Red-breasted Goose - description, habitat, interesting facts

Red-breasted geese can be attributed to species inhabiting a certain narrow range. The number of these birds currently has a tendency to sustainability, although certain problems in this regard remain to this day. The fact is that people are actively exploring the places that the bird chooses for molting.

In appearance, the bird resembles a small goose, on whose body there is a bright plumage. But many parts of the body are black. There are rust spots on the head with small white inclusions. On the localization of the goiter and the front of the neck there is a red color. Unlike the goose, nature rewarded the bird with a small beak.

Prevalence

Bird nesting takes place in the Altai Territory. The route from Taimyr Island passes through the Lower Ob and the Yenisei Bay.The destination is the mouth of the Irtysh River. The most common habitat for the red-breasted geese is the Kulundinskoe lake. Often it could be found there at the very beginning of autumn. Also habitat is Pavlovsky and Petropavlovsky district. This bird is found in different places along the Alei River. Sometimes the place of its location is the Gilevsky reserve, which is located on the upper Alley.

Habitat areas

Number indicators

At present, the population size is marked by pronounced positive dynamics. Today in the Altai Territory, you can meet single individuals who are in a goose flock. Now there is a small number of groups, which includes no more than 25 individuals, although in the past it was possible to see the bird "collective", where there were 50 or more representatives of this species.Such a situation, for example, could be observed in the area of ​​the Kulunda Lake, where 100 or more birds were included in the flock.

Characteristic lifestyle

The wintering place of the red-breasted geese, as well as many other birds, are warm lands. In winter, the birds move closer to the Black Sea. The bird appears in native lands in the middle of the first month of summer. When September comes, she is already on her way to wintering places.

In its behavior, this bird is significantly different from other species. Noise and fussiness - the main signs of her behavior. Flight is characterized by speed and extreme irregularity. Noisy behavior in the air bird accompanies any event. Even in flight conditions, there is a rather loud communication between individuals. It is interesting to observe the flight itself. A flock all the time is compressed, then disintegrates.

This type is characterized by daytime life. During the day, the bird is searching for food, which consists of vegetable components. In the afternoon, she can stop looking for food and go to the watering place. In the food uses leaves, rhizomes and shoots.In places where wintering takes place, the diet consists of winter cereals.

The bird spends much of its daily time on the water. They even spend the night on the pond, although it can be observed on land. Representatives of this species can swim and dive quite well. According to some authors, representatives of this species can live up to 40 years.

Biological features

In the place of its future nesting the bird appears already in the beginning of summer. By this time they are already forming a pair. In the second half of June, they begin to actively lay eggs. Nesting colony is small in number, which includes no more than 5 pairs. Sometimes you can meet and completely separate stalemates.

The bird reaches full sexual maturity at the age of three years. Nesting is not practiced annually by the entire population. In this take part no more than 38% of its entire composition. If the year is unfavorable, then this figure may even be only 4%. Under normal conditions, the female lays up to 7 eggs. She will be hatching them for 27 days. The male all this time is nearby on the coast or on the reservoir.Eggs are creamy in color with a light greenish tint.

The second half of July is marked by the appearance of downy chicks. During this period, individuals go through post-march. When chicks appear, they are taken away by adult parents to a wet lawn. There they will stay until the end of August. It is sometimes possible to observe a picture in which several broods unite in one common group. They resemble a kindergarten team. Several old birds watch over them all the time.

The nest settles on a cliff next to its patrons, which are played by a peregrine falcon or gull. The bird does not choose this neighborhood by chance. This provides additional protection against the destruction of nests by predators, such as foxes. They will never hunt near birds of prey.

The bird begins to build the nest immediately after it arrives. They are open type, as the basis of which is chosen the usual deepening of the cliff. At the bottom of the nest, the birds train dry stalks of cereal crops and lavishly lined with their own down. The nest is usually 20 cm in diameter and 5-8 cm deep.

For feed the bird uses exclusively vegetable food. Previously, the main site for wintering was represented by the territory belonging to the southern Caspian region. Now for this purpose, the bird uses the lake waters of the western Black Sea region.

The place of regular breeding of this species is Slimbridge, where the International Waterfowl Center is located. The appearance of the offspring could be observed in one of Moscow zoos.

Security measures

For this purpose, active educational work and control measures related to environmental legislation are being conducted. In connection with the real threat of complete extinction of the species, the red-breasted goose got into the Red Book of Russia.This species is protected by various international organizations. In this status, the bird appeared in connection with the threat of complete extinction. The second half of the last century was marked by a sharp decline in its numbers. In the 70s of the last century, it fell by almost half.

Thanks to the active efforts of various organizations, now there is a tendency to stabilize the number of the species. On this bird any hunting is forbidden.