Gugarka - description, habitat, interesting facts

Under the divers are the northern waterfowl, which do not belong to the inhabitants of the air elements. Individuals of this group feel great in the expanses of water, they prefer salt springs, they can dive deep and get their food.

Description

1. If you look at the birds that are in flight, then at first they may seem heavy and awkward to you. In fact, this applies exclusively to situations where individuals of the rock group are selected for land. They can not move quickly, step from one paw to another with some difficulty.
2. Studying this representative of birds from external data, it is necessary to highlight some features in her appearance. For example, on the paws there are dense membranes, the neck is short, the individuals themselves are medium-sized and stocky. The beak is thick and raised high, bent up, flattened from the side parts.
3. If you look at the nostrils, they will resemble a gap.The tail is moderately long, can reach up to 10 cm. It is sharp at the tip and slightly raised. The iris is dark and brownish, the throat is yellow and clearly visible.
4. The abdominal region is white, while the back is black with brown splashes (head of the same color). When a bird dresses up before the mating season, she has stripes in the eye and beak area, and an oblong mark on the wings.
5. As for overall features, these birds grow to a maximum of 20 cm. The final color depends not only on the age of the individual, but also the time of year. The hue of feathering can vary from light to dark and vice versa.
6. The discussed pedigree group is often found in the expanses of the Arctic and the Atlantic, more precisely, its northern part. Birds are from Europe and the United States of America. They are also found in island territories that belong to or are located next to the indicated countries.
7. Most of the population is concentrated in Canada. Every year more than 50 thousand individuals arrive in this country to build a home for the future offspring. During normal pastime, these individuals prefer to stay in open water space.
8. The voice of the birds is guttural, it seems to creak. Most often you can hear this when the mating season begins. Since individuals publish something like “gar-gar”, it is for this reason that they were called the Gagarks.
9. Most of their time, these birds spend in the water, it is logical to say that their main diet is aquatic inhabitants. In particular, we are talking about fish of various species, but not too large (capelin, sprat, cod, etc.). Also, the breed group feeds on squid, shrimp, crustaceans.

Breeding

1. In normal times, represented individuals spend a lot of time in water. Seabirds go to land only during the period when the mating season begins. Often this phenomenon occurs in late spring. It can also be noted that the mating season comes at a time before the start of the arctic and cold summer.
2. Before the emergence of young animals into the world, adult individuals go in search of food. In this case, the distance from the house can be up to 100 km. After the offspring hatch, parents no longer leave them for a long time. Often nesting of such individuals occurs in colonies.And in them may be other birds.
3. Due to the large colonies, birds of different types can protect themselves from predators. Puberty presented individuals reach the age of 4-5 years. Before the marriage rituals in birds, a period of courtship necessarily occurs.
4. At this time, in a pair, both individuals primp and try to please each other as much as possible. After the pair is fully formed, the birds proceed to multiple mating. And the process can be performed up to 80 times!
5. It is worth noting that the individuals presented are not engaged in building a nest. Often the female lays only one egg in the coastal cliffs. As a nest there can be dead ends, holes, cracks in the rocks and various indentations.
6. If the place is completely safe, individuals return to it from year to year. Often, birds can independently create a convenient place for laying of small pebbles. The bottom of this structure is lined with dried lichen and its own feathers.
7. In vidiche offspring, both individuals are involved. In this case, the egg can be white or yellowish. On the one hand red or brown blotches can be observed.The weight of one egg can reach up to 110 gr. If the couple loses the egg, often the female re-laying.
8. Under good conditions, the chick is born after 45-50 days. Gugarki carefully guard their offspring. However, they do not forget about their own security. If the birds are frightened of something, they can leave the place of vidik for a short time.
9. Most often, when chicks are born, they remain inactive for a while. Juveniles are sensitive to cold and completely helpless. The weight of the chick is only 55-60 gr. At the same time it is covered with dark-colored embryonic fluff.
10. After half a month, the chick begins to get used to the harsh environmental conditions. All this time, his parents fed him. Adult individuals bring different fish to the chicks. Often, capelin is included in the diet of young stock.
11. Parents continue to take care of the chick a little more than a crescent. After that, the youngsters go on their first journey with adults to the bay or the sea. It is worth noting that when a baby begins to get acquainted with water, he is very much at risk. The problem is that the youngsters go to sea, jumping from the rocks directly into the raging waves.

Gugarki - unique representatives of birds. They have a beautiful appearance. In addition, they live in fairly severe climatic conditions. After the young growth grows up, it goes on acquaintance to water. And the chicks jump from a cliff into the raging abyss. Often it ends in tragedy.

Video: fencing (Alca torda)