These small birds of prey squad is now rarely seen in the open spaces of our country.Lun Steppe - so called endangered species of birds, which nevertheless is worthy of careful study.Let's see how it differs from congeners why the population decreases.
may well be that from under the feet of the traveler will fly bird light blue-gray color.If he wandered through the fields Zauralye, then with high probability it can be argued that he has met with the member of the family is now rare hawk.It is called the steppe harrier.It is quite different from its neighbors.
Appearance
Lun steppe (photo presented in the article) is colored unevenly.The upper tail bluish color.The bottom as a rule, pure white.Females are larger and lighter than males.Experts believe the representatives of this kind of "most graceful" of all hawkish.Especially this kind of fellow is different narrow wings, which have a span up to one hundred and twenty centimeters.In flight, this resident of the steppes can be confused with a seagull.Only on closer examination, this appearance is rapidly melting.Lun steppe has a totally different plumage.Most of all, it can be characterized by "pock-marked".In general, a gray color punctuated by patches of dark, more visible on the wings.A female has a white "collar" and the same "eyebrows".I must say that the bright plumage color is not bright and dim.
Habitat
Lun steppe settles, as the name implies, among fields.He prefers the outback, so now it can be found only in the Urals.In the Caucasus, Southern Siberia and the European part of it also occurs, but very rarely.Sometimes the nest in the highlands, tundra.These birds to taste swampland teeming with vegetation.There, choose the place where a little moisture, they make nests.Hawks perfect disguise their "settlement" to avoid becoming a natural prey for other predators.They live not in pairs and small groups.Nests are usually located at a distance of a hundred meters from each other.In a makeshift "settlements" can count up to six pairs.Lun can meet steppe and mountains.But there he dwells on the flat "tundra" areas.
Hawks nesting during the breeding construct typical houses.To do this in the ground dug a pit five centimeters deep.Needless nest laid the soft grass.Around usually constructed "protective redoubt" of the more coarse stalks.In the course are thin twigs, reeds or another.Most often, steam builds its nest among the vegetation, swamps, or near the source.Less often it can be found in the open steppe (desert).If the couple was chosen to the life of the processed edge of the field, most of all, to build a nest of dead among the debris of uprooted shrubs and grasses.That is where the female sitting on a nest, will not be disturbed.
Progeny
Like any bird of prey family falcon, harrier lays up to six eggs.Most often they are from two to four.The female leaves the clutch until the chicks will not appear on the light.When there is a threat both parents try to protect the progeny, fearlessly attacking the "aggressor".His attempt to lure away from the nest.Chicks appear after 28 days.Yet nearly half months need constant parental care.Male breeding all the time feeding his girlfriend, and then the brood.The survival rate of offspring does not exceed fifty percent.Kids are easy prey for predators, in spite of the constant care of the female.The first few days they are covered with a light down, so visible from afar.Then it changes the color of the plumage.
Threats and protection
natural enemies in this species a little hawk.These include a larger raptors such as steppe eagle or burial.However harrier population is steadily declining.The main reason - the human activity that prevents the conservation of "fodder" inhabitant of the steppes.Incidentally, the Harrier is not fussy about food.Most often it hunts small rodents than assisting a person in maintaining the crop.It may take catching small birds and insects, is that content lizards.Like all birds listed in the Red Book, this hawk is under state protection.Catching it is prohibited.Information about breeding absent.
