only from family woodpecker bird really not able to hollow tree bark and fly south for the winter, - vertigolovka or wryneck.Why is it called the little forest dwellers, inhabiting almost all Europe and Asia, and what other features distinguish seemingly dull, but very interesting bird, you will learn from this article.
How does
Wryneck Wryneck covered with brownish-gray feathers with light and dark mottled.Abdomen her bright, ocher and gray, adorned with a thin cross pattern and the back is dark, with black longitudinal wavy patterns.Incidentally, the size and color of both males and females are the same.
This bird woodpecker family is markedly different from their relatives.It's small, a little more than a sparrow, and can not boast the same bright color, like most woodpeckers.If Wryneck notices danger, it clung to the stood and bitch wood, very hard to detect predators.
Tail at vertigolovki consists of soft feathers.He is straight and slightly rounded at the end and not be like the rest woodpecker, reliable support while climbing trees.The beak of a bird's small, poorly adapted for gouging.
The Wryneck is similar to members of the family woodpecker
Although bird Wryneck more like a sparrow, she has and related symptoms with woodpeckers:
- long thin tongue, which is on the tip covered with sticky mucus tiny teeth (it helps the bird to extractstaple food);
- fingers on the legs, large and divided into two pairs, who look forward and backward;
- singing of birds is strongly reminiscent of a cry that emit representing squad Woodpeckers her relatives - small variegated and green woodpecker;
- flight from Wryneck diving, consisting of rapid beating of wings, which alternate with the flight by inertia when the wings are folded, like other members of this family.
In addition, as woodpeckers wryneck lives in the hollows and prefers coniferous deciduous forests.
Wryneck: Why is it called this bird?
must say that this bird is quite lazy, clumsy and moves only when there is an urgent need.It completely lacks agility and restlessness of her relatives, woodpeckers, and other birds flying, but her name is more appropriate brisk lady - Wryneck, why so?
Dubbed bird nearly the same in all languages for its amazing ability to turn his head.Anything that irritates or frightens bird makes her build amazing faces, and the more it scared the more strange pose takes.Wryneck can pull forward neck nahohlivaya feathers and dissolve fan tail or stretch his whole body forward, bend down and closing his eyes, emitting a dull grunt.
If you look into the hollow where the egg hatches a female, she will open the beak and begins to hiss loudly, bending his neck like a snake.Move to the back of dark feathers while maintaining the illusion of angry amphibian.
Incidentally caught vertigolovki - is one of the most entertaining birds that can be kept in captivity.
How Wryneck equips afford housing
bird, which is a story most readily settles on the outskirts of logging, forest edges and small clearing in mixed or deciduous forests, where growing a large number of lindens, birches and aspens.Not afraid Wryneck and people willing selyas nearby.She can live, for example, in a hole in the wall of a barn or an old country house.
Like all woodpeckers, the nimble bird loves hollow and horizontal moves in rotten boughs, or other voids.Her suit and birdhouses, and even mink and minted Shchurok if there beside trees or bushes.
in hollows she spreads litter, leaving behind only bits of wood.
Sometimes a bird Wryneck can afford to gouge hollow itself (it usually does so in soft wood aspen trees), but more often takes liked to fight.Brave vertigolovka can drive and tit and nuthatch and the flycatcher from their hollow sockets and throw even with the finished laying to lay 6 to 10 matte white round testicles, from which the protein appear translucent pinkish.
the way, from the remains of nests and eggshells scattered on the ground, you can find a tree, where she settled Wryneck.
rearing - hard work
Wryneck arrive late and then by finding and freeing yourself living space, accepted to sing at her entrance, a little on the nose, loud and drawl: "Ti, ti, ti, ti ...", trying to win the heartbeautiful lady.If in two days and the male will not hear an answer, then he goes to seek his fortune in the new place, where everything starts all over again.
female sits on the nest more often male, about 11 days, and very tight, leaving it very reluctant (in case of man it allows even take himself in hand) and only a great need.
Feeding hatched offspring lasts up to 19 days.I must say that these creatures representing the woodpecker family, not particularly care.Parents diligently suckle their tiny offspring, but do not care about the purity of the nest, resulting in a hollow at the end of the season turns into a cesspool.
Grown chicks - a copy of their parents
in ten aged chicks that are born naked and absolutely helpless, can already stand up for themselves.They show their great acting skills, hissing and writhing like a snake, in an emergency, and justifying the name "Wryneck" (why it is called these birds is now probably understandable).
OPERA offspring selected from hollow for some time continues to be concerns of parents who still feed them.But soon they finally leave the dwelling place until the end of summer travel to more southern regions, for the next year to fly to their homes and bring their offspring.
must say that Wryneck quite aggressive, even to members of their own species, so keep alone and rarely gather in small flocks to migrate to warmer climates.
main places where winter Wryneck - these are areas of Central Africa or South Asia.
than to feed vertigolovka
This small forest bird feeds mainly on the ground, eating ants and their larvae with the help of his long sticky tongue.Vertisheek can often be seen near the anthill, which specifically bird digs to get pupae.
Ant eggs - it is a special treat for vertisheek by them, by the way, the birds and suckle their young.And they take out food at such a rate that it is impossible to keep track instantly throws tongue, which immediately disappears into the beak has with doll.
Much less vertigolovka feeding caterpillars, aphids and all sorts of small bugs.As relatives, she expertly pulls out insect larvae from the bark of a tree, if that peeled off or rotten.
little more about
Wryneck Wryneck Rossi is found in large areas, but also because of deforestation, landscape changes, but also because no one understood the reasons for the number of birds in certain areas can change dramatically.This proves their greater mobility in the choice of breeding sites and the ability to quickly re-distributed in the territory, depending on what the environmental situation there has developed.
