Garden oatmeal is not very beautiful with plumage, and its singing is not ideal. Nevertheless, it is highly appreciated by lovers of songbirds.
Next, we give a brief description of it. Garden oatmeal belongs to the family of oatmeal from the genus of real oatmeal. Class a few, contains a total of 37 varieties. Garden oatmeal in Europe is approximately 15 million pairs of individuals. The population of this species is constantly declining. In Belarus and Lithuania, it is listed in the Red Book.
Spread
The bird lives in many countries of Europe (except the British Isles) and Western Asia, and is also found in the Arctic Circle. In autumn, flies to Africa, its tropical part, for wintering. In late April and early May, he returned to his native areas. Birds fly in small flocks from 5 to 50 individuals. Places of residence of oatmeal garden differ in different areas of the range. In France they live where vineyards grow; in other countries they have never been seen on vineyards.
Garden oatmeal: description
The bird has a length of 16 cm, weight from 20 to 25 g, wingspan reaches 29 cm. Its appearance and behavior are similar to ordinary oatmeal, but the color is less colorful and the size is slightly smaller.
The male’s chest and head are gray-green, yellow throat, tail with white stripes on the sides, bright yellow rings around the eyes and a reddish cone-shaped beak. The outfit of young males is brownish, there are many speckles above and below, the spot on the throat is yellowish-buff. They become like females when the molt ends.
Females are brown in color with a white bottom and yellow throat, the head is grayish in color and the chest is mottled. They have brown nails, a light, pinkish short beak, white, slightly noticeable rings around the eyes. Young females and males have dark mottled blotches on the sides and throat.
It should be noted that garden, like ordinary oatmeal - a bird, the photo of which is higher, has a special beak structure. Both parts of it do not completely fit together and a small gap forms between them, which is absent in all other small birds.
Lifestyle
Garden oatmeal settles in open areas, with a small number of shrubs and trees, on the edges of the forest, in the steppes, on the banks of lakes and rivers, in small parks and in orchards.
Nests are located on or near the ground. Females make small holes in the soil and cover them with dry stalks of cereals, roots and other plant material. The bottom is laid with feathers or horse hair. Nests are oval or round, their diameter is from 8 to 12 cm.
Birds live in pairs, they disguise their dwellings well and place them near hillocks and ravines. Nests are away from each other. Sometimes for a while they settle more densely, at a distance of two hundred meters between the nests. In the wild, garden oatmeal lives a maximum of 8 years.
Breeding
Garden oatmeal lays up to 6 eggs up to 2 cm long, having a shiny shell with a faint blue tint, on which rare spots are scattered in the form of strokes and curls. Offspring are bred once a year; second masonry is done very rarely. Hatching lasts 12 days.
The duties of the male include guarding the nest. He sits nearby on a branch and sings songs loudly, notifying everyone that this territory is occupied. Chicks are born, covered in long down. It has a brown tint, on which dark longitudinal stripes along the whole body are clearly visible. The babies stay in the nest for about two weeks. In the second half of June, they learn to fly, get their own food and go to different places. When a person appears, the birds begin to be very worried.
Food
Garden oatmeal eats seeds and sprouts of various plants. When feeding chicks, birds eat live food: beetles and other insects. Parents, both male and female, carry live food in the nest from early morning until late in the evening to saturate the offspring.
Arriving at the nest, they sit nearby and, making sure that there is no danger on the ground, they approach the dwelling. Young chicks circle for a long time near the nesting, before flying into it. After the end of the harvest, the garden buntings move closer to the fields and feed on seeds.
Singing
Garden bunting sings (photo below) intermittently and loudly. Her singing resembles the ringing of an alarm bell. The songs are short, monotonous and compact, their duration on average is one and a half seconds. Each of them is separated by intervals of about 10 seconds. Any song consists of two parts:
- the first is cheerful and cheerful;
- the second is sad, sounding lower.
It happens that the songs consist only of the initial part without the ending. The chant ends with one or two syllables, and sometimes the ending is completely absent.
At the nesting site, their singing lasts all daylight hours, they sing most actively from morning to 11 hours and after 15 hours of the day.
Males most often flood during breeding, flying up to the top of a coniferous tree, on a bush, on rocky ledges or other elevated places. They send their song high to the sky, wary holding their body strictly upright.
Chant is a striking characteristic of this type of oatmeal. Their songs consist of only a small number of syllables, the latter always lower than the previous one.
Garden oatmeal: content at home
Birds of this species at nesting sites appear much later than others, therefore, in home cages, bird lovers are less common than ordinary oatmeal. It’s difficult to get used to captivity, sometimes very curious and calm specimens are found.
Having a timid character, they restlessly behave in the cell both in the first days, and then for a few more months. When they rush about in a cage, they often damage their wings and tails, cut their foreheads and beaks to blood, and sometimes, striking hard, they break to death. At first, cells with oatmeal should be covered, and wings should be tied. It is advisable to place the cage above the height of a person and handle the bird very carefully.
Observing the behavior of garden buntings in a cage, one cannot but note their timidity. She can’t eat quietly from the feeder, like other birds. Always looking around, quickly jumps to food, grabs a grain and immediately runs back. Garden oatmeal - a bird (photo above), in captivity eating a grain mixture, can peck soft and lively food.
To tame a captured chick will require patience and a lot of trouble. Despite this, true songbird hunters really appreciate garden oatmeal singing. And they sing a lot and beautifully, all day from dawn to dusk. Connoisseurs especially revere night singers.
An open-air cage can also be organized in the open air by placing different types of oatmeal in it. You should always remember the fearfulness of birds. Suddenly disturbed, they can die on the net. It is necessary to approach the birds very carefully, do not make sudden movements so that they are not accidentally scared.
Garden oatmeal, with an attentive attitude to it, can become a domestic and tamed bird. Experienced bird lovers do not recommend beginners to keep cages with garden oatmeal at home, as they require quality care and special living conditions. The addition of vitamins and minerals to food will contribute to the health and vitality of pets. They will thank for their care with booming, sonorous singing.
