Savka (Oxyura leucocephala) - description, habitat

The species is a representative of the duck family, which refers to medium-sized individuals. In its weight category, the bird hardly reaches 1 kg, but most often there are even smaller ones in terms of overall characteristics of the individual. When the breeding season begins, they acquire a completely different color, and their behavior also changes. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, let's look at the subtleties in turn.

Description

1. The beak is large, massive, stands out against the general background. A characteristic feature of these individuals is bloating on the beak, it is clearly visible and distinguishes birds from the rest. Swelling begins in the area of ​​the nostrils and continues until the mandibles. For men, this trait stands out more strongly than females.
2. When the males get their marriage coloring, their head looks white, and in the occipital and frontal areas there is a black cap. The abdominal area, the sides of the body, and also the feathers and shoulder blades are painted in a beige color with a pattern across.The chest and the area above the tail are pigmented with chestnut. Undertail and tail brown with blackish patches. Beak light with gray and bluish tint.
3. At the onset of summer males are painted in beige with gray. In the upper part of the neck one can see a large black speck. The beak is no longer as bluish as in the mating season. The females, on the contrary, are ocher in color of their plumage with beige patterns. In the area of ​​the chest and tail there are dark areas, while the tail itself is brown.
4. Males have a black cap, while females have a brown and wide cap. It goes right up to the nape, starting from the upper mandible. If we compare female and male individuals, the females have a transverse strip in the section of the eyes, it is brown. As for the young, in these individuals the plumage practically coincides with the color of the male, but the feathers are grayish and light. Females and young animals can boast of a beak color different from males, namely gray-brown.
5. When the birds are just born, they are pigmented in a brownish tone with gray patches. The head is dark, and the chest is light. There is a band in the cheek area. When the chicks hatch, their tail feathers are very rigid.When the chicks hit the water surface, their tail rises, as in the older generation.

Lifestyle

1. Most of the life of these members of the family live in the aquatic environment, which is not surprising, since they belong to the category of ducks. They rise reluctantly into the air, and only after taking acceleration from the water surface. They like to dive very much, they can go under water to a depth of up to 10 meters, which is impressive for many connoisseurs. Swim, not emerging, capable of up to 50 m.
2. When preparing for the construction of housing for the future offspring, then choose the aquatic environment with shallow depth. It is important that in the habitat was a lot of plant food. There are no specific breeding dates, it is only known that this occurs at the end of spring and lasts until mid-summer. Accommodation for children is built in the form of a floating vessel, but may be fixed. It all depends on the material available in the habitat.
3. When the female makes laying, it turns out about 8 eggs, sometimes less. These birds do not estimate laying down. First, the female does not move away from the nest, carefully incubating the offspring. But then it can leave for a long time, because the embryos are able to control their thermoregulation on their own through the breakdown of fats.

Spread

1. The represented individuals often live in the Palearctic. Otherwise, we can say that such birds have a different habitat in a mosaic order. Individuals can often be found in western China and western Mongolia. Also birds live in Spain and Morocco.
2. In addition, there are 4 main habitats. For example, in the lands of North America, the individuals represented most of the time are sedentary. The population that is found in East Asia, often flies to other countries.
3. In this case, the birds fly away to nest on the lands of eastern and western Siberia. They can also fly to Mongolia. Individuals winter in Pakistan. Separately, it is worth highlighting the Asian migratory population.
4. At such individuals nesting sites are located in Kazakhstan and in the south of Russia. Winter birds fly to Eastern Europe and the Middle East. And the birds can fly to Western Asia, Greece, Ciscaucasia and the Caspian Sea.
5. There is also a sedentary population that lives throughout the year in Spain. On the territory of the Russian Federation, birds nest on lakes with reed beds and estuaries located in river mouths.Also nesting sites are located in forest-steppe and steppe zones.

Breeding

1. In the nesting sites, which are located on the territory of the Russian Federation, representatives of birds considered, arrive rather late. These birds can cost a nest at the edges of thickets and reeds of reeds. Also, dwellings are often located between the reed stalks in the reaches.
2. The laying period may differ significantly due to the difference in the geographical location of individuals. At one time, the female is able to bring a maximum of 9 eggs. They have a grayish-white color. After just 3 weeks, the youngsters are already starting to spit into the light. The offspring is incubated exclusively by the female. She also raises chicks.
3. The light chicks already appear quite large. Almost immediately they are able to dive, swim and move. A month later, the young growth becomes completely independent.

It is worth noting that the considered individuals sometimes lay their own eggs to other species of birds. This phenomenon is called parasitism. Representatives of such birds are unique in nature.Unfortunately, their numbers are gradually decreasing. Therefore, the view is taken under protection.

Video: Savka (Oxyura leucocephala)