Who is the capercaillie? What does he eat and where does he live? If you are interested in learning the answers to these questions, then read the article. So what is this bird like?
Capercaillie: description of a feathered handsome
Capercaillie is a large bird of the order Chicken. It belongs to the pheasant family. Males reach a weight of 6.5 kg, wingspan reaches 1.5 meters, their height is more than a meter. The color on the head, back, sides and neck is grayish-gray with a small black pattern, the belly and lower part of the wing are black with white spots, and the goiter is red. Females differ markedly. Their sizes are more compact, the maximum weight is slightly more than two kilograms, the spotty coloring is in a red-yellow color scheme.
The habitat of this bird can be considered dense tall trunk coniferous or mixed forests. The capercaillie is quite heavy, so it prefers to jog through the forest during the day, and in the evening rises to high branches of trees. Flying is characterized by deaf frequent heavy flapping of wings. In the summer, the capercaillie prefers a lonely lifestyle, does not participate in the upbringing of chicks. For the winter period, careful birds gather in small groups.
Breeding a beautiful bird
The capercaillie got its name due to the fact that during the period of current it pours blood and swells the blade in the hearing aid and completely blocks it, as a result of which the previously very careful and attentive black grouse becomes deaf and easily accessible for hunters and predators. Mating takes place within a month, if everything went well, females create a nest on the ground, insulate it with twigs, feathers, moss and grass.
This shelter is well camouflaged from predators and protected from rain and wind. For several days, the female lays from 6 to 8 eggs and hatch them for about a month. The first few days, the chicks hide under the wing of their mother, then quickly learn to disguise and easily hiding from predators in a matter of seconds so skillfully that not all hunting dogs detect them. The female alone protects and takes care of the chicks. When predators appear, she pretends to be wounded and distracts from the nest, giving the chicks time to hide in the bushes. Two weeks later they begin to fly short distances. In a month and a half, the chick moves as an adult capercaillie. In autumn, the chicks begin to lead an independent lifestyle, first young males separate from the nest, later females.
Food in the summer and in the fall
What does the capercaillie eat in the summer? The main share of the diet is plant food, namely flowers, young leaves of shrubs and trees (willow, birch, alder, aspen and others), seeds of herbaceous plants, stems of horsetail and ferns. A smaller part of the menu is occupied by foods of animal origin, such as lizards, spiders, slugs and insects. By the way, the latter are consumed mainly by sick or molting birds.
What does the capercaillie eat in the forest in autumn? During this period, various fruits and berries of trees and shrubs growing in the distribution area, as well as such a treat as an aspen leaf, are added to the diet of the bird.
Nutrition in spring and winter
What does the capercaillie eat in the winter season? The main sources of food are fir needles, pine, in the absence of other species - spruce. In early winter, rowan berries and juniper berries are added to the diet. Eating roughage, the bird swallows a larger number of pebbles intended for grinding food.
What does the capercaillie eat in spring? The main diet is fresh greens, buds, inflorescences of herbs and shrubs, young shoots of trees.
Maintenance and nutrition at home
Capercaillie, bird, photo of which is presented above, unpretentious. The birds of this breed are well bred at home. In nature, birds die due to constant anxiety by people on the territory of nesting, for example, mushroom pickers and berries. The timid chicks of the capercaillie eat poorly and die. Deforestation, especially in the toxing area, leads to a decrease in bird nesting sites. Also affected by such factors as rainfall. With a slight snowfall, the birds cannot hide and warm in it, so they freeze, predators exterminate a large population.
To keep this bird at home, you need to properly feed it. What kind of diet should she have?
What does the capercaillie eat at home? The bird is unpretentious, eats finely chopped vegetables, for example, cucumbers, carrots, beets and cabbage, cereals (oats, corn, barley, wheat, buckwheat, sunflower and hemp). Also, the diet, usual for it, must prevail in the diet, that is, needles, deciduous trees, various twigs and buds, fresh foliage and grass.
