Hello, friends!
This is the first publication of the New Year 2019. And I have something in mind for this year's projects. I'm planning to launch something special - closed group on FB for naturalists, where we can observe living nature together, do experiments, share what we see, discoveries, and keep an art diary. Let us learn to look and see. I will be glad to see you and your children! Please write in the comments if the group’s idea is recalled.
RIDDLE ABOUT THE FOOD
(The bird's height is small.
Modest shirt.
Like a support, a hard tail
Riding birds.
Up, in a spiral along the trunk,
The bird is on its way.
And examines the bark
The beak is a surgeon's needle.
High-pitched "Ziit"
It will reach your ear
Who is that squeaking like that?
Do you know? (PEEKA)
This winter brought me a meeting with an interesting bird - common pika (Certhia familiaris) .
What do pikas eat?
These birds are not found at bird feeders because their food is insects and spiders. They search for them by examining cracks in the bark using a long, thin, sickle-curved beak. The beak somewhat resembles a curved surgical needle. The bird only dissects tree trunks.
The pike catches tree pests that tits cannot remove. However, unlike tits, which can even carry seeds, pikas are predominantly insectivorous birds, even in winter. Therefore, the benefits of birds in clearing pests from forests, parks, and gardens are off the scale. But in fairness, it is worth noting that the pika’s diet includes small spruce or pine seeds, so it is easier to see the pika in pine and spruce plantings and forests.
Why was the pika called that?
Probably because it squeaks, you guess. And you'll be right. For its squeak, not only a bird, but a singing lagomorph was called a pika. It resembles a miniature hare, only without long ears. However, let's return to our hero.
The bird is named due to the high-frequency squeak in the song. The human ear does not detect the frequency of the sounds it makes well. Therefore, the pika is sometimes called the quietest bird. To hear the sounds made, you need to get very close. And the pika constantly squeaks, examining the bark. I even suspect that the sound allows her to determine where under the bark.
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| Find the pika. |
Pikas are from the order Passeriformes, related to sparrows, wrens and mosquito catchers. They reach sizes of 10-11 centimeters. The birds are brown and speckled on top, and have a light belly underneath. The plumage skillfully hides the bird on the bark. Try to find the bird on the birch bark in the photo above.
Pikas make their nests in the exfoliated bark of trees, most often in pine trees. In May-June the female lays 6 eggs. One per day at dawn, then incubates for two weeks. Both parents feed the chicks. Two weeks after hatching, the babies become. At the mother’s whistle, they either hide behind the bark in the nest, or scatter from the shelter like nosed, speckled peas.
Observations of pikas in nature
1. Write down the date, air temperature, and time of meeting in your research diary.
In different regions, pikas can be nomadic or migratory birds. For all the time of my observations in nature, for the first time I observed a pika in the city of Ust-Kamenogorsk. The air temperature was dropping to minus 20. I met a bird on the embankment of the Irtysh River.
2. Pay attention to whether the bird is alone or accompanied by a flock of tits. Observe how the bird behaves in the community.
Most often, pikas are found alone. And the first time I came across it was a lonely pika, examining the trunks at sunset. But in the following days I saw that the pika was flying accompanied by tits. I wonder why?
Pikas often become victims of birds of prey, crows in nature. They live in natural conditions for 2-3 years. Their beak is too weak, the bird cannot offer resistance. And in our area the sparrowhawk terrorizes the area with raids. So the pika decided to mingle among her bright yellow-breasted friends. Moreover, he tries to stay in the middle of the flock.
3. Observe the pika's trajectory. Draw a diagram, record the time spent on the trunks. Count how many trees the pika examines in 10 minutes.
Pikas have an interesting trajectory of movement along the trunk. Birds have popular name- slider. They sit down at the butt (at the base of the tree), and then with short jumps, squeaking, they slowly begin to climb (crawl) head up, along the trunk in a spiral, examining the cracks in the bark with their beak. Then the birds fall down and fly to the base of the next tree. In 10 minutes, the pika examines up to 5-8 trees.
4. Note which trees the pika stays on longer. At what level of trunk height does she stay longer, and does she examine the hollows?
The pika examined the trunks of birch, pine, spruce, poplar, and elm. Moreover, she chose old trees with gnarled bark. This is not surprising, since insects prefer to spend the winter there. But for us, such an observation can be a good clue where to look for wintering insects. It turns out that the pika is an insect guide for the entomologist in winter.
5. Observe exactly how the pika moves along the bark. What helps her deftly stay on the bark? Pay attention to how she places her toes and the position of her tail.
Pika is classified as environmental group tree-climbing birds. She has long toes. Two fingers point forward and two point back. This is a unique arrangement of fingers, which only woodpeckers can boast of. Typically, birds have three toes pointing forward and one toe pointing back. In addition, the pika relies on its tail like a crutch. The tail feathers have a rigid shaft and are pointed at the edges, so the tail takes on part of the balance.
6. Does the bird always move upside down? Note in what cases does it change direction?
There is a common belief that the pika moves exclusively upside down the trunk. And she’s not even capable of moving upside down. Usually, this is mentioned in order to contrast the pika with the nuthatch.
From observations of the pika, I will say that the bird really prefers to move upside down, but it can also move upside down. And my video confirms this fact.
Therefore, it is very important to observe the behavior of birds in nature yourself. Take notes, draw pictures, shoot videos. Not everything that someone has written about animals is undeniable. Animals are more complex in their behavior than humans would like to think. And here many discoveries await us.
Read more about bird watching in winter:
1. - supplemented the story with a new episode about a young grosbeak!
2.
3.
Squad - Passeriformes
Family - Pischuchaidae
Genus/Species - Certhia familiaris. Common pika
Basic data:
DIMENSIONS
Length: 12 cm.
Weight: 8-11
REPRODUCTION
Nesting period: April June.
Laying eggs: 1-2 per year.
Number of eggs: 4-8.
Incubation: 14-15 days.
Feeding chicks: 16-17 days.
LIFESTYLE
Habits: pikas (see photo of birds) stay alone; active during the day. At night they sleep in flocks.
Food: spiders, insects and their larvae.
Lifespan: up to 7 years.
RELATED SPECIES
The pika family (Certhiidae) includes 6 species. The most famous are the common pika and C. brachydactyla. S. americana lives in America.
As industrious as an ant, the common pika searches the trunks and branches of coniferous trees. The coloring of this bird perfectly camouflages it. The common pika is in constant motion. With her sharpened beak, curved like a sickle, she checks every crack and hole in the bark to find food there.
WHAT DOES IT EAT?
The common pika finds a suitable nest site and a rich source of food in forests, parks, forested riverbanks and gardens with old coniferous trees.
The pika's beak is thin and curved, like a sickle, so it can easily reach insects and their eggs hidden in narrow crevices between the bark. Here the pika also finds other invertebrates. The bird feeds on spiders, dipterans, hymenoptera, butterfly caterpillars and bugs, but the bulk of its diet consists of weevils and leaf beetles.
And most of all, the pika loves to eat larvae different types Zhukov.
In contrast, the pika may not make any effort to get food. Pulling out an insect from under the bark, it strongly rests its tail feathers on the trunk and takes the prey out of the crack.
In winter, the pika's menu is replenished with certain types of seeds, mainly seeds of coniferous trees. This bird systematically searches the tree trunk from bottom to top. If a pika finds a tree that is too fruitful, it returns to it several times to re-inspect it.
LIFESTYLE
The common pika flies poorly and rarely. As a rule, the bird only flies from the crown of one tree to the foot of another, jumping onto the trunk of a new tree.
In search of food, the pika moves in an upward spiral, while it rests on the tree trunk with its tail and wings. Often the bird explores the undersides of branches.
With its long, curved claws, the common pika clings very tightly to the bark of a tree. Pikas live alone, but in the fall they unite in common flocks along with birds of other species, for example. It happens that sometimes in cold winters up to fifteen birds sit together and warm each other with the warmth of their bodies.
Starting in autumn, these birds travel to places where there are trees - parks, gardens and forests. However, the rest of the year the common pika vigorously defends its site and roosting site from any intruder.
These birds usually sleep in crevices under the bark, and often also live in nest boxes that have a small entrance.
REPRODUCTION
The male begins to court the female in early April. He chases his chosen one in the air or runs along a tree trunk with her. The male gives her pieces of food and sings continuously. During the mating ritual, the wings of both partners characteristically tremble.
In Central Europe, the common pika nests until June and often manages to raise two broods. The parents build the nest together. It is usually located behind the bark that has moved away from the trunk, or in a dilapidated hollow of a tree. Sometimes the nest is placed in thick ivy on the wall of a building. The pika's nest is sloppy, built from small twigs, the inside is lined with blades of grass, feathers and animal hair.
The female lays several white eggs with light reddish-brown speckles and incubates them for 2 weeks. The parents feed the chicks together. Young chicks leave the nest after 16-17 days.
FOOD OBSERVATIONS
The common pika is found almost throughout Europe, usually in coniferous forests, but also lives in mixed forests and parks where there are old coniferous trees. This bird is fearless - if the common pika is busy searching for food, it does not run away even when it sees a person. In flight, from a short distance, you can see light stripes on its wings. In winter, this bird can be attracted to specific place feeding, spreading a mixture of beef fat and soft food for insectivorous birds on the bark of a coniferous tree. In summer, you can hang a nest box in which the common pika is likely to build a nest. Some people confuse the pika with the nuthatch due to their similar behavior on a tree trunk.
- The singing of the common pika consists of two trills, the first of which is always an order of magnitude higher than the second.
- When moving along the trunk, the common pika uses its tail as a support, so over time its tail becomes so ruffled and worn out that the feathers on it fall out and change more often than once a year.
- Fifteen common pikas were found under the roof of one forest hut, gathered there in one dense ball. Thus, it turns out that the birds protected themselves from cold and bad weather.
- The common pika resembles a mouse not only in its tireless running along the trunk, but also in its sounds - a high, piercing squeak.
CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF THE COMMON FEEDER. DESCRIPTION
Laying eggs: from 4 to 8 (usually 6) white eggs with red-brown spots, with a clearly visible blunt end.
Flight: uneven. The bird seems to be flying sideways. The pika flies only short distances. During flight, white stripes on the wings are clearly visible.
Beak: long, sickle-shaped.
Plumage: The back of the bird is grayish-brown with whitish patches. The belly and stripes under the eyes are silky white. Young birds - gray, they have more white spots on the dorsal side of the body.
Tail: long, forked, pointed. The forked end of the tail is clearly visible in flight. The tail plays an important role when a bird moves along a tree trunk.
- Habitat of the common pika
WHERE DOES IT LIVE?
The common pika leads a sedentary lifestyle. It is found in the area from Western Europe through Central and Eastern Europe and Asia to the Himalayas and Japan.
PROTECTION AND PRESERVATION
Despite the large number of dead, rotten trees that the bird uses as a nesting site, the common pika finds new shelters in which it quickly becomes familiar.
Common pika. Birds of Brateevograd. Video (00:00:49)
Nesting sites of this bird have not been observed in Brateevo and Maryino, but it is possible that they exist. They are often seen during seasonal migrations. Some of them remain for the winter in the area of the Maryinskaya abandoned pier near the former sand storage facility and on the opposite bank in the Brateevskaya floodplain.
Common pika. Video (00:00:33)
With its thin and slightly curved beak, the pika deftly extracts insects and their larvae from the narrowest crevices under the bark. In contrast, it never moves up the tree upside down, only from the bottom up.
13.12.2016
Pikas belong to the same family as hares. The family has 1 genus and about 20 species. The animals live in the cold regions of Asia and in the mountains that rise on the west coast of North America. Pikas make a variety of sounds sound signals- from a loud whistle to chirping. With the structure of their bodies, these small animals resemble guinea pigs. They have the same short and wide ears, short hair and an inconspicuous tail. Coat color ranges from gray to dark brown. Body length is from 12 to 25 cm, depending on the species. Weight: 100-400 g. Most pikas inhabit desert, sandy and rocky elevations. Some pikas live in the mountains, others in open steppes. Species such as the steppe pika live, like rabbits, in large families in a system of underground burrows. American pikas usually lead a solitary lifestyle in their own territories, the boundaries of which they jealously defend from representatives of their own species. The territories are located so that males and females are neighbors, sometimes even their homes merge. Altai pikas usually live in pairs. All pikas are diurnal and feed alone. In winter they do not hibernate, so in the fall they make provisions for the winter. Pikas usually go out to feed early in the morning or in the evening. They eat many types of plants, chewing them with chisel-like teeth. The lower jaw of pikas moves from side to side. In search of food, animals go beyond their territory. In the fall, they have to do difficult work - to collect large reserves of food for the winter. Some pikas dry the grass in the sun before hiding their supplies in a shelter among stones. The pike makes “stacks” on the plains, often placing stones on them so that the wind does not blow the grass. The Alpine pika is distinguished by the fact that it does not dry plants, but “prepares” them fresh. Just like hares and rabbits, the pika eats its droppings, absorbing vital vitamins and carbohydrates. Pikas living in underground burrows have numerous offspring. The steppe pika is considered the most prolific of them. In areas with poor vegetation, animals have virtually no opportunity to hide from predators, which leads to large losses in the number of individuals in the population. During the rutting period, which lasts several months per year, female pikas have 3-4 litters, each of which contains 2-13 cubs. Pikas living in the north of their range rarely have more than one litter per year. Pregnancy is very short, lasting only 25-30 days. At the age of 5 days, the cubs already move deftly, although they remain blind because their eyes open only 8-9 days after birth. The cubs feed on mother's milk for 3 weeks. 3-4 days after the cessation of lactation, pika cubs leave the nest and begin to feed on grass. Young pikas enter sexual maturity at the age of 30 days. Interesting Facts
The haystacks of American pikas reach a height of 60 cm. Each pika stores 16-20 kg of hay for the winter. Pikas living in Siberia build tunnels under the snow. The soles of animals' paws are covered with hairs, which make it easier for them to move on smooth stones. Pikas living in Mongolia build fortifications of stones up to 1 m wide around their burrows. Until the 18th century, pikas were not described because they lived in remote, uninhabited areas. These days they are used as laboratory animals. Select more articles from the dropdown list:
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The pika (lat. Ochotona), or haymaker, is an unusual representative of lagomorphs, a contemporary of the first elephants and mesohippus (the ancestors of the horse), which appeared on Earth 33 million years ago. The genus of pikas has 31 species, and this is not the final number; their taxonomy is still ongoing. Their range is Asia, North America and part of Eastern Europe.
The unusualness of the pika is in its deceptive appearance. Although it looks like a hamster, it has nothing to do with rodents. They were called haymakers because of their habit of storing hay for the winter, and pikas because of their ability to communicate using a kind of squeak (or whistle). The pika is a small animal, only 15-20 cm. Round ears (half the length of the head), long whiskers, small black eyes, almost complete absence of a tail (it is not visible from the outside at all), short paws, and short thick hair - this is the portrait of himself small hare brother.
The fur of pikas is almost uniform: in summer it is red or sandy, and in winter it is gray. They, just like hares, change their “fur coat”. Depending on the species, their weight ranges from 75 to 300 g. Another quality common to pikas and lagomorphs is their running style: pushing with both hind legs, jumping and landing on the front and then the hind legs. Pikas run much slower than hares, but they climb well in tight crevices between stones.
Most pika species live on open mountain plains; there are also several species that live in the taiga and steppes, but all species prefer cold climates. These small animals live in colonies - from tens to hundreds, or even thousands of individuals. Settlements, depending on the place of residence, are located from a few hundred meters from each other to a kilometer. Pikas can find shelter in cracks in rocks, nests under tree roots, or dug holes, sometimes with big amount storage chambers. The means of communication of pikas is a sound alarm, depending on the degree of danger - a loud whistle or quiet chirping.
The basis of their diet is plant food: leaves, stems, grasses, moss and lichens. Pikas are diurnal animals. When examining the area, they only rise up, resting their front paws on something, but never stand in a “column” position, like hares. You can use pikas to find out the weather forecast - a day or two before long rains they stop collecting food. In winter they do not hibernate, feeding on harvested hay. The pika dries the plants cut with sharp teeth in the sun, laying them out in the voids under stones or placing small stacks near the burrows. Hence her nickname, haymaker.
Depending on the area, the fertility of the population varies from 1 to 3 broods per year of 2-5 cubs. The pika has to be constantly on alert. Its main enemies in nature are the hawk, eagle, owl, sable, fox, and ermine.
Species: Certhia familiaris = Common pika
We encounter this little noticeable bird most often in the fall. On a damp and foggy October day, when the few forest inhabitants remain silent, busy searching for meager food, among the thin and fragmentary whistling of tits and wrens, one involuntarily attracts attention to a rather loud and drawn-out squeak, like “blue... blue...” or “tzii. ..”, repeated with short pauses. Sometimes it sounds very close, but when you look closely, you don’t see any bird on the nearest branches. And the squeak is heard very close. And suddenly, on the vertical trunk of an old tree, you notice a slowly moving small creature. As if a grayish-brown mouse had turned out from behind the trunk and was crawling upward along the bark. But if you take a closer step, you will see that this is a small (smaller than a sparrow) bird, its color strikingly matching the tone of the bark of an old tree overgrown with brown lichens.
She has gray-brown plumage, with small light and rusty specks (the male and female have the same ones), and a slightly reddish tail, which she seems to “carry” along the bark. For its thin, drawn-out squeak, it received its generally accepted name - pika. So she crawled to the edge of the trunk and became visible in profile. Take a closer look! The underside of her body is noticeably lighter than the top - dirty white (throat, chest, abdomen), and her wonderful beak is clearly visible - long, slightly curved down and thin, like tweezers. Long fingers with tenacious claws firmly hold the bird on the uneven bark, and it feels as comfortable on a steep trunk as tits on branches. And its tail feathers (tail feathers) are slightly curved downwards, with a very rigid shaft and pointed (like those of a woodpecker). When crawling, the pika relies on them like a spring.
In short leaps, the pika slowly moves up and diagonally along the trunk, squeaks and every minute thrusts its beak into every crack in the bark.
The thin beak allows her to reach small spiders huddled there, deeply laid eggs of butterflies, beetles and other tiny living prey. She willingly eats earwig larvae. Having found round holes of bark beetles (for example, “typographers”) in the bark, she manages to use her beak to pull out either an adult gaping beetle or a fat larva. Its food range is very diverse, and pikas destroy many formidable forest pests during their autumn and winter migrations through the forests.
Among the pika's prey, eggs of insects and spiders, pupae and sedentary small larvae predominate, which it destroys in large numbers. This further enhances the pika's usefulness in forestry. But it does not pursue flying and fast running insects.
These birds do not flock. Only at the end of summer and early autumn, when the broods have not yet broken up, can you notice 3-4 pikas close to each other. Later, in winter, they separate, and each lives separately. But the pika treats other birds differently: it willingly joins flocks of tits in the fall and wanders with them through the forests, often visiting gardens (even city ones). The hunting places of tits and pikas do not coincide, their habits are different, and life in a flock is always beneficial for its members due to greater protection from enemies. Tits search for food on tree branches, rarely clinging to the bark of large trunks. The pika dominates here, and only the nuthatch can compete with it. But the much thicker beak does not always allow it to reach from a narrow and deep crevice the prey that the pika easily extracts.
The pika is found in many places all year round. Even in winter, in frosty conditions, she finds food for herself in the forest, since many small insects, their eggs and pupae overwinter in the crevices of the bark. Throughout the vast area of its habitat, the pika is sedentary, despite its delicate build and feeding exclusively on insects. Only in some years in the fall is something like a migration observed. This bird is distributed throughout Europe, northern Asia and North America. In Russia, it is found in forests throughout the European part - from Arkhangelsk to the Crimea and the Caucasus, inclusive. It is absent only in steppe and treeless places. In Asia, the pika is distributed in the forest belt of Siberia, east to the Sea of Okhotsk and Sakhalin, and south to Mongolia, Tien Shan, Kazakhstan and northern Iran. In different areas of this vast distribution area, geographical variation in color is observed, and several subspecies have been recognized. In general, Siberian individuals are lighter than European ones, and the lightest are concentrated in Central Siberia. Further to the east (for example, in the Ussuri region), the color of the upper side becomes darker again. Western European pikas are very dark. Sizes are also variable, for example the length of the wing, the length of the beak and claws. Average length pikas are about 13 centimeters.
At the end of winter, with the first thaw, the pika begins to behave more animatedly. She crawls faster along the trunks, repeats her squeak more often and louder, and sometimes when she meets her she even fights with her own kind. And a little later, on the eve of spring, her hasty, ringing song, consisting of high tones with several extended initial high sounds, is already heard through the forest, then turning into a frequent, sharply ending trill. It is very noticeable at this time, since there are no vocal summer singers yet, and tits and buntings, which also begin to sing, cannot drown out the lively trill of the pika.
But you can't listen to it for long. The pika begins to nest very early, and as incubation begins, the male becomes silent. The first clutches in the middle zone are found at the end of April. The pika nests in mixed and deciduous old forests (sometimes in gardens), making its nest in very characteristic places - most often behind the loose bark of some old, rotten tree (aspen, linden, in the south - hornbeam and beech) or in a dilapidated hollow
The testicles are very small (only 15-16 millimeters long), and there are up to 9-10 of them in a nest. They have a very clean (white or slightly fawn) main background, and at the blunt end there is a cap, or corolla, of densely spaced brown and reddish spots. The sharp end has almost no stains. The female incubates very tightly. I had to approach the incubating bird at a distance of no more than a meter (leaning over the nest), and it did not fly away.
After twelve to thirteen days, the chicks hatch. If the clutch is large (8-9 eggs), then it often contains one or two undeveloped eggs, and among the chicks the weakest usually dies and is trampled into the base of the nest by the others. Parents almost continuously bring food to the nest. The colorful, short-tailed chicks, not yet able to fly, crawl along the tree where the nest was and tenaciously cling to the bark, squeaking when their parents approach. In some favorable years, even in the middle zone, pikas are hatched twice; Sometimes even in July you can see young birds flying well, still receiving food from their parents. Through binoculars you can see that their beak is shorter and straighter than the old ones.
