There are wonderful birds from the order of passerines. They have spread throughout the world. Most often they can be found in Asia, Africa and, of course, in Europe. The territory of Russia and the former republics of the Soviet Union can especially boast of this bird. She pleases hearing and lives both in the mountains and on the plains. And they can perfectly live in captivity. What kind of bird is this? You can find out about this by reading the article.
Male description
Outwardly, the bird resembles a sparrow, which is why it is classified as passerine. A photo of oatmeal shows good similarities. At the same time, it is easy to distinguish it, since it compares favorably with plumage and tail. In total, the bird has up to 197 species. In the vastness of Russia, the most common species is oatmeal. It can also be found in the vastness of Scandinavia and Spain. Still in Russia there are baby, garden, millet, white hat and others.
In the article, we will focus on the bird named oatmeal remez, which is slightly smaller than usual. The male has a black and white pattern on the head, neck and back. Color characteristic: rusty-brown with dark variegation (streaks). A chestnut necklace is visible on his chest, and spots on his sides. The abdomen of the male is white.
Female description
The female is a type of oatmeal remez, colored like a male, but with less contrast. The head instead of black is painted brown. Autumn feather color is very similar: buffy. A noticeable difference between the female and the male is the absence of a white spot on the back of the head. If it is found in females, it is very small, barely noticeable. The female also has a buffy color of the feather completely, except for the base. In males, it is only at the edges of feathers.
Differences between young and mature males
Young males of the species oatmeal remez, having a nesting outfit, are very similar to females. They are more dull and with a large buffy coating. Dark brown streaks are observed on the chest, and brown on the sides with dark brown strokes on the trunks. The helmsmen are pointed.
In a year old, males differ from mature males with a dull and narrow stripe on the chest, which has a chestnut color. On the mask they often have brown feathers (especially on the ear). Since young males differ little from females, they can be confused with cane-type oatmeal. To avoid this, you need to carefully look at the signs. They should be distinguished by a bright speck above the ear. To all, as a rule, the feathers of the cuts on the crown are bristling, resembling a crest, and the side streaks are brown. The bird species of oatmeal remez has a similar appearance in the east of the region: yellow-browed oatmeal.
Spread
Most of all, flying, it lives in the southern forest-steppe. The first arrival takes place in the spring. Arrival time is not always the same. This happens from the 1st to the 3rd decade of April. In autumn, they fly for the last time from late September to mid-October. From late March to early April, oatmeal remez settles in the Moscow Region. The bird flocks and prefers to settle on the forest edge, large glades, meadows with bushes and clearings.
Quite a lot of birds nest directly on the ground and less often in shrubs at a height of one and a half meters. They build nests from stalks of grass and cereal panicles, with the roots and hairs of the birds neatly lining the tray. In southern taiga, a bird is observed in nesting time on the right bank of the Irtysh River. Coniferous forests are inhabited in floodplain habitats and sphagnum bogs covered with low-growing pine. For the second half of the summer, oatmeal remez, the photo of which is posted in the article, lives in a zone of mixed forests. Most of all it is pine ryam.
Birds fly by and in Omsk. In the XIX century, ordinary oatmeal was intentionally brought to New Zealand (on its islands) from a natural habitat - Great Britain. If we consider the territory of the former Soviet Union, then the nesting of buntings is observed in the south of Moldova and Ukraine. The isolated plains are the mountain plains of Elbrus. All types of buntings are in the same squad. However, each bird has its own individuality, its subtleties of color, its singing melody and a different way of life.
Bunting structure, size and features
The oatmeal bird has a poorly developed palatine tubercle. The first wing wing is rudimentary. The external fan of 3 to 6 primary wing wings has cuttings. The body of the male has a length of 127 to 160 millimeters, an average of 241 millimeters. The length of females in the body is from 130 to 155 millimeters, an average of 230 millimeters.
The wings have a length of:
- males from 71.5 to 81.5 mm, average - 76.9 mm;
- females from 65 to 79.5 mm, average 73.2 mm.
The beak has a length of 11 to 12 millimeters, the forearm is from 18 to 19 millimeters, the tail is from 55 to 65 millimeters. Males weigh from 19 to 22.3 grams (an average of 19.87), females - from 17 to 20.8 grams (an average of 17.98 grams).
Oatmeal does not shun people. She often settles next to a person, and even in the city. Most of all they like to nest close to farms. This is understandable, because here it is easy to get food: cereal seeds. Of course, it is easy to guess that oats are the most favorite delicacy for birds of this species. Apparently, the name oatmeal was not chosen by chance. A bright bird can hibernate next to the stable, again because of the oats, which are plenty. A whole population can thus feed itself and survive the winter. When the snow is falling and the nights are still sometimes frosty, the males begin to return from wintering. Then people rejoice when they hear the first trills of birds, among which is the singing of buntings.
Egg laying
Expecting females, males spend most of their time looking for food. Between this vital activity, they sing, praising the mysteries of the awakening of nature, its beauty and generosity. When the snow leaves, last year's grains can be found on the surface, and the first insects appear from under the ground. In the future, it is they who will make up the bulk of the oatmeal diet. It is very important that insects will be abundant, because the future offspring need to be fed. It is they who will serve the newly made parents for feeding the chicks. In the early days, the chicks are fed with ground invertebrate feed from the goiter of the parent (male or female).
When the chicks are able to accept whole insects, their parents carry grasshoppers, wood lice, spiders, and other species of insects. Sweet-bunting buntings enter into marriage after the second half of April. Already at the end of May they acquire offspring. The males, endowed with bright colors, nursing in front of the females, flirting with them in every way, flaunting and flooding with a trill with overflows. Having chosen a pair, the female is looking for a place for the nest. The construction of the future family house begins, where you can grow your offspring. In May, oatmeal remez begins to lay eggs en masse. The bird's nest has a clutch of 4 to 6 eggs. They are white in color with a pink and purple hue. Speckles and thin lines are visible on the eggs. The incubation period lasts from 12 to 14 days. Young individuals leave the nest when they are about 14 days old. Chicks are fed mostly insects and sometimes half-ripened grass seeds and green shoots.
Life in captivity
The bird is widespread, but in captivity does not live that often. She has an incredulous and fearful character. Most of all, it is preferred by canary farmers. For them, oatmeal remez is a bird (the photo is in the article) necessary for learning oatmeal chant. For training take young males. The oatmeal cage should be taken spacious up to 70 centimeters long. If there are other birds in the cage, then the males can be aggressive. If such a case takes place - the male is precipitated. The cells contain both remez and ordinary oatmeal. You can also meet in captivity garden, bile, crumb, gray-headed and some other species.
Feed
The seeds of a canary, millet, rape, oatmeal, chumiza with a small amount of hemp, moghar, flax, sunflower crushed - all that is what oatmeal remez eats. Captivity imposes its characteristics on the nutrition of the bird, since it cannot obtain its own food. A good supplement is dropouts (weed seeds). It is imperative to give a soft feed to which daphnia or gammarus are added. Periodically, the bird is fed with flour worms, various insects, especially when molting and breeding. It is important that the bird oatmeal remez (photo and description of which is above) eat vegetables and greens. The cage should be provided with clean river sand, chalk, crushed shells and eggshells.
Breeding
This is a rare case when poultry farmers breed oatmeal. But if this interests someone, then for such purposes it is necessary to use aviaries or large cages. In enclosures, it is necessary (at least desirable) to have an earthen floor and shrubbery. Then the oatmeal remez, the singing of which can please the owner’s ears, can winter and not be afraid of frost. Already in captivity hybrids were bred. They are obtained from oatmeal and canary. In nature, such oatmeal is crossed with white-capped, if the contact is in the zone of their contact.
Singing
The oatmeal song rings in silver and consists of the repeating quick sounds “zit-zit-zit” and ends with a long “chilli”. Most of all Dubrovnik with yellow-necked oatmeal sings a beautiful waxwing. And oatmeal remez sings with dignity. But still, if the goal is bird singing, then you need to have singing leaders. The maintenance and feeding of Dubrovnik and yellow-throated is similar to ordinary oatmeal.
