Sea sandpiper. Great Sandpiper Sandpiper bird where they live and what they eat

Calidris tenuirostris) is a bird of the snipe family, the largest representative of the genus Sandpipers. nests in Eastern Siberia and in the Far East. Winters in southern, southeastern Asia and Australasia. Forms flocks, sometimes reaching several hundred individuals, and most often keeps with godwits, plovers, ruby-throated sandpipers and Icelandic sandpipers. They prefer sandy and silty areas of the bay coast, exposed at low tide, as well as rocky areas on mountain peaks.

Description

Appearance

The largest of the sandpipers. In the structure of the beak, wing and individual elements of the legs (relatively short legs and toes), the shape of the tail and the color of the down jackets, it resembles the more common Icelandic sandpiper. Moreover, when comparing these two species, the great sandpiper stands out with a more elongated body with a convex chest and a long beak. Body length 260-280 mm, weight of males and females 101-131 g. By general appearance and the size of the great sandpiper can also be compared with snails - unlike the latter, the sandpiper has an excellent plumage pattern and vocalization. The bird can be distinguished from the herbalist and the goldfinch by the greenish-brown coloring of the legs and rounded streaks on the chest. The beak is quite long, straight, rounded over most of the upper beak ridge and flattened at the apex. The tail is straight cut, the middle pair of tail tails is not longer than the outer ones.

IN wedding attire The crop and chest are densely covered with dark brown heart-shaped spots on a white background, often merging in its central part. The front throat is white with small longitudinal streaks. The upper part of the body has a dark brown background, but often (but not always) a significant number of red-chestnut feathers with black tips in the interscapular region, as well as whitish edges, give the bird a more variegated appearance. The back of the back and rump are grayish-brown with wide whitish edges, the upper tail coverts are pure white or white with dark markings. The back of the chest, belly and undertail are white, sometimes with dark brown spots, but not as intense as in the front of the chest.

In winter plumage, the male and female are colored in lighter and more inconspicuous colors. The upperparts are ash-gray with dark brown supra-trunk spots and narrow whitish edges, more distinct on the head, neck and upper back compared to the Icelandic Sandpiper. The rufous and ocher tones characteristic of the breeding feather are absent in winter. The underparts are white with narrow dark longitudinal streaks on the neck and front of the chest. Juveniles of both sexes are colored like adults in winter, differing by a slightly darker top of the head and an almost complete absence of dark markings on the chest.

Voice

Generally a taciturn bird. Occasionally it emits a two-syllable cry, rendered as “nyt-nyt” and reminiscent of that of the Icelandic sandpiper, with the first syllable being longer and higher, and the second being short and low. The mating song of the male, sounding in lekking flight at high altitudes, is a rather loud and dull cry of “wing-wing-winging”.

Spreading

The great sandpiper nests exclusively in Russia, that is, it is a breeding endemic to this country. The range covers the mountain tundras of Eastern Siberia and Far East east of the Verkhoyansk Range. Northern border nesting areas pass through the mountainous regions of the Kolyma delta and the Chukotka Peninsula, the southern one through the Stanovoy, Dzhugdzhur ridges and the southwestern tip of the Kolyma Plateau.

Wintering areas are located on the coasts of Hindustan, Southeast Asia and Australasia. Significant numbers of birds move to north-west Australia and the shores of the Gulf of Carpentaria. Occasionally winters in western Indonesia and even less often in New Zealand. Occasional flights are known in Saudi Arabia and Morocco. One-year-old birds do not return to nesting grounds, but spend the summer in wintering grounds.

The Great Sandpiper's habitats are markedly different from other members of the genus and more closely resemble those of larger shorebirds such as the Mongolian Plover, Ashy Snail and Little Curlew. The overwhelming majority of sandpiper species choose Arctic coasts and damp zonal tundras during the nesting period. In contrast, the large one prefers the flat tops of the mountain tundra, on which crustacean lichens tightly fused with the substrate and rare patches of herbaceous vegetation like dryad, alpine bearberry, crowberry and blueberry are lost against the backdrop of vast expanses of bare rubble. During wintering, the sandpiper lives on sea coasts or in close proximity to them - at river mouths or along the banks of small lagoons.

Reproduction

Nutrition

During the nesting period, adult birds feed mainly on berries, but the chicks are fed insects. In wintering grounds, the main diet consists of bivalve mollusks. In addition, it eats snails, crustaceans, annelids and sea cucumbers.

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Notes

  1. Boehme R. L., Flint V. E. Five-language dictionary of animal names. Birds. Latin, Russian, English, German, French / Under the general editorship of academician. V. E. Sokolova. - M.: Rus. lang., "RUSSO", 1994. - P. 84. - 2030 copies.
  2. - ISBN 5-200-00643-0.
  3. , pp. 364.
  4. , With. 162.
  5. , pp. 365.
  6. , With. 159.
  7. , With. 161.
  8. , With. 157.
  9. , With. 162-163.
  10. , With. 158.
  11. .
  12. , pp. 182.
  13. , With. 159.
  14. , p. 200.
  15. , With. 160.
  16. , p. 186. . Sakhalin regional public organization

Club "Boomerang" (2005). Retrieved November 30, 2011. .

Shorebirds: An Identification Guide to the Waders of the World. - Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1991. - ISBN 0395602378.

Links

An excerpt characterizing the Great Sandpiper
Under the pretext of removing the wounded, do not upset the ranks! Let everyone be fully imbued with the thought that it is necessary to defeat these mercenaries of England, inspired by such hatred against our nation. This victory will end our campaign, and we can return to winter quarters, where new French troops that are forming in France will find us; and then the peace that I will make will be worthy of my people, you and me.

At 5 o'clock in the morning it was still completely dark. The troops of the center, reserves and Bagration’s right flank still stood motionless; but on the left flank the columns of infantry, cavalry and artillery, which were supposed to be the first to descend from the heights in order to attack the French right flank and throw it back, according to disposition, into the Bohemian Mountains, had already begun to stir and began to rise from their overnight positions. The smoke from the fires into which they threw everything unnecessary ate my eyes. It was cold and dark. The officers hurriedly drank tea and had breakfast, the soldiers chewed crackers, beat a shot with their feet, warming up, and flocked against the fires, throwing into the firewood the remains of booths, chairs, tables, wheels, tubs, everything unnecessary that could not be taken with them. Austrian column leaders scurried between the Russian troops and served as harbingers of the attack. As soon as an Austrian officer appeared near the regimental commander’s camp, the regiment began to move: the soldiers ran from the fires, hid tubes in their boots, bags in the carts, dismantled their guns and lined up. The officers buttoned up, put on their swords and knapsacks and walked around the ranks, shouting; The wagon trains and orderlies harnessed, packed and tied up the carts. Adjutants, battalion and regimental commanders sat on horseback, crossed themselves, gave the last orders, instructions and instructions to the remaining convoys, and the monotonous tramp of a thousand feet sounded. The columns moved, not knowing where and not seeing from the people around them, from the smoke and from the increasing fog, either the area from which they were leaving or the one into which they were entering.
A soldier on the move is as surrounded, limited and drawn by his regiment as a sailor by the ship on which he is located. No matter how far he goes, no matter what strange, unknown and dangerous latitudes he enters, around him - as for a sailor, there are always and everywhere the same decks, masts, ropes of his ship - always and everywhere the same comrades, the same rows, the same sergeant major Ivan Mitrich, the same company dog ​​Zhuchka, the same superiors. A soldier rarely wants to know the latitudes in which his entire ship is located; but on the day of battle, God knows how and from where, in the moral world of the army, one stern note is heard for everyone, which sounds like the approach of something decisive and solemn and arouses them to an unusual curiosity. During the days of battle, soldiers excitedly try to get out of the interests of their regiment, listen, look closely and eagerly ask about what is happening around them.
The fog became so strong that, despite the fact that it was dawn, it was impossible to see ten steps in front of you. The bushes seemed like huge trees, the flat places looked like cliffs and slopes. Everywhere, from all sides, one could encounter an enemy invisible ten steps away. But the columns walked for a long time in the same fog, going down and up the mountains, passing gardens and fences, through new, incomprehensible terrain, never encountering the enemy. On the contrary, now in front, now behind, from all sides, the soldiers learned that our Russian columns were moving in the same direction. Every soldier felt good in his soul because he knew that in the same place where he was going, that is, unknown where, many, many more of ours were going.
“Look, the Kursk soldiers have passed,” they said in the ranks.
- Passion, my brother, that our troops have gathered! In the evening I looked at how the lights were laid out, there was no end in sight. Moscow - one word!
Although none of the column commanders approached the ranks or spoke to the soldiers (the column commanders, as we saw at the military council, were not in a good mood and were dissatisfied with the undertaking and therefore only carried out orders and did not care about amusing the soldiers), despite However, the soldiers walked cheerfully, as always, going into action, especially offensively. But, after walking for about an hour in thick fog, most of the army had to stop, and an unpleasant consciousness of the ongoing disorder and confusion swept through the ranks. How this consciousness is transmitted is very difficult to determine; but what is certain is that it is transmitted unusually faithfully and spreads quickly, imperceptibly and uncontrollably, like water through a ravine. If only Russian army If there was one thing, without allies, then perhaps a lot of time would have passed before this consciousness of disorder would have become a general confidence; but now, with special pleasure and naturalness attributing the cause of the unrest to the stupid Germans, everyone was convinced that there was a harmful confusion caused by the sausage makers.
- What did they become? Al blocked? Or have they already stumbled upon a Frenchman?
- No, I haven’t heard. Otherwise he would have started firing.
“They were in a hurry to speak out, but when they set out, they stood uselessly in the middle of the field—the damned Germans are confusing everything.” What stupid devils!
“Then I would have let them go ahead.” And then, I suppose, they are huddling behind. So now stand there without eating.
- So, will it be there soon? The cavalry, they say, blocked the road,” the officer said.
“Oh, the damned Germans, they don’t know their land,” said another.
-What division are you in? - the adjutant shouted as he drove up.
- Eighteenth.
- So why are you here? You should have been ahead a long time ago, now you won’t make it until evening.
- Those orders are stupid; “They don’t know what they’re doing,” the officer said and drove away.
Then a general drove by and shouted something angrily, not in Russian.
“Tafa lafa, you can’t understand what he’s muttering,” said the soldier, mimicking the departed general. - I would shoot them, scoundrels!
“We were told to be there at nine o’clock, but we weren’t even halfway through.” These are the orders! - repeated from different sides.
And the feeling of energy with which the troops went into action began to turn into annoyance and anger at the stupid orders and at the Germans.
The reason for the confusion was that while the Austrian cavalry was moving on the left flank, the higher authorities found that our center was too far from the right flank, and the entire cavalry was ordered to move to the right side. Several thousand cavalry advanced ahead of the infantry, and the infantry had to wait.
Ahead there was a clash between the Austrian column leader and the Russian general. The Russian general shouted, demanding that the cavalry be stopped; the Austrian argued that it was not he who was to blame, but the higher authorities. Meanwhile, the troops stood, bored and discouraged. After an hour's delay, the troops finally moved further and began to descend down the mountain. The fog that dispersed on the mountain only spread thicker in the lower areas where the troops descended. Ahead, in the fog, one shot was heard, then another, at first awkwardly at different intervals: draft... tat, and then more and more smoothly and more often, and the matter began over the Goldbach River.
Not expecting to meet the enemy below the river and accidentally stumbling upon him in the fog, not hearing a word of inspiration from the highest commanders, with the consciousness spreading throughout the troops that it was too late, and, most importantly, in the thick fog not seeing anything ahead and around them, the Russians lazily and slowly exchanged fire with the enemy, moved forward and stopped again, not receiving orders from the commanders and adjutants, who were wandering through the fog in an unfamiliar area, not finding their units of troops. Thus began the case for the first, second and third columns that went down. The fourth column, with Kutuzov himself, stood on the Pratsen Heights.
At the bottom, where the matter began, there was still a thick fog, at the top it had cleared, but nothing was visible from what was happening ahead. Whether all the enemy forces, as we assumed, were ten miles away from us or whether he was here, in this line of fog, no one knew until the ninth hour.

P. is the name of various small waders (by the way, see Carrier) - Tringa - family Scolopacidae, order Limicolae. All toes are completely free to the very base, the metatarsus is always longer than half the length of the beak; the beak is weakly or not at all widened at the end, there is a rear finger; steering wheels without transverse stripes. The genus contains 16 species, distributed throughout the northern hemisphere, nesting almost exclusively in the Far North, but often wintering in southern hemisphere. They feed on insects, small crustaceans, worms, soft-bodied animals, and occasionally algae. Lay 4 eggs. There are 12 species in Russia, of which the most important. A) P., on the upper tail coverts of which white color predominates. 1) P. icelandic, or kerkun(Tr. canutus), folded wing 155-175 mm. The upperparts are brown, feathers with red spots and white edges; the underparts are red, but the sides, belly and undertail are white with dark spots. In winter, ash-gray above, white below with dark stripes. Breeds on Melville Island (80° north latitude) and Hudson Bay (55°); flying throughout Europe, wintering in Africa to the land of Damara, in Australia and New Zealand (flying through Japan and China) and in Brazil (flying along the Atlantic coast). In Northern Russia in spring it flies from the end of April to the end of May, back from the end of July; V Southern Russia - in October and November. 2) Redshank (Tr. subarcuata), folded wing 120-180 mm. The color resembles P. of Icelandic and in the summer plumage it is red below, like that one. Characteristic almost exclusively of the Old World; nesting sites are not yet open; flying throughout Europe and Northern Asia; winters throughout Africa, Asia to Ceylon and the Malay Archipelago and in Australia. Arrival in Northern Russia in spring from late April to late May, return from late July to September; in southern Russia in autumn from late July to October. C) P. with upper tail coverts, almost devoid of white, but the 7th, 8th and 9th flight feathers of the 2nd category are mostly white on top. 3), or Dunlin(Tr. alpina); folded wing 105-125 mm, legs completely black. On top, the head, back and shoulders are gray, each feather with a dark center and a pale edge; wing coverts, rump and tail coverts are grayish-brown with dark centers of feathers; pure white below with dark stripes on the sides of the neck and on the crop. Circumpolar view; breeds in Greenland, the British Isles, Northern Russia from Kola Peninsula to the Baltic region, in Asia to 74° north latitude, in America, probably further south; on the fly - everywhere; hibernates from Mediterranean Sea to Zanzibar, in Asia on the Mekronian coast (rare in the East Indies), in Southern China, Borneo and Java, in America (flies on both coasts) in the southern states and the West Indies. Arrives in Northern Russia from the end of April, flies in July; in southern Russia appears in early April, partly remains in the summer, flies off in November. C) P. without white on the upper tail coverts and with gray wings 7, 8 and 9, 2nd category. 4) P. vulgare, or Easter cake sparrow(Tr. minuta). Grayish-brown above, each feather with a darker middle, the entire bottom is pure white with little impurity gray on the sides of the chest. In summer, blackish-brown above, white below, yellow chest with brown spots. Legs are black. Folded wing 105 mm. Breeds in the tundra from the Kola Peninsula to the Taimyr Peninsula (74° north latitude), but in Eastern Russia much further south; migrating throughout Europe and Western Asia, wintering in Africa all the way to the south, throughout India and Ceylon. IN Central Russia in the north it flies in May, back to the St. Petersburg province from the end of July, in the central ones - from August. 5) P. small(Tr. Temmincki). The color is very close to P. vulgaris, but the legs are light, never shiny black. Breeds in the tundra from the Atlantic to Pacific Ocean and along the banks of large rivers south to 65° north latitude; overflight throughout Europe and Asia; winters in North Africa to 10° north latitude on the eastern side and to Senegambia on the western side, in Asia to Ceylon and the islands of the Malay Archipelago.

Great Sandpiper somewhat larger than the starling. A small sandpiper with short legs. Found in pairs and flocks on the ground.

Spreading. From the Verkhoyansk Range east to Chukotka Peninsula and the Koryak coast of the Bering Sea. To the north to the mountainous regions in the delta region of Kolyma and Chukotka, to the south to the Stanovoy and Dzhugdzhur ridges, the southwestern tip of Kolyma.

Biotope. Rubble placers in the mountain tundra.

Nature of stay. Migrant.

The great sandpiper nests in the alpine zone of the mountains of the Chukotka Peninsula, lingering on the sea coasts during migration. For the winter it flies to Northern Australia.

The sandpiper lays its eggs (4 grayish-yellow with reddish-brown spots) in a nesting hole, hidden in dense thickets of plants - mainly reindeer moss.

General color dark. The back is black, with rusty and light brownish spots. The underparts are white. The sides of the chest and crop are covered with black spots, forming stripes. The beak is long, the legs are greenish-brown. Young birds are duller in color. The plumage of puffer chicks perfectly matches environment and resembles in color a boulder covered with lichen.

It differs from other sandpipers in its large size, and from snails in its relatively short legs and voice. It is possible that this sandpiper is just a geographical race of the Icelandic sandpiper, however, in its breeding plumage it does not have a rufous color on the ventral side.

Literature:
1. Abstract of the ornithological fauna of the USSR. L. S. Stepanyan. Moscow, 1990
2. Boehme R.L., Kuznetsov A.A. Birds of forests and mountains of the USSR: Field guide, 1981
3. Birds of open and near-water areas of the USSR. R.L. Boehme, A.A. Kuznetsov. Moscow, 1983

The subfamily of sandpipers is the most representative troupe of small waders, living mainly in the tundra zone Northern Hemisphere. Sandpipers have a relatively small, thin beak and low legs with four toes. Only one representative- gerbils- there is no hind toe, the legs are three-toed.

In the clutch of all species, as a rule, there are 4 spotted eggs. Distribution of nesting concerns between parents different types subfamilies are very different. They feed mainly on invertebrates.

Sandpiper Sparrow (Calidris minute, table 18) like And a species close to him is the white-tailed sandpiper, - the smallest of the waders (20-30 g). The distribution area is most of the tundra zone of Eurasia. Breeds throughout the Western Siberian tundra, except its extreme south. It is interesting that the distribution of the sandpiper is very dependent on the nature of spring: the later the tundra is cleared of snow, the further south the nesting border goes.

The appearance of the sparrow sandpiper is very modest. It is reddish-gray above, with numerous red streaks, and dirty-white below. On the chest there is a blurred stripe of reddish-brown streaks. Legs are black. Males and females are colored exactly the same. The Sandpiper can be confused with the White-tailed Sandpiper, which is grayer in overall plumage tone and has yellowish-gray legs. In autumn, the color of both species is whitish-gray. At this time of year it is almost impossible to distinguish them from a distance, the only reliable sign is- leg color.

The habitats of sandpiper sparrows are tundras of various types, most often wet, both in river floodplains and on watersheds. They often nest in low bushes of dwarf birch or wild rosemary, but avoid dense and tall bushes. The Sandpiper Sparrow is one of the most numerous species of birds in the northern tundra.

Soon after spring arrival they begin nesting. Showing - flying with a simple trill - is weakly expressed. In the common sandpiper, the distribution of nesting duties is very peculiar (a similar thing is observed in the white-tailed sandpiper). When the nest is built and 4 eggs are laid in it, the male takes care of it. The female either flies off to another male, or remains with the same one and lays 4 more eggs in a new nest, which she incubates herself. Thus, for a pair of sandpipers, there are not one, but two nests. Subsequently, the male and female raise their broods.

The Sandpiper Sparrow is a very cute and surprisingly trusting bird. You can get close to a sandpiper sitting on a nest. When frightened from the nest, it usually does not fly away, but runs nearby, marks time, jumps funny and uses other methods of moving away from the nest, while squeaking softly. If you sit next to the nest and do not make sudden movements, the sandpiper, after running around, sits on the nest and continues incubation as if nothing had happened.

In the post-breeding time, Sparrow Sandpipers, often with other small waders, roam in flocks around sea ​​coasts And large rivers, and at the end of summer in large number appear on the banks of reservoirs in internal areas countries from where they fly further south very early. Some birds in the first year of life do not nest at all and do not even fly to their native north, spending the entire summer in lands far from the tundra, up to Africa and New Zealand.

White-tailed Sandpiper (Calidris temminckii, table 18) very similar to the common sandpiper, from which in spring and early summer it can be distinguished by its grayer color and yellowish-gray legs. In the white-tailed sandpiper, the border between the dark plumage of the upper chest and white (bottom of the chest and belly) is sharp, transverse, while in the sandpiper it is blurred, with a gradual transition. In autumn they differ only in the color of their legs; other differences are insignificant. Weight 20-30 g.

In its lifestyle, the white-tailed sandpiper is also similar to the sparrow sandpiper. And their habitats are similar, but the sparrow sandpiper can be called more northern view. In the Tyumen North, the white-tailed sandpiper nests from the southern forest-tundra to the Arctic coast. Unlike the sandpiper, it chooses drier areas for nesting - turfed slopes of ravines, river banks overgrown with short grass and sparse bushes, as well as poorly moistened tundra. Their nests were even found in floodplain forests among sparse grass. White-tailed Sandpipers very willingly nest in all tundra settlements. Oddly enough, they are more common here than sandpipers, which are much more trusting.

The white-tailed sandpiper has a very characteristic mating behavior. The male, rapidly fluttering his raised wings, hovers in the air in one place or flies low above the ground, emitting an endless, quiet silvery trill. Often, without stopping chatting, it sits on hummocks, bushes and other towering objects.

Nesting duties between males and females are divided in the same way as among the sparrow sandpiper, that is, each bird incubates one nest alone and leads its own brood. They are more careful at the nest than sparrows. They can let you get close, but more often they leave the nest in advance and immediately fly away, not returning for a long time. Towards the end of incubation they become less cautious and actively move away from the nest.

Dunlin (Calidris alpina, table 19). It would be better to call it “black-bellied,” because it actually does not have black feathers on its crop. A large black spot, which immediately makes it possible to distinguish the dunlin from other waders, is located on the abdomen and lower part of the chest. During the autumn molt, black feathers are replaced by white ones, so that by the time they fly away, many dunlins have a white belly. At this time, dunlin can easily be confused with other sandpipers- redshank and gerbil, but the redshank has a white rump, and the dunlin has a dark one; The gerbil is generally whitish in the fall, and the dunlin is rather gray. The dunlin is slightly smaller in size than the starling (weight 40-60 g), males and females are colored similarly.

The distribution area is the tundra of Eurasia. In addition, it breeds in the Baltic States and the European North Atlantic. Inhabits the entire tundra zone of Western Siberia, except its extreme south. Most common in middle tundras.

It lives mainly in wet tundras with lakes, but makes nests both in moss swamps with cotton grass or sedge, and on dry hillocks. Depending on the moisture content of the soil, the nest litter can be more than four centimeters thick, but it can also be almost absent.

The nesting period begins with the males, having occupied territories, beginning to actively display. Having flown off some hummock, the male describes a rapid semicircle, or even several circles, over his territory, emitting a loud and long vibrating trill: “vir-vir-vir-vir-virrirrrrryry.” The trill starts out not very loud, then the sound increases and becomes quieter again towards the end. They often display hovering in the air, almost in place. Later, when there is disturbance at the nest, both males and females emit similar, but shorter and quieter trills. Sometimes females mat like males and participate in protecting the territory from other dunlins.

Male and female form a strong pair, the clutches are incubated alternately. Even the same birds behave very differently on the nest. Most often, when a person approaches, they leave the nest in advance and greet the intruder with their alarming trill, already standing on a hummock somewhere at a distance, or silently fly away. Sometimes, usually at the end of incubation, they let them come close and sit on the nest literally before our eyes. Sometimes they are taken away from the nest, hunched over and running around.

At first, the chicks are led by a male and a female, but after a few days the females leave their broods and begin migrating, gathering in flocks. Males leave already fledged chicks or join wandering flocks with children.

It is known that dunlins begin nesting only in the second year of life. Most first-year birds meet their first spring either at wintering sites in southern Europe, Asia, Africa and even America, or in more northern latitudes, on the lakes of the middle zone. Only a very few young ones, wandering in flocks, reach the nesting sites of their more mature fellow tribesmen. Dunlins very often return to their last year's nesting site.

Redshank (Calidris ferruginea, table 19) slightly larger in size than a dunlin, weighing 50- 95 g. In spring and in the first half of summer it is all bright red, which makes it stand out well among other small waders. In autumn, it differs from the dunlin in having a white rump and a longer, slightly curved beak. By this time, the red feathers are partially or completely replaced by white ones.

The nesting range is the northern tundra of Siberia east of the Yenisei. Apparently, it does not nest on Yamal and Gydan every year.

IN mating season The redshank's voice is a ringing trill and a kind of “whining” whistle. There is no consensus among ornithologists about how nesting care is distributed in a pair. The only immutable fact remains that the “holy truth” is that the female lays the eggs. And then, apparently, it happens differently. There are known facts when both the male and the female were worried at the nest or brood. In other cases, only one bird incubated the clutch and carried the chicks. Both males and females were found in the role of solitary caregiver. This suggests that a pair can have either one or two nests. But this is just a guess for now.

Otherwise, redlins are similar in lifestyle to dunlins. They winter in Africa, Madagascar, Australia and South Asia.

Gerbil (Calidris alba, table 18) similar in size to the dunlin, slightly smaller, shorter-legged and short-billed. Its coloration is more similar to that of a sandpiper, with which it can be confused, despite the difference in size. The gerbil's chest is covered with red feathers with dark spots. This dark area of ​​​​the plumage has a clear border with the white color of the lower chest and abdomen. In the common sandpiper this transition is gradual and the chest is generally lighter in color. In autumn, gerbils are very light-colored, so that from a distance they look almost white, with grayer upperparts. The most significant difference between the gerbil and other sandpipers- three-toed feet. True, it is difficult to see from a distance.

The distribution is circumpolar, it nests mainly on the islands of the High Arctic and only here and there in the northern continental tundras. In Yamal we saw non-breeding gerbils during the migration period, and molting ones in the summer. But these encounters are not so rare; it is possible that gerbils nest in the far north of Yamal and Gydan, at least in some years.

In addition to the described species of sandpipers, which are more or less regularly found and nest on Yamal, Gydan and the Tazovsky Peninsula, three more should be mentioned. Once at Cape Kamenny we discovered large gray blower (Calidris melanotos, table 20) and even found his nest. This was the only recorded case of finding a pomeranian west of Taimyr. New discoveries are possible.

On migration in the northern tundras, two more species of large sandpipers are occasionally encountered, nesting in the high latitudes of the Arctic - the sea (Calvdris maritima, table 20), very dark, both in spring and autumn, with orange-yellow legs, and Icelandic (Calidris canutus, table 20)- red-brown, like the redbreast, but larger, short-legged and short-billed.

Philomachus Pugnax, table 21) is an amazing representative of not only the waders, but also the entire bird tribe. According to its systematic affiliation, it belongs to the subfamily of sandpipers, but bears little resemblance to them both in appearance and in terms of its lifestyle.

Turukhtans are distributed over a large area of ​​tundra, forest-tundra and taiga zones of our continent, including throughout Western Siberia, except for the northernmost, arctic tundras.

The uniqueness of Turukhtan is that By spring, males grow elongated feathers on their head and neck- collars, which are so differently colored that it is very difficult to find two males similar to each other in the spring. Collars can be from deep black to pure white, ocher, dark red, almost red, any transitional colors, as well as piebald in all sorts of combinations.

- medium sized sandpiper. Males weight 180-250, females 90-130 g. As you can see, males are twice as heavy as females. The difference in size is clearly visible to the eye, V autumn time males and females have the same coloring: reddish-gray with ocher and brown streaks throughout the body, except for the dirty white belly. The longitudinal streaks on the back and upper side of the wings are especially large. The legs of most turukhtans, both males and females, are orange, but in young birds up to two years old they are yellow or greenish-gray. The coloring of females and males in the autumn season is subject to significant variations, although not as pronounced as in the spring males.

In autumn, turukhtans should be distinguished from goldfinches by their shorter beak, dark rump and the presence of red tones in the plumage, from fifi- also by redder color and larger size, from large sandpipers (dunlin and redshank)- in size and long legs.

The coloring of males repeats every spring because it is genetically programmed.

In spring, Turukhtans are perhaps the most noticeable waders. Even on migration, they attract attention with their motley gatherings - currents, when the males puff up their feathers, flap their wings, bow, crouch, jump, and pretend to be in a fight. Moreover, this entire performance takes place completely silently, only the flapping of the wings of the tournament participants can be heard. When the moths fly to their nesting sites, mating intensifies even more. From year to year there are constant currents. Usually these are hillocks that stand out on the flat tundra or inconspicuous meadows, clearings or the outskirts of swamps. By summer, the lek becomes completely trampled, as if it were not waders running there, but large ungulates. In addition to permanent currents, there are also temporary ones, lasting only one spring or even less, not to mention one-time ones, where a migratory flock of turklings lands to rest and feed.

Not all males have equal rights to the lek. There are one or several males that are almost always present at the mating area. They are called currenters or - in a very detective way - “residents”. They are larger, most often have a dark or dark red collar. On the central platform of the lek there are tiny, especially trampled “patch”, each of which belongs to a specific “resident”. Males of lower ranks stay around the periphery of the current. Some of these participants in the current are not constant; they can fly from one current to another, which the “residents” do not allow themselves.

At times the current subsides, the males sleep, standing on one leg, or lie with their legs tucked under them. But as soon as a bird flies past, at least somewhat reminiscent of a rooster, the current immediately comes to life, and immediately the jumping, flapping of wings, and cock-to-nose confrontations begin again. By the way, in many northern regions The local population calls turukhtans nothing more than cockerels. There is a reason.

Females, which are not always present at the lek, cause a violent revival with their appearance. They are so small and inconspicuous that they seem to be representatives of some other species. Having wandered around with an indifferent look among the swaggering males, the female flies away, and one or more tournament participants are sure to follow her. There, far from the current, they will sort things out more seriously than on the current, where real fights almost never happen.

Females make nests in the surrounding tundra or on the outskirts of a body of water at a distance of up to one to three kilometers from the lek. Most of all they love sedge swamps, moss-covered cotton grass, and similar places. The nest is always under the cover of grass, abundantly lined with dry plant material - grass or leaves. In a clutch, with rare exceptions, there are 4 eggs, which are incubated only by the female.

Gradually, the activity of the currents decreases, fewer and fewer males fly to them, and even those are just “present” at it. By the beginning - mid-July, the lecterns are empty. The males fly away to moult in coastal swamps and marshy meadows, and some of them immediately migrate to the south.

Females sit on the nests for about three weeks. They behave differently at the nest. Even the same female sometimes lets her come close and flies out from under her feet, after which she begins to diligently pretend to be a wounded animal, or sometimes leaves the nest in advance and quietly moves away. Towards the end of incubation, and especially after the chicks hatch, the cowbirds become very restless. Now they fly out towards danger, run nearby, trying to attract attention, or fly around, quacking muffledly. Males also occasionally quack when frightened. You won’t hear any other sounds from the turukhtans.

Broods live in grassy floodplains and near the shores of shallow lakes. Long before the young fledglings, the females fly away from them for good. Grown-up chicks skillfully hide, hiding in the grass at the slightest danger, so that they are rarely seen. At the end of summer, having learned to fly, they join flocks of molted adult turukhat. The wintering grounds of turukhtans are located in Africa and South Asia.

Class: Birds Order: Charadriiformes Family: Snipe Genus: Sandpipers Species: Great Sandpiper

Great Sandpiper - Calidris tenuirostris

Appearance.

The largest of the sandpipers (much larger than the starling). The beak is long, almost like that of a snail. The top is brownish-motley with red, the bottom is white, there are large rounded spots on the chest, the rump is light. Legs greenish-brown. In winter the upperparts are grey, the chest is less streaked. Young people are dimmer.

Lifestyle.

An inhabitant of mountain tundras, during non-breeding times it stays along sea coasts. Migrant. Rare. It nests in gravelly areas with lichens and patches of herbaceous vegetation.

The nest is an open hole among moss moss. The clutch in mid-June consists of 4 eggs with a grayish-yellowish background and abundant red-brown spots. The chicks are led exclusively by the male. The voice is a low whistling sound.

It differs from other sandpipers in its large size, and from snails, which it is very similar to, in its relatively short legs and voice (without special skills, an error cannot be ruled out).

Reference books by geographer and traveler V.E. Flint, R.L. Boehme, Yu.V. Kostin, A.A. Kuznetsov. Birds of the USSR. Publishing house "Mysl" Moscow, edited by prof. G.P. Dementieva. Image: Date September 2002 Source Own work Author Aviceda



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