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Indian Great Bustard Videos, Indian Great Bustard Publishing
Ardeotis nigriceps (Vigors, 1831)
(lat.Ardeotis nigriceps) is a bird from the Bustard family.
- 1 General characteristics
- 2 Distribution
- 3 Lifestyle
- 3.1 Nutrition
- 3.2 Reproduction
- 4 Indian bustard and man
- 5 Notes
- 6 Literature
general characteristics
The Indian bustard is a large bird, reaching a height of 1 m, a wingspan of up to 2.5 m, and a weight of over 18 kg. The male is noticeably larger than the female. The back is brown, the head and neck are grayish-beige, the belly is the same color. Males have a black stripe on the chest, on the crown of the head a black crest up to 5 cm long. On long, strong legs, three toes directed forward. The middle finger is approximately 7.5 cm long.
Spreading
Lives in India. Lives, like all bustards, in open spaces, fields and wastelands.
Lifestyle
The step of the Indian bustard is majestic, it takes every step slowly. She holds her head high, at an angle of 45 °, which makes it seem that the neck is bent back a little. The alarmed bustard begins to scream.
Nutrition
The large Indian bustard feeds on various small animals - grasshoppers, snails, small snakes, centipedes, lizards, beetles, and pecks spiders from the cobweb. In addition, the bustard also hunts mice, thereby making a service for local farmers. It also feeds on plants: some types of herbs, leaves, seeds and grains. He raids melons, eats seeds from watermelons and melons. The bustard usually feeds early in the morning and late in the evening, resting during the day.
Reproduction
The Indian Great Bustard is a polygamous bird. The male has several females, but he does not show care for eggs and offspring. For mating ceremonies, the male chooses small hills or sand dunes; when strangers approach, he immediately hides in thickets of tall grass. mating season, the male dances, walks importantly, spreading his tail with a fan, screams loudly. His cry resembles a cross between the snort of a camel and the roar of a lion. Usually, these cries can be heard in the morning hours even before dawn and in the evening twilight and are carried over long distances. After mating, the female lays one egg, as a rule, in places remote from humans. To do this, she digs a hole in the ground and lays an egg. Sometimes two eggs can be found in a bustard's nest. However, according to ornithologists, this does not mean that one female laid two eggs, most likely, it is two females from one male that laid their eggs in one place. Usually Indian bustards lay their eggs from June to October, sometimes this happens at other times of the year. The egg of the Indian bustard is elongated, covered with chocolate spots and reddish-brown markings. After 20-28 days, a chick hatches from the egg, which can walk immediately. In cases of danger, the female sits on the nest to the last, then suddenly jumps out to meet the enemy, loudly flapping her wings. If there is a chick in the nest, then it begins to hiss or silently changes its location and sits on the ground. Sometimes the female pretends to be wounded, pretending that her legs are hit and takes the enemy away from the nest, flies low above the ground, the chick at this time sits, huddled to the ground, and does not move until the mother calls him. After a while, he begins to make soft whistling sounds, calling for his mother.
Indian bustard and man
Due to poaching, the Indian bustard has been brought to the brink of extinction. In the 1970s, measures began to be taken in India to save the Indian bustard, it was even proposed to make it a national symbol of this country. Some Indian zoos have learned how to raise bustards, and the most suitable diet for captive birds has been developed.
Notes (edit)
- Boehme R.L., Flint V.E. A five-language dictionary of animal names. Birds. Latin, Russian, English, German, French / Edited by Acad. V.E.Sokolova. - M .: Rus. lang., "RUSSO", 1994. - P. 76. - 2030 copies. - ISBN 5-200-00643-0.
Literature
- Bedi R. "The animal world of India" M .: Mir 1987
Indian Great Bustard Ventana, Indian Great Bustard Video, Indian Great Bustard Publishing, Indian Great Bustard Photos
Indian Great Bustard Information About
A valuable exhibit for hunting. Once this beautiful large bird inhabited large parts of Europe, but since it was often hunted, the bustard is now included in Red.
Bustard bird large sizes, respectively, is a valuable exhibit. Sometimes this bird is also called a dudak. But hunting is not the only reason for the extinction of this species.
The negative factors affecting the bird population can also be attributed to the cultivation of fields, the use of various preparations for cultivating the land and a change in the landscape familiar to these birds.
Features and habitat
They are sensitive and fearful, seeing the danger from afar, they run away and hide in the grass. After that, they are practically not found. They fly low above the ground, and not fast. The wingspan is 2.5 meters. Those individuals who are in adulthood do not really like to fly. Most of their lives are spent in search of food.
There are two subspecies of bustards: European and East Siberian. The European bird is distinguished by a darker color of the head, the dorsal pattern with narrow stripes and a little vague. The East Siberian has a clearer pattern on the back, the stripes are wider and the males have the same mustache, feathers also on the head.
Character and lifestyle
As already mentioned above, the steppe bustard usually spends its time in the field in search of food. The bird does not have sweat glands, so in the heat they lie on the ground and spread their wings, breathing heavily.
Or hiding in the shadows. They also lack grease on their feathers, which makes them wet. This has a particularly negative effect before frost, when the birds get wet and freeze it is difficult for them to move.
The diet of birds includes various grains, grass (young borers are especially preferred), insects (locusts, grasshoppers) and even larvae. A delicacy for them frogs, and mice.
After the bird has eaten a hearty meal, it goes to a watering hole to quench its thirst. They are very selective in relation to water, therefore they even place their nests near the bodies of water they like, and in winter they consume snow. But they feed their chicks only with their larvae.
Bustard they can attack from the air. Predators also love to feast on this bird. They are attacked by foxes and, as well as cats and dogs. Nests are also endangered, predators are happy to feast on chicks and bustard eggs.
Reproduction and life expectancy
Relationships in birds begin in the spring, with mating games. The male becomes mature in the fifth year of his life, it is at this age that he has plumage, which can be shown to the female. Females mature much faster, already at the age of 3-4 years they are ready to mate.
Initially, the male raises his fluffy tail up, and shows his white undertail. Then he inflates his neck and throws his neck back, showing it for viewing. And the last action is to spread your wings so that all females can appreciate it. You can also hear outstanding singing. Mating games begin early in the morning.
Their relationship is polygamous, during one season the male can mate with several partners. After mating, the female goes to build a nest, and the male seduces other females.
The female digs a not very deep hole and covers it with blades of grass. Moreover, they return to the nesting site every year. From April to May lays no more than three eggs, up to 9 cm in diameter. Eggs are laid once per season. Eggs are green-brown or olive green with dark specks.
The female incubates eggs alone, from three to four weeks. It is almost impossible to see her on eggs due to her plumage. Only one day the chick sits in the nest, from the second day it goes with its mother in search of food.
If the chick sits in the nest, the mother herself brings him food, and if she sees danger, she screams and the chicks hide in the grass. The female averts danger, pretending to be sick from the nest, and then herself attacks the enemy. After 1.5 months, the chicks already fly freely, but the female still takes care of them. In autumn, the birds fly away for the winter.
The bustard is very shy, the bird hides and equips nests in dense thickets
The average life expectancy is 20 years. Males can significantly shorten their lifespan if they mate too often.
The bustard is a small species so that the bird does not completely disappear from our planet, it was brought to Red. It is forbidden to hunt for it, scientists are looking for ways to grow bustard at home.
If employees of special centers dealing with the protection of endangered species find the eggs of a bird in places dangerous for its life, then they collect them and place them in incubators. After the chicks hatch, they are released into the wild.
The great African bustard is also known as the Kori bustard. This is a large flying bird that, as the name implies, lives on the African continent. Its Latin name is Ardeotis kori.
He prefers to live in open spaces with sandy soils, which are overgrown with shrubs and low grass, as well as in semi-deserts and low-wooded savannas. It is these natural conditions that exist in the territories of countries such as Namibia, Botswana, some parts of Angola, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia and South Africa. These birds are predominantly sedentary, and only after the rainy season do they make small movements.
The African bustard is the heaviest flying bird in all of Africa. Males can weigh up to 19 kg and lengths up to 130 cm.
Females differ significantly from them in their size, they are much lighter than males (by almost two-thirds) and weigh about 5.5 kg. Both sexes have rather long necks and legs. The feather cover of the body is gray-brown in color.
Bustards are large birds. But on the neck, the feathers are gray, longer than on the rest of the body, and have a large number of specks of black and white. The back and partly the wings are painted brown-brown, the chest and belly are white, on the wings, in places of folds, black spots are randomly located, the number of which is several dozen. The back of the head is decorated with a long tuft, the feathers of which are black. The beak of the African bustard and its legs are yellowish.
The flights of the African bustard are rare, most of the time the bird moves on the ground. Since the African bustard is a large and heavy bird, it prefers to spend most of its time on the ground, rising into the air only when absolutely necessary.
Bustards can live both alone and in small groups of 5-7 individuals. They are most active in the morning and evening hours, when they walk in search of food. They are quite omnivorous birds, but preference is given to such insects as grasshoppers, locusts and caterpillars. They diversify their menu with chameleons, lizards, snakes, small mammals, chicks, eggs, and do not disdain carrion. The bustard Kori can live both near watering places and far enough from the water. Its characteristic feature is that when drinking, it does not scoop up water, like most birds, but sucks it in.
The mating season of the African bustard reaches its peak in November and December. Like other bustards, they adhere to a polygamous model of behavior, i.e. one male mates with several females. Often, males engage in fierce battles with each other. At the same time, they fluff up the feathers on the neck, inflate the goiter, lower their wings and protrude their tail, after which they throw themselves on the opponent, showering him with tangible blows with their beak.
After fertilization, the female of the large African bustard lays on average 2 eggs directly on bare ground, after which she incubates chicks from 23 to 30 days, practically without leaving the clutch. She supplies the chicks that have been born with soft food that they are able to eat. By 4-5 weeks, the chicks are covered with feathers, but they will learn to fly only by 3-4 months of age.
The African Great Bustard is a prey for large predators. Since the measles bustard spends most of its time on the ground, it becomes an object of hunting for many predators. These include
Indian great bustard. Interesting facts: The Indian bustard is a large bird, reaching a height of 1 m, a wingspan of up to 2.5 m, and a weight of over 18 kg. The male is noticeably larger than the female. The back is brown, the head and neck are grayish-beige, the belly is the same color. Males have a black stripe on the chest, on the crown of the head a black crest up to 5 cm long. On long, strong legs, three toes directed forward. The length of the middle finger is approximately 7.5 cm. It is found in India. Lives, like all bustards, in open spaces, fields and wastelands. The step of the Indian bustard is majestic, it takes every step slowly. She holds her head high, at an angle of 45 °, which makes it seem that the neck is bent back a little. The alarmed bustard begins to scream. The large Indian bustard is found in various small animals - grasshoppers, snails, small snakes, centipedes, lizards, beetles, and pecks spiders from the cobweb. In addition, the bustard also hunts mice, thereby making a service for local farmers. It also feeds on plants: some types of herbs, leaves, seeds and grains. He raids melons, eats seeds from watermelons and melons. The bustard usually feeds early in the morning and late in the evening, resting during the day. The Indian Great Bustard is a polygamous bird. The male has several females, but he does not show care for eggs and offspring. For mating ceremonies, the male chooses small hills or sand dunes; when strangers approach, he immediately hides in thickets of tall grass. During the mating season, the male dances, walks importantly, spreading his tail with a fan, and screams loudly. His cry resembles a cross between the snort of a camel and the roar of a lion. Usually, these cries can be heard in the morning hours even before dawn and in the evening twilight and are carried over long distances. After mating, the female lays one egg, as a rule, in places remote from humans. To do this, she digs a hole in the ground and lays an egg. Sometimes two eggs can be found in a bustard's nest. However, according to ornithologists, this does not mean that one female laid two eggs, most likely, it is two females from one male that laid their eggs in one place. Usually Indian bustards lay their eggs from June to October, sometimes this happens at other times of the year. The egg of the Indian bustard is elongated, covered with chocolate spots and reddish-brown markings. After 20-28 days, a chick hatches from the egg, which can walk immediately. In cases of danger, the female sits on the nest to the last, then suddenly jumps out to meet the enemy, loudly flapping her wings. If there is a chick in the nest, then it begins to hiss or silently changes its location and sits on the ground. Sometimes the female pretends to be wounded, pretending that her legs are hit and takes the enemy away from the nest, flies low above the ground, the chick at this time sits, huddled to the ground, and does not move until the mother calls him. After a while, he begins to make soft whistling sounds, calling for his mother.
Domain: Eukaryotes
Kingdom: Animals
Type of: Chordates
Class: Birds
Detachment: Cranes
Family: Bustard
Genus: Bustards (Otis Linnaeus, 1758)
Bustard habitat
Most of this family lives in the tropics. Of the two dozen species, only three have managed to adapt to life in Eurasia and North Africa: the common, or large bustard, jack, or beauty bustard, and the bustard bustard (bustard).
In tropical Asia (mainly on the Indian subcontinent), you can find two species of floricans and the great Indian bustard, and in Australia - a large Australian. Obviously, the historical homeland of all bustards is Africa, since it is here that most of their species diversity is present. The Dutch settlers-Boers called the small African bustards Korkhaans, and later this name was stuck in the scientific literature.
Appearance
This bird is distinguished by a rather downsized physique. Thus, the bustard is a rather massive animal. Outwardly, it resembles a turkey. The bustard has a very wide chest and a thick neck. The difference in weight between the sexes is quite significant. Male bustards weighing 7-16 kg, and females are about 2 times smaller. The body length of the former is about 105 cm, while the latter rarely exceed 80 cm in size.
These birds have long, wide and strong wings. Their span can vary from 190 to 260 cm. The tail of birds is also long. The feathers are slightly rounded at the end. The legs of the bustard are not covered with plumage. They are quite long and thick. Thanks to its strong limbs, the bird can run quickly. There are only 3 toes on the legs of the bird, which are crowned with strong claws.
Great bustards are distinguished by bright, elegant plumage, which includes different shades of gray, white, red and even black. Usually the head and neck of this feathered giant has an ash gray color. The upper part of the wings and back is distinguished by a reddish-buffy color with a characteristic streaky pattern. Usually the belly, chest, undertail and inner part of the wing are painted white. In the springtime, males acquire breeding plumage. In the neck area, they develop a bright orange collar of feathers, and also grow characteristic stiff feather tufts that form a long mustache. The female does not change the color of the plumage during the mating season.
There are 2 known bustard subspecies inhabiting different territories. They have slight differences in plumage color. In the bustard of the dudak, it is lighter.
This bird has a rather short grayish beak. The eyes are small, with a dark iris. The steppe bustard is more adapted for movement on the ground. A frightened bird often scatters for 30 m in order to climb on the wing. Such a difficult take-off is largely due to its heavy weight.
In fact, these birds are extremely shy and try to hide in the tall grass when danger approaches, where they freeze. They soar into the air only if the pursuit on the ground does not stop. During the flight, they do not rise too high. To keep massive bodies in the air, birds make wide, measured swings. The flight is not very fast.
Lifestyle
Bustards are active during the daytime. They usually walk slowly on the ground, eating fresh greens and pecking on bugs and grasshoppers. Sometimes the bird can make several jumps to catch prey. In the spring, male bustards arrange special "concerts" to attract the attention of females. To do this, the birds usually choose their current fish - the top or not steep slope of the hill. The performance usually takes place early in the morning or in the evening. The male stands in the center of the selected area and demonstrates his plumage, lowers his wings, raises his tail, throws his head back and makes dull sounds. Females come to see the dancing male. Of these, the male then chooses a mate for himself.
At the end of spring, the female equips the nest right on the ground. Usually this is just a shallow hole that the bird tamping carefully. She lays one or two eggs in the nest, which hatch for three to four weeks. At first, the female feeds them with ant eggs, but very soon the chicks begin to look for food on their own. Usually chicks stay with their mother until winter, but sometimes they do not leave her until spring. The male does not help the female in incubation and nursing.
Bustard diet
The bird has a rich gastronomic assortment, which includes animal and plant components, the ratio of which is influenced by the age and sex of the bustard, the locality of its residence and the availability of specific food.
Adults willingly eat leaves, shoots, inflorescences and seeds of cultivated / wild plants such as:
- dandelion, field thistle, goat bark, sow thistle, common tansy, kulbaba;
- meadow and creeping clover, sainfoin, peas and alfalfa (sowing);
- sowing and field radish, rapeseed, garden cabbage, turnips, black mustard;
- goat and fescue;
- various plantains.
Occasionally it switches to the roots of grasses - umbelliferae, wheatgrass, and onions. With a shortage of habitual vegetation, the bustard switches to harder food, for example, beet shoots. But the coarse fibers of beets are often the cause of the death of birds due to indigestion.
The composition of animal feed looks like this:
- adults / larvae of locust, grasshopper, cricket and bear;
- beetles / larvae of ground beetles, dead beetles, Colorado beetles, dark beetles, leaf beetles and weevils;
- caterpillars of butterflies and bugs (rare);
- snails, earthworms and earwigs;
- lizards, frogs, chicks of the skylark and other birds nesting on the ground;
- small rodents;
- ants / pupae from the genus Formica (for food for chicks).
Great bustards cannot do without water: in the summer they fly to the watering hole, in the winter they are content with snow.
Reproduction
Courtship of the bustard is quite colorful. The males gather at the lectern - a permanent place (clearing or slope). This usually happens early in the morning. They fluff up their tail, inflate and arch their necks. Becomes like feather balls. They demonstrate their beauty in every possible way to females who are watching the action with interest. The male can mate with several partners, but the females can also be alternately with more than one male.
The female makes only one clutch (there is conflicting information about the repeated one, in case of losing the first one). She also builds a nest, which is just a hole she dug in the ground. Overgrowing with grass around the perimeter, the nest is completely invisible from the side. In clutch there are 1-2 rather large eggs (7-9 cm) of greenish or brownish color with variegated specks.
After mating, the males lose all interest in their friends and, having gathered in flocks, go to the places of molting. The bustard sits on the clutch for 3-4 weeks. Chicks hatch already with fluffy feathers and are quite independent. If the bustard, in the opinion of the mother, is in danger, then she issues an alarm signal, after hearing which, the chicks lie down in the grass and stretch their necks. They have a very variegated color, it is extremely difficult to see them in the steppe.
After a month, their weight may already be 2-3 kg. The mother feeds the chicks for the first 2-3 weeks. Young animals feed exclusively on ants and their larvae. Then bustards switch to self-feeding. The bustard is a very good mother, it is found with chicks until winter, and sometimes until spring.
Molting
In adult birds, molt twice a year - full autumn postbreeding and partial spring prebreeding. During full molt, the change of head, body and tail feathers, as a rule, lasts from the end of June or the first half of July until the end of September or the beginning of October. Males usually molt somewhat earlier than females. From July to September, the primary flight feathers are replaced, while, as a rule, individual feathers change in pairs - this helps the bird not to lose its ability to fly. Not all flight feathers change in one season, a full change stretches over two full molts. Secondary flight feathers seem to change irregularly. During the spring molt, small plumage and sometimes individual flight feathers are replaced.
In the first year of life, there are three molts per year - breeding, first winter and first breeding, which are preceded by the first and second downy plumage. The first feathering on the wings begins to develop at the age of 6 days, simultaneously with the change of fluff on the rest of the body. Nesting molt, during which partial replacement of flight feathers and tail feathers occurs, occurs at the age of about 40 days. During the first winter molt, which begins at the age of 3 months, the plumage is completely replaced; during the first spring (February - June) - part of tail feathers, flight feathers, large and lower wing coverts, partly body plumage.
Enemies
The greatest enemy of the bustard is man, as well as several representatives of the animal world, among which are the fox, the steppe eagle, and the golden eagle. These predators prey mainly on young birds, but sometimes they are able to defeat an adult bustard. Ravens also devastate bustard nests. In Central Europe, 60-90% of the livestock is regularly destroyed during the cultivation of fields and meadows. The high mortality rate among newborn chicks is caused by the cool and humid climate. Chicks become easy prey for predators. Adult bustards often die when struck by high voltage wires during flight. All this led to the fact that the bustard bird is listed in the Red Book.
Bustard hunting
Due to the fact that the bustard is an endangered species and its population is isolated in some places, hunting for it is not widespread.
Bustard hunting in summer
In summer, bustard hunting is practiced with dogs. Summer hunting for bustard is especially difficult and tiring, as it takes place under the scorching sun when strict camouflage is required. In order not to frighten off the bustard, binoculars are often used with this method of hunting. This makes it possible to see the exact location of adults and juveniles feeding in the field. Having tracked down the brood, the hunter must call the dog to his foot and force it to silently follow him to the location of the discovered bustards. It is better not to look for hidden adult bustards - it is preferable for the arrow to direct his attention to the young, which does not take off, but only runs in the grass. It is he who is hunted with a dog, because in the summer he can stand up well.
Bustard hunting in autumn
Bustard hunting from the approach is practiced in the fall most often, because the youngsters leave the bread, go to the open area and can no longer stand the stance of a hunting dog. They shoot at him with a rifle. The scrad is carried out extremely carefully and carefully, using a wooden frame the size of a man, which is covered with straw or hay and then, as a disguise, is moved in front of him.
Hunting for bustards from the entrance is carried out on a cart or on ordinary drags... The horse is not sent directly to the bustard, but a little detour - as if they are passing by. At the most convenient moment (with the maximum approach to the birds), the hunter jumps abruptly from the cart and runs to the bustard until they fly up. They beat the birds on the rise.
A whole group of hunters is used to hunt bustard with a surge - from 6-8 people... 2 of them play the role of beaters, 4-6 - shooters. In such a hunt, they also use a cart or a cart, on which they go out into the open in search of bustards. Noticing birds, they are approached no more than 500/600 steps, continuing to move around the flock. Gradually, unnoticed, one after the other, all the arrows jump off the cart and disperse on the numbers - behind the fringes, tall grass and bushes of wormwood or nettles. The remaining hunters go around the herd and begin an "offensive" from the opposite side, driving the bustard towards the sheltered shooters. They go all the same - on carts, preferably 2.
Population and status of the species
Until the 20th century, the bustard was widespread, inhabiting the vast steppe expanses of Eurasia. Now the species is recognized as endangered, and the bird is included in the Red Data Books of several countries and the International Union for Conservation of Nature, as well as protected by individual international conventions.
The reasons for the extinction of the species are mainly anthropogenic - uncontrolled hunting, changes in habitats, the work of agricultural machines.
According to some reports, the bustard has been completely exterminated in France, Scandinavia, Poland, England, the Balkans and Morocco. It is believed that in the north of Germany there are about 200 birds, in Hungary and the adjacent regions of Austria, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Romania - about 1300-1400 Dudaks, and on the Iberian Peninsula - less than 15 thousand individuals.
In Russia, the bustard was called "princely" game, catching it in huge quantities with the help of hunting birds and hounds. Now in the post-Soviet space, about 11 thousand individuals have been registered, of which only 300-600 birds (living in Buryatia) belong to the eastern subspecies. To save the species, wildlife sanctuaries and reserves have been created in Eurasia, and aviary breeding of the bustard has begun and its reintroduction into the places from which it was previously displaced. In Russia, a similar reserve has been opened in the Saratov region.
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