Steppe catfish - description, habitat, interesting facts

Steppe bird is an active and noisy bird. Her tail is forked, in flight it looks like a tern or a swallow. Compared to other snipefish, her body build is more elegant. The beak and legs of these birds are short.

Appearance

Steppe grass is very similar in appearance to the meadow. But the upper part of her body has a more brown and dark shade. The body length is about 25-26 cm. Males of this species weigh 90-105 g, while females are 5-10 g less. Wingspan of the steppe tirkushka - 60-67 cm.

In appearance and style of flight is somewhat similar to the swallow. Her tail is thymus and rather long. The body at the top of the olive-brown. The wings, as well as the throat and chin area, are cream-colored, and the chest is brown.

Habitat

In the south lives up to the Black Sea coast. Sometimes it can fly to Norway and the British Isles. In winter, it can be found in eastern Africa, sometimes in the west, as the bird is considered migratory.

Nesting sites arrive in April and May. They fly in small flocks in the daytime at different heights. Scientists believe that hungry birds fly lower than well-fed to get their food. Fly away in August-September, depending on the habitat.

Habitats

It inhabits steppes, virgin or cultivated fields, river valleys. In Crimea, live near lakes. For the colonies of these birds, it is important that there is water near the habitat. If the group of tyrkushkas is small, they can settle down quite far from the reservoir.

In ordinary habitats, the bird can be attributed to a rather numerous species. The closer to the borders of the range, the less often they occur.

Behavior

In the daytime tirkushki down to drink water and find food for themselves.The night is spent in the steppe. In the evening, looking for insects that came out of the grass, on the road. If the day is very hot, they can spend all day about the reservoir. Flight altitude depends on whether the bird is hungry or not. If she is full, she can fly quite high. If it is hungry, it flies lower, since at such a height one can find prey.

In the afternoon they fly to the nearest reservoir to drink water. Sometimes they can swim, beating their wings on the surface of the water.

If a bird of prey appears in the nesting area, a group of birds at the same time pounce on it. They drive the enemy as far away from their home as possible. If a person appears nearby, they may fly or run in a circle, pretend they cannot fly, or they pretend to hatch eggs.

Breeding

They mate during the passage. Therefore, many females that have just arrived from wintering are ready to lay eggs soon. Nest colonies. Groups can be small, and make up a few dozen pairs. They can be found everywhere in the range of habitat. Sometimes a colony is up to several hundred pairs of tirkus.

In the places of their nesting also meadow grassy can nest.Among their nests you can also find houses of herbalists or white-tailed pigtails. Avocets can locate their nests at the edges of the colony.

Many representatives of the species each year build their nests in a new place, but at the same time conditions are chosen the same. The colony can be located near the last year's nesting site, or it can move away from it at a distance of several kilometers.

The tirkushka nest is an ordinary hole, which is settled by the birds themselves. It can be located in open areas or under shrubs. The nest they line the grass. The nesting period lasts about 2 months. Usually the female lays about 4 eggs. Sometimes there may be 3 or 5. They are oval. One side is slightly sharper than the other. They are located almost vertically, with a small slope.

No accurate data on the duration of incubation. The bird sits on eggs only at night, as well as in the evening and in the early morning. During the day, she hunts in search of food. If it is very hot during the day, only a few representatives of the colonies are left to guard the nests, and the rest of the birds fly away to the reservoir.If during this period a person appears nearby, they try to “take him away”.

When the chicks hatch, the birds begin to form flocks. Already in August, they become numerous.

Nutrition

The main ration of the steppes are insects. These are such large representatives as locusts, grasshoppers and others. With the onset of autumn feeds on the fields. In Africa, they feed on the locust, chasing it in large flocks of several hundred or even thousands of individuals.

This bird needs protection, therefore it is in the Red Book. Scientists assume that the entire world population numbers from 15 to 46 thousand pairs of these birds.

In recent years, it has been noted that the number of the species is decreasing. Presumably, this is due to the development by man of large areas of virgin lands, on which tyrkushki nest before. In addition, when grazing livestock killed a lot of clutches.Therefore, conservationists believe that in order to preserve the species, grazing on the territory of the colonies during the nesting period must be strictly limited. To do this, it is necessary to conduct active propaganda among the population, and identify nesting sites. In addition, an increase in the number of corvids that prey on tirkushek also affects the number of the species. In conditions of great drought, birds can not breed, missing a year.