Prosyanka - description, habitat, interesting facts

The content of the article

1 Appearance and behavior
2 Habitat
3 Nutrition
4 Breeding
5 Video: Prosyanka (Emberiza calandra)

Prosyanka bird belongs to the order of passerine family of oatmeal.

Appearance and behavior

Externally, it is a rather large bird of a size slightly smaller than a starling, with a large head and a relatively short tail. Although it refers to oatmeal, but the color of plumage and body build is closer to the steppe larks.

Regardless of gender and age, the bird's plumage is quite similar, but the young growth has a slightly darker color with a pronounced olive-brownish color. The upper side of the body, wings and tail are characterized by gray-brown hues interspersed with light and dark spots. The lower body (chest and tummy) has a lighter shade of off-white color with the presence of brown pestrin. In some birds, the variegations on the breast merge into one dark spot. The tail has a uniform grayish-brown shade without white inclusions.Monotonic are the loins, undertail and upper tail, having a dark brown color. The beak of a prosyanka is of massive brownish-ocher tinges, slightly swollen, the upper and lower parts of which are slightly curved inwards so that it does not fully close. Her paws are light flesh-colored with a pink tinge.

The size and weight of the bird is also independent of gender. The weight of an adult individual is in the range of 38-56gr. The length of the body can vary from 17 to 19 cm, and the wingspan is from 26 to 32 cm. In the broach, there is a slight difference between females and males in the length of the wings, tail and beak. Thus, the wings of the females reach 9 cm, the tail - 6.5 cm, the beak - 1 cm, and in the male 10.5-11 cm, 2.5 cm and 1.5 cm, respectively. When flying, the wings of the bird have pointed, like a lark, tops, and during takeoff, they often do not press their legs to the calf.

Being by nature a frightened bird, the bedding can often be found sitting on poles, on the tops of large and tall grass, power lines and buildings.

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Habitat

Prosyanka leads a settled way of life, wandering or migrating depending on its habitat.In total there are 3 subspecies of birds distributed from Eurasia to North Africa. In the southernmost part of its distribution it is often sedentary, but prefers to roam from the northern regions for the winter period.

Often it can be found on the fields sown with millet or potatoes, not far from residential houses and roads among flood meadows, which are held in pairs. The birds are separated only for the time of singing, when they sit on the neighboring and about the same height tops of the trees, and then gather again in one place. Often lives in the west of the Palaearctic near Denmark, in the British Isles and Canaries. It is quite common from the north-west of the African continent to the territories of the Middle East, the northern part of Iran, and it can also be seen in the mountainous and foothill areas of Central Asia.

As for the Russian Federation, the prosyanka occurs in the forest-steppe territories of the European part, the Caucasus and Ciscaucasia. The density of its distribution is also different, since in some areas the bird is almost never met, in others it is common for people to see it.

Nutrition

For the most part, the diet of the grass consists of cereal seeds and other herbs. An exception occurs only in summer and spring, when birds partially switch to the consumption of small insects.

Breeding

Prosyanka prefers to nest in open areas among grass, shrubs or trees, from mid-May to late July. The nest itself is located directly or on the ground, or on the branches, but not more than 5 cm from the surface of the earth. Its outer layer consists of a more loose and coarse material (most often from dry stalks of cereals). And the inner, more dense, covered with various thin stalks and roots. Often birds use horsehair when building a nest. The nest itself has an outer diameter of about 12 cm, the inner diameter is about 7.5 cm, and a depth is 4 cm. In places where the population of the grass is very large, one can find nests of many females at a distance of about 3 meters from each other.

Usually in one clutch there are from 4 to 5 large-sized eggs with a white and pink shell with brownish markings. Only the female is engaged in incubation of the clutch for 12-13 days, leaving the nest only for a while.Hatching chicks in the first days of their lives receive feed mainly from the mother, and only in the very last days does the father begin to feed them. According to the observations of scientists feeding the chicks to their parents is about 13-17 times per hour. Nestlings grow rapidly and leave the family nest as early as 9-12 days after birth.

It often happens that after the first brood the adults start the construction of a new nest, thus preparing for the second laying.

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