waiting for new games and other partners.
Grey heron - exemplary parents
Grey Heron chicks prints only once a year, and in the rare cases when the offspring failed, a second attempt is made.These long-legged birds - exemplary parents, they are caring for offspring is displayed at the beginning, when only is the construction of the nest."House" gray heron - a whole impregnable fortress, at the same time - is a reliable and comfortable shelter for the chicks.The nest is very large, a diameter of about 80 cm and a height of about 60 cm, middle Shots reeds and grass.We build houses at high altitude.
Eggs are laid one by one every 2 days, just hatched from 3 to 5 eggs.At hatching, which lasts 26 days, taking part and dad and mom.Appeared fledglings covered with greyish fluff, feathers begin to appear in about a week.
Caring parents within 20 days for a moment leave the kids alone in the nest, nursing them one by one, so that no rain or scorching sun did not hurt the chicks.When the kids want to eat, start knocking small beaks beak parents.Daddy duty or mother regurgitate their food directly in the beak.Fly little gray herons begin after 50-55 days.
These long-legged birds used to be cautious and do not admit to his person closer than 200 m, but the scientists were able to lift the veil and find out many interesting things in the life of gray heron.The animal world is so beautiful and so fascinating!
