The Asian long-billed fawn is a small bird that belongs to the purebred (order Charadriiformes). The nesting range and abundance are not known exactly, but these birds are included in the Red Book. In our country, this bird is protected in Kamchatka and Sakhalin, as well as in several nature reserves in the Far East.
Habitat
These migratory birds (the names of the family are directly related to their appearance) nest in separate pairs in remote from the sea and coastal mixed and coniferous forests. There they get their feed. In summer, they are found on rivers and fresh lakes far from the sea: they are often recorded on lakes such as Azhabachye, Kronotskoye and Kurilskoye.
Nests are always located on larch trees and are made of branches or lichens lined with lichens and needles. Some birds winter in Peter the Great Bay (in Primorye), in Japan - off the coast of Hokkaido, Kyushu and Honshu, on the Korean Peninsula, and also on the Liaodong and Shandong Peninsulas.
Coloring
A fawn is a bird in which the upper body has a brownish-black color with edges of feathers of a yellowish-sand hue. The underside is white with dark wide spots. The iris of the eye has a brown tint, the beak is dark horny, reddish-pink legs with black membranes. In nature, a light contrasting throat stands out. In winter, the color is two-tone - a white bottom and a dark top. A white ring is around the eye. On the head there is a dark cap that descends below the organs of vision.
Lifestyle and behavior
The Asian long-billed fawn mainly lives in groups. Although it was found several nests located one at a time. At the same time, two of them were found in the forest far from the coast. The first was created in a fork in the branch, the second - at an altitude of almost thirty meters from the ground in a hollow. The remaining nests were found in depressions in the middle of the tundra on subantarctic small islands.
Nest
It should be noted that all the nests found were mainly located at a height of two to seven meters on larch trees and were made of small branches or lichens, carefully lined with needles.
Food
The Asian long-billed fawn feeds mainly on fish. Also in his food samples, larvae of amphibiotic insects and crustaceans were found.
Breeding
It must be said that in the nesting period the way of life of birds has not yet been studied. So far, only three nests have been found in Russia: on the coast of Sakhalin Island in Chayvo Bay, on the watershed of the Kukhtuy and Okhota rivers, and also on the Koni Peninsula, located near Magadan. Judging by these specimens, the Asian long-billed fawn lays eggs in late June - early July. Moreover, there is always only one egg in the clutch. Chicks are born in about a month (at the end of July or at the very beginning of August). Since there is very little information about this bird at the moment, it should be noted that the enemies and limiting factors are unknown.
Progeny
The only egg that has an elongated oval shape is distinguished by a pale bluish-green color with small specks of a dark brown hue. Fawns in nesting time very often fly over the forest at dusk with a piercing whistle. As already mentioned, incubation lasts an average of thirty days. In this process, both representatives of the couple participate.
Small chicks are covered with delicate yellowish-gray fluff with small dark spots. The duration of their stay in the nests is four weeks. At this time, adult migratory birds, whose names are directly related to their elongated beak, bring to the offspring larvae and worms for feeding. In nesting sites, adults appear very early. This usually happens in early May. At the same time, they only begin nesting in June.
Number
On the shore of Kamchatka in the three-kilometer strip of water in the summer, about 9, 000 long-billed fawn were recorded. At the same time, 7, 000 individuals were recorded on the east coast, and 2, 000 on the west coast. The density of birds on separate sections of the Kamchatka coast reached 8 individuals per meter.
Similar species
They differ from the short-billed fawn on top of a darker shade with a shallow brown ripple, a completely dark tail, and a long beak. And in the winter - a large dark cap that falls below the eyes of a bird.
Threats to the mind
The exact information about the enemies, as well as about the limiting factors at the moment, is not known to science. There have been cases of contamination of bird feathers with petroleum products.
