The usual body temperature in birds is + 41 ° C. To keep warm in the blood, small creatures need to eat hard. But if there is a lot of food in summer and autumn, then winter, especially in our latitudes, is a time of severe trials. The easiest way to urban birds. Pigeons, sparrows, crows and jackdaws will always find their food near human habitation. In the same place, under the eaves of houses, in the attics and near the heating plants, they are saved from the cold. But what do birds do in winter in the forest or near water bodies?
Migratory, nomadic and sedentary species
The higher the latitude of the area, the more birds leave these edges for the winter. In the tundra, besides the polar partridge, almost no one remains. Long before the cold weather, while the ponds and rivers were not covered by ice, the schools of geese, swans and other waterfowls stretched to the south. Insectivorous birds fly away. So, in the Moscow Region, out of 300 species living there in the summer, only 50 remain for the winter. But the lower the latitude, the more settled birds are found. For example, the thrush in Russia is a migratory species, while in Ukraine it does not leave its native places. Nomadic birds are a special type. They feel what a great winter will be, and, on this basis, fly away or stay. Such species include waxwings, walnuts, some species of tits, tap dancing, jays, bullfinches and others. From the way the birds prepare for winter, you can guess what the weather will be like. For example, whether frost is coming or a thaw will come.
Forest birds
In winter, the inhabitants of the thickets are especially affected. Moths and bugs hid or died, a dense layer of snow covered the grains, fish could not be caught from under the ice, frogs and small rodents hibernated. So forest birds come to human habitation. Especially there are a lot of them in the winter near the dachas and in the villages: in the gardens dry berries still sway on the branches, you can also get profit in the garden. Predators fly for the little birds: eagles, owls, hawks.
Sedentary species know what awaits them, and therefore make reserves. How do birds prepare for winter? For example, a woodpecker covers hollows with twigs and moss. Such thermal insulation allows him to sit out on the frostiest nights. Some birds, which at other times of the year live separately or in pairs, winter in large flocks, sometimes consisting of several species. It’s easier to find food and, importantly, keep warm in a pile. In the fall, even before the onset of cold weather, many birds feed heavily, accumulating fat reserves. However, with a quick metabolism this does not save them much. But the autumn molt, after which the little bird’s body is covered with thick down, protects it from frost better.
Bird "nest egg"
Anticipating a hungry season, some species stock up on food for the future. Maybe you noticed how the birds prepare for winter: jays bury acorns and nuts in moss and grass, crawl linden grains and other food at high altitude drive them under the bark of trees. And birds of prey, having killed rodents in the fall, do not eat them all. They hide part of the corpses in the hollow of trees, just in time of hunger.
