Meadow moon - description, habitat, interesting facts

Meadow moon means a bird, which in its dimensional characteristics is slightly larger than a crow. These individuals prefer to live in temperate climatic regions, such as fields, meadow plots, and marshlands. Nests are built not on water and rocks, but on dry soil. Homes for offspring are usually found among shrubs and away from human eyes. The basis of the diet includes small rodents. Consider other characteristics associated with this bird.

Description

1. Representatives of the family are very elegant, with narrow and elongated wings. The tail is also long, giving the bird a larger format. During the flight, they do not go to heaven, prefer to stay above the ground. The wings are not spread in a straight line, but rather, they are bent in the shape of a check mark. In the process of moving through the air, leisurely, smooth.
2. This species of individuals is about 45-52 cm in length. The wingspan of the birds hardly reaches 115 cm. As for the weight category, it depends on the habitat. Individuals from the European region weigh about 0.3 kg. (males) and 0.4 kg (females). If we compare the moon in this regard, then it is a little less than a gray crow and more than a dove.
3. It makes sense to describe the characteristics of plumage. Males are most easily distinguished from similar species of individuals. He has a head, feathers of fly wings, his back is painted with ashen gray. The head in the front, as well as the chest and neck are light gray. The tail area and abdomen are whitish. They have a patterned pattern of brown or reddish feathers.
4. Young animals do not stain as brightly as adults. They acquire a characteristic color of plumage closer to 4 years. Birds that are year old are similar to females and males, it is difficult to understand what gender they are. The lower section of the body is red with brown, and the upper is dark, brown. The beak is black. The irises are yellowish; in young animals they are brown or gray-yellow.

Habitat

1. These birds are distributed quite extensively. They inhabit African countries, are settled in large numbers in Algeria and Morocco. Birds are found in the Altai Mountains, in the west of the Atlantic coast, as well as in the Minusinsk depression and near the Tannu-Ola ridge.
2. In Europe, they settle everywhere, but they prefer to avoid Norway. In England, these birds used to be very few (no more than 30 individuals). In Austria in the 2000s there were about 12 pairs, and in Serbia there were only 10 birds. In Montenegro, no more, about 5 couples.
3. In Western Europe, things were much better. So, for example, most of the population is dispersed throughout Spain, France and Portugal. In the vastness of our homeland, these birds are much more than anywhere else. In Russia, more than 40 thousand individuals. It all depends on the region, the number of birds is decreasing, then increasing.
4. If we consider the European part as an area of ​​distribution of individuals represented by the breed species, they most often live in Estonia, Great Britain, Sweden. In the vastness of our country they are met in Tyumen, Pskov, Yekaterinburg, Yaroslavl, Moscow, Tara and Kazan.
5. It will also be interesting to study the distribution of these birds outside the Russian Federation towards Transcaucasia, Iran, Kazakhstan and Central Asia. They are found in China, Asia Minor, occasionally Japan.

Breeding

1. Individuals reach puberty at the age of 2-3 years. In this case, regardless of whether the female or male. Birds are monogamous and loyal to each other until the end of their lives. Represented individuals often try to nest in the same place. Therefore, after migration, the loonies try to return to their native lands.
2. As soon as the male arrives from warm countries, he immediately proceeds to mating dances in the sky. The bird demonstrates really complex tricks in the air. It moves at high altitude in waves, after which it spirals downward. It may show an uncontrolled drop.
3. During the execution of various pirouettes, the male simultaneously begins to whistle melodiously. Such sounds are somewhat similar to shouts of a snipe. It is worth noting that females also take an active part in such games. However, they do not do so much unlike males.
4. In addition, often during the mating season, males imitate an attack on females, they lay them on their backs. If food conditions permit, the individuals under consideration can often nest in small groups. Most often, birds are kept in pairs. However, colonies are often found.
5. However, nesting with colonies is not typical for all other moons, except for meadow ones. At the same time, the distance between the nests of the birds in question can be from 10 to 100 m. It is worth noting that only the female is engaged in the construction of the dwelling. Often the nest is located in high thickets of bushes or grass.
6. Externally, the nest may look different. The reason for this may be the uneven soil moisture. If the terrain is relatively wet, then the nest will consist of grass or straw with a diameter of up to 70 cm. In this case, the wall thickness can reach up to 20 cm. Often the base of the nest is small branches.
7. If the terrain is arid, for example, in the steppe nests can be found in the form of depressions in the ground. At the same time, dry grass will be laid out. It is worth noting that in such dwellings, birds do not make litter. In this case, the area around the nest is open. Such dwellings of the moons can be found in the fields, in meadows and not wet areas of swamps.
8. After the mating season, the female proceeds to egg laying. She does it for 1 pc. every two days. The procedure often falls at the beginning of summer. As a result, up to 6 eggs in total are released in birds. But as a rule, the pair stops at only two. In this case, the eggs are white with a green tint. There are rarely brown blotches.
9. Egg laying is done exclusively by the female. At this time, the male protects the home and provides the family with food. Often, the female meets her half when he returns from the hunt. It is worth noting that the individuals in question are very secretive. If they see danger, they begin to circle above the predator and make loud noises.
10. If individuals live in a colony, they knock together in a flock and begin to protect relatives from danger. As a result, defense effectiveness is greatly enhanced. It is worth noting that meadow moons do not have strong aggression towards humans, in contrast to brothers of a similar kind. They are also loyal to approaching large animals.
11. Chicks are already born in white fluff. This occurs a little more than a month after the visit. The first 15 days, the female does not leave the nest, and all the time remains with the offspring. At this time, the male does not stop bringing food to the whole family. After another 2 weeks, the chicks are already on the wing.

Today we examined a bird of a predatory family, which in its overall characteristics practically does not exceed the size of a raven. Individuals are more common in the vastness of the Russian Federation. In the 2000s, they were not known to Europeans, but then the population grew, there were more birds.

Video: meadow harrier (Circus pygargus)