This article will focus on a bird of prey, which is one of five species of the hawk family nesting in the vast territory of Russia. It lives also outside our country.
In general, the birds of Russia are a huge number of very different species living in the vast expanses of the country. Moreover, climatic and geographical conditions here allow you to choose the appropriate habitat for each bird species.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the meadow moon, which will be discussed in this article, was the largest representative of the birds of this genus. Today, things are much worse.
Distribution and habitats
This bird from the order of Falconiformes is part of the hawk family.
Their habitat is wide enough. Meadow harrier is mostly distributed in the following territories:
- Eurasia (east to Altai);
- North West Africa
- Western Siberia (north to Tyumen, Krasnoyarsk and Tara);
- Omsk region (treeless habitats).
Common habitats are steppes and forest-steppes near swamps and lakes, in wet meadows and among numerous agricultural lands. Only in some places they penetrate into the forest zone.
Lun meadow: description
This bird has a relatively average size (the moon is slightly larger than the crow) with a long tail and rather large wings. In an adult male (about the 4th year of life) the back has a slate-bluish color (it is slightly darker than in the steppe), and the whip is whitish with gray or brown variegated. Goiter, throat and chest are gray-gray. The sides, abdomen and undertail are white with a reddish narrow longitudinal pattern.
The primary fore wing wings are completely black, the middle tail wings are gray, the side wings are whitish with a reddish transverse pattern.
The young meadow harrier has a dark brown dorsal side, with buffy edges on the feathers. Its ventral side is red or buffy. The claws and beak are black, and the legs and wax are yellow.
The eye iris in adult birds is bright, yellow, while in young birds it is brown. The voice of these birds is either a rattling ("pyrrhic-pyrrhic - …"), or abrupt ("peak-peak-peak-…").
Differences between a female and a male
What external differences, depending on gender, does the meadow have? The female, as a rule, is larger than the male in size. The difference in color and age-related changes in females and males of the meadow moon are also significant. The main difference between adult males (over 4 years old) is that their dorsal side is brownish-gray.
Adult females are very similar to females of field moons, but they have brownish longitudinal marks in the mantle. The back is brown, with a white tart with darkish drop-shaped mottles. The belly of the bird is whitish, with a reddish longitudinal pattern. The tail and wing wings are gray-brown, in the transverse strip.
Young birds of both sexes in the first year of their life have almost the same external features.
Bird sizes
The meadow harrier, as a rule, has a weight of 260 to 380 grams. They fly quite easily. They do not sit on trees.
In size, this bird is smaller than the field moon. Its total length is from 40 to 52 cm, and its wingspan is up to 115 cm. The length of one wing reaches 39 centimeters.
Lifestyle
The described migratory bird usually flies to its habitat (nesting place) in late April. Meadow harrier builds a nest on the ground in a wet meadow or near water. They are found in the reed.
Clutch, consisting of 3-6 white eggs (sometimes with brown spots), occurs at the very beginning of May. Between the laying of eggs, the interval is from one to four days. Eggs hatch for about a month. It is noteworthy that at this time the male supplies the female and the appeared chick with food.
Usually the chicks leave the nest on about the 35th day, but sometimes this can happen even 10-14 days after hatching. Even in particularly favorable years, the brood is no more than 4 chicks. Young birds feed on lizards, small rodents, insects and small birds.
Nesting area
The meadow moon nests on a vast territory: in Europe (England, the Netherlands, Denmark, East Germany, the south of Sweden, the Baltic states, the middle part of European Russia, Hungary, Romania, the Mediterranean, Crimea), in Central Asia, Iran, and Siberia (to Tyumen), in North Africa (Morocco and Algeria), etc.
This winter migratory bird reaches India, Pakistan and Africa (south of the Sahara).
The northern border of the breeding range passes approximately in the area of the cities of Krasnoyarsk, Tara, Tyumen, Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Yaroslavl, Moscow, Pskov. The southern part extends beyond the territory of Russia: the republics of Transcaucasia, the Khorasan region (northeast of Iran), the steppe regions of Central Asia and Kazakhstan, and northwest China (to the Dzungaria desert). Some sites are available in Asia Minor.
Hunting
Lun meadow is a bird that always hunts in open space, slowly flying around a selected area quite low above the ground. So she usually preys on small rodents, small birds, lizards and insects.
Often, to catch his victim by surprise, the moon moves in flight along the edges of tall grass. Having noticed his prey, he sharply and unexpectedly falls down, stretching forward his long claws. Moreover, unlike its counterparts (field or swamp moons), this bird can grab its prey not only on the surface of the earth, but also in flight, in the air.
Differences from other birds
As already mentioned, the birds of Russia are distinguished by a huge variety and a large number of species of the hawk family. The main distinguishing features of the meadow moon are a white narrow spot on the lower back, a distinct striped striped pattern on coverts and a wide longitudinal strip of white throughout its entire length in the lower part of the wing. Steppe harrier also has such a band, but partially blurred.
A fairly developed light collar, which is found in the steppe and field moons, is absent in the meadow female.
When flying, the above-named bird clearly shows black primary feathers and two strips of dark color on the underside of the wing.
It is easiest to distinguish from other feathered predators an adult male moon, in which the plumage of the head, covering wings and backs are ash gray. It is darker than other moons. The throat, front of the head and chest of this species are pale gray.
