Funny bird turukhtan. Turukhtan (Philomachus pugnax)

The Turukhtan bird is a very interesting individual in the bird world. This representative belongs to the snipe family, has a small size and a peculiar appearance, for which it received different names in different places. If you translate the name into Russian from Latin, it will turn out something like “fight lover / bully”. In the east, there is the word kurakhtan, under which they united all birds that were somehow similar to domestic chickens. In Rus' and later it was called a small cockerel, a bryzhach, a millet. Severe northerners called turukhtan names depending on their appearance - bearish, deer, wolf. Males are easy to distinguish from females in size, and with the onset of the mating season, a flock of birds turns into a real booth full of colorful colors, noise and action.

Description of turukhtan

At first glance, it may seem that this species is not very different from the rest of the family. Long legs, pointed beak and coloration dominated by brown, white and black. But if you look closely, you can immediately determine that the turukhtan met, and not another bird. The body is well-fed, but not knocked down, smoothly passes into a long neck, passing into a small head. The beak is not particularly long, has the shape of an arc, bent down. The legs are pancake, the tail is slightly rounded, and the wings are thinner and more wedge-shaped than in other species.

Males and females of this species have a number of significant differences, due to which many people believe that they are looking at completely different birds. It’s worth starting with the fact that the female is much smaller than the stronger sex. The male grows up to 32 centimeters in length, and opens its wings to all 60 centimeters. Females reach their maximum of 25 centimeters, with a wingspan of 45 to 50 centimeters. The weight of a male can be: in a young individual - 150 grams, in an adult - 300 grams. For females, this is 75 - 155 grams. The differences don't end there. The beak and paws of an adult male are colored orange or reddish. In young and females, the legs may be yellow-gray, greenish-gray, brown. The beak of females is grey, some have pink patches.

Among males, there are also differences in size. There are individuals that do not grow to their maximum size, remaining larger than the female, but smaller than the large males. They are called "feds".

Birds of both sexes are distinguished by the fact that they have an uneven, but clearly visible white stripe along the outer part of the wing plumage. The rump and tip of the tail are also white. Otherwise, their plumage is full of brown, reddish, brown, black and white tones. The chest and back are lighter than the wings. The belly is closer to white.

Moult

During the year, individuals of different sexes shed their plumage several times. Males do this more often. At certain intervals, a complete or partial change of the pen occurs. The beginning and the most interesting period can be considered April, when the males acquire a marriage attire. Bare areas of skin on the neck are overgrown with a wide, large pillow of feathers, and more “ears” appear on the head. Colors can be any: purple, purple, red, white, black, green, orange - any! Often the plumage is combined in several colors, forming an incredible outfit. Warts swell around the eyes, most often in bright colors - orange, red, yellow. The colors of the females at this time do not change, remaining gray - green, brown, brown. It is noted that they only become more saturated.

Many researchers, based on their observations of turukhtan during the mating season, argue that at this time, there are no males similar to each other.

After the mating season, all this colorful tinsel and bright warts gradually disappear. By mid-autumn, the plumage completely sheds, acquiring the usual tones for turukhtan. Summer molt in females lasts longer. Males change into winter attire until December, for females it drags on almost until January. The first molt in the life of a turukhtan occurs in autumn, in warm September, and the next one comes in the spring, along with all adult representatives.

After winter, before the start of the mating season, both sexes undergo a partial change of plumage. But if it does not continue for the weaker sex and they acquire a ready-made wedding attire, then the stronger sex acquires dark plumage, which will fall out along with the remnants of the winter scale in a month and a half. In its place, a marvelous, unique outfit will grow to attract the second half.

Range and habitats

Turukhtan loves to settle in areas where there are ponds, rivers, lakes, bays, swamps nearby. Females like to settle in a lowland, where it is constantly damp, in wet meadows, inflows of rivers, where there is a lot of vegetation, sedge, tall grass, and shrubs. Males, in turn, spend time on drier pieces of land, overgrown with grass, swamp moss. Such places help birds, providing them with food from stagnant pools and shelter. For wintering, flooded rice and winter fields, meadows not far from water bodies, and places flooded by seasonal rains are populated. Turukhtan does not like salt water, but in some winter hauls there are sea lagoons, quiet backwaters.

For a turukhtan, it does not matter at all, the specific place of residence. Many birds, returning to their native lands, settle in the same places every year. Representatives of this type of attachment do not have and can choose any place they like for housing.

As for the range, given that the turukhtan migrates at different times of the year, the range is very wide. The cold months are waiting in Africa, Australia, Western Europe, Asia. It is considered common to meet a bird in the northern latitudes of Eurasia. Here she settled from Scandinavia and the British Isles to Kolyma. Distributed from France, Great Britain to Chukotka, the Bering Sea. They inhabit the area up to the Arctic Ocean, living on the Arctic coast. Observers happened to meet this species in Alaska, North America, Canada, Iceland, Kazakhstan. The nesting of birds here is an unusual phenomenon, but freedom-loving representatives of birds can fly there too.

If we compare the population size in different parts of the planet, then Russia has the most representatives of this species. In Russia, this number has exceeded 2 million individuals. It is followed by Sweden, where more than 120 thousand individuals were recorded, in Finland this figure is from 80 thousand, in Norway more than 30 thousand.

What does the turukhtan bird eat

Turukhtan goes fishing at night or already at dusk. During the day he is cautious. With the onset of darkness, he searches for food in shallow water, in the pond, the cart of which he lives, in stagnant puddles, flooded areas. It also digs soft earth, silt, mud with its beak.

Turukhtan has a different menu in winter and summer. In the summer, the turukhtan prefers to hunt for animal food, and in the cold season it looks for plant food.

Depending on living conditions, weather conditions, seasonality and even time of day, the diet changes between plant and animal foods. As for animal food, these are:

• Beetles.
• Flies, mosquitoes, weevils.
• Water bugs.
• Chironomids and their larvae.
• Larvae of marmots and caddisflies.
• Mollusks, crustaceans.

For a change in the summer diet, they eat sedge, saxifrage, and their seeds. They find and eat underground highlander bulbs.

In winter, getting animal food is problematic. The menu changes to vegetable components - seeds of herbs, flowers, sedges, aquatic plants. In some regions where turukhtan settles, fields sown with cereals are located nearby. Then turukhtan causes significant damage to the crop by eating grain. In rainy times, such food is in abundance, but with the onset of drought, one has to look for seeds in cracks in the ground, break sand and gravel.

Wintering in Africa, on the sea coasts, turukhtan does not limit itself to animal food. He looks for spiders, midges, larvae, worms and other living creatures near warm sea waters, sometimes swims near the shore and collects food right on the water.

Reproduction and offspring

Turukhtan reaches puberty after two years of life. The tapping is going very fast. Demonstrations are not limited to showing off colorful plumage. Males sort things out in fights. A suitable site is selected, males pair up and fight. The winning pair is considered the strongest. Both the male and the female can choose a partner. Birds mate several times with different partners, for this the female, after the first mating, flies to another clearing, where she continues to look for her next partner. Before mating, a courtship process takes place when the female rubs against the motley "mane" of her chosen one. Sometimes there is such a situation that the male purposefully pursues the female, waits for her to stop for feeding or rest, and forces her to mate.

There are always favorites and outsiders on the current. Most males fly to the same place each season, which gives competitors the opportunity to evaluate each other and know in what form and what other birds are capable of.

Males do not take part in the process of hatching, building a nest, raising offspring. The female herself chooses a place not far from the current, no more than half a kilometer, builds a nest for herself and makes a clutch. The clutch usually consists of 4 to 5 eggs, which are hidden among the reeds or dry grass. Incubation lasts up to three weeks, then the chicks hatch. In the first month, the chicks are weak, do not have good plumage. The mother helps them look for food, cares, protects them and warms them. It takes about 4 weeks and the strengthened feathers are already suitable for flying, young birds begin to leave the nest in search of food, explore the world around them.

Dangers and Enemies

The life expectancy of Turukhtan is about 5-6 years. There are individuals who live longer, for example, the age of the longest-lived was 14 years. The life span is strongly influenced by a large number of natural enemies, hunters and lifestyle. Constant flights, change of scenery, resettlement in new places, unknown dangers, all this is exposed to a masterful bird, which can end up anywhere after migration.

In habitats, birds of prey remain the most dangerous enemies: common raven, gray raven, gulls, skua. Terrestrial lovers of bird meat - fox, arctic fox, wild cats, ermines. The hunting of these predators is especially successful at the moments of mating flirting, on the currents, which are scattered, make up a large extent. Birds are carried away, forget about everything and lose their vigilance. Sneaking up and grabbing them is not difficult.

Population and species status

Turukhtan is very common, flocks number dozens of individuals, live not far from each other. Sometimes flocks are very large, even up to hundreds of individuals. According to researchers, almost 5 million individuals of this species now live in the world. The mating takes place in large areas, then the bird occupies many clearings and clean spaces, flies from place to place. The warlike character sometimes leads to such an effect that several pairs of males start a fight, and more and more individuals join them. And now there is a real massacre, to which the female half is not averse to join. Everything is noisy and spectacular, but it's just window dressing. There were no injured or injured. At the end, the birds calmly disperse or sit side by side, putting the feathers in order.

There are farms that specifically breed this bird. But such an occupation is not very profitable, as it requires a lot of attention, finances and labor. Close the bird in the cage will not work. Her character and lifestyle are not suitable for captivity. Constant migrations, flights among leks, a changeable choice of place to live in seasons, an irregular partner, make this representative an unsuitable object for breeding. Keeping in kennels leads to such a disease as torticollis, which is associated with a deterioration in the condition of the skeleton and muscle tissues, and is the cause of death.

Taste and dishes from turukhtan

Turukhtan is quite large, therefore it is of considerable interest to hunters. Its meat is not very fatty, so for cooking it is better to leave the skin on the carcass in order to preserve softness and juiciness. During cooking, it is better to constantly pour your own juice or add a small piece of bacon, then the dish will not burn, will not dry out, and will have a wonderful aroma.

Having shot turukhtan on the hunt, it can be easily cooked in the wild. The carcass can be plucked or smeared with clay, then after cooking all the feathers will easily separate. The disadvantage of this method is the impossibility of processing the meat in advance with spices and salt. You can also bake in a hastily assembled stone oven, in a dug hole or on a wooden spit over a fire. In the home kitchen, it lends itself well to frying, stewing, baking, and delicious broths are obtained on its basis. Like the meat of any forest bird, turukhtan goes well with forest products - mushrooms, berries, herbs, nuts.

Here's one awesome way to cook a bird around a campfire while out in the wild. First you need to pluck the carcass. Leave the skin on so that the meat does not dry out. Before processing with spices, it must be wrapped and then pulled on top. Find a spot near a rock, and look for more flat rocks. Dig a small depression at the base, cover it with stones, light a fire there. While the branches are burning, look for berries in the area, they should be, as the birds eat them. Mash the berries. Lubricate the carcass first with salt, then with the resulting berry puree. Cover it with skin. Remove the burnt-out hall from the makeshift stove, and in its place lay branches that are not too thin with a mesh. Put a carcass on them and cover the oven with branches or cuts of tree bark to keep warm and debris out. The dish will be cooked within an hour, as the poultry meat is very soft and tender. The aroma and taste will be simply indescribable!

... The waders fought. Crouching in a characteristic fighting pose, fluffing and raising their collars on end, putting forward their long rapier beaks, they conducted the tournament according to all the rules. Like real village roosters, they belligerently jumped on each other, kicked, crossed their beaks and parried blows with their wings. Feathers flew in all directions, half-open mouths spoke of fatigue and unbearable thirst. But the duelists continued to swagger - they jumped up and down, stubbornly attacked and repulsed the attacks. They will look down, peck at the ground to deceive, while not forgetting to vigilantly monitor the intentions of the enemy, and again begin a stormy fight.

Turukhtans were of various colors: one with a black speckled collar-mane, the other with a bright red collar and white mustaches, like a gray-haired grandfather's.

It was a stormy polar spring. The sun warmed the earth day and night. The shore of the lake where this tournament took place was not deserted. They busily ran along the mudflat, collecting goats, several small sandpipers, as tall as . And next to the fighters, going knee-deep into shallow water, several female turukhtans were having breakfast - those for whom this fierce duel took place. Strange, but they seemed to be indifferent to the fighting ardor of the colorful cavaliers and the outcome of the battle itself. Epic indifference was seen in their stately figures. They had a carefree breakfast. The water bugs and snails they caught on the shore were probably more important than the picture poses that miniature cockerels showed in front of them.

Plumage color features

Turukhtan is very original. It is also called field cockerel. He's a little smaller. Here, in the Far East, it lives in the tundra and forest-tundra, and to the south it is found only on migrations. spring turukhtan flaunts a magnificent frill - a collar of multi-colored feathers and an intricate hairstyle - ears. The color of such knightly ammunition is amazingly diverse: from pure white or cream to blue-black, with any tint and pattern - spots, strokes and specks. Each is painted in its own way. You won't find exactly the same.

Among turukhtans, not only the color of the feather of the collar is variable, but also the color of the ears, beak, legs and the entire head with colored warts on the front. The color of the legs also changes slightly in females.

The northern peoples, based on the color of plumage, give turukhtans various names. For example, a wader with a black or brown collar is called a “turukhtan bear”, with a white or cream collar it is called a “turukhtan deer”, and with a dark yellow or gray collar it is called a “turukhtan wolf”, and so on.

Nesting and habitat

Turukhtans are polygamous and do not create permanent pairs. Having finished the current fighting games in early June, the cockerels fly away, leaving all the care of the nest to their random girlfriend. Somewhere on a hummock, among the wet tundra, the female builds a nest, incubates eggs and breeds Easter cakes. A caring mother jealously guards her chicks and, in case of danger, hastily takes them away from the nest.

Once, in the month of May, during a trip to Kolyma, three ringed turukhtans fell into my hands. All were mined in the vicinity of the village of Zyryanka, Verkhnekolymsky district of Yakutia. Two of them were ringed in India, in Bombay, and the third male with a dapper, blue-black striped collar was on the island of Helgoland. But this island is located in the southeastern part of the North Sea.

Previously, in Siberia, in central Yakutia and in Kolyma, Turukhtans, ringed in Italy, France and Finland, were also repeatedly met. There were even individuals with African rings - from Kenya and Nigeria.

All these findings once again confirm the fact that turukhtans nesting in the tundra and forest-tundra of Siberia and Yakutia fly in the autumn in a western and south-western direction. Then, through the countries of Europe and Asia, they follow for wintering to the very south of Asia and Africa, where they even cross the equator. And in spring, Turukhtans fly back to their nesting places, only through European countries.

Latin name - Philomachus pugnax
English name - Ruff, reeve
Class - birds
Order - Charadriiformes
Family - snipe Scolopacidae

This wader is distinguished by unusually pronounced sexual, and in males, seasonal, dimorphism.

The first description of the species appeared in the "System of Nature" by the famous Swedish physician and naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1735. The Latin name of the sandpiper fully reflects its behavior. The word "Philomachus" is formed from two ancient Greek words meaning "lover" and "battle", while the word "pugnax" is of Latin origin and translates as "martial".

conservation status

The species is quite numerous and widespread, therefore it does not have any special conservation status.

The largest nesting population of turukhtans was noted in Russia - 1 mil. pairs, and the total number of the species is about 2 mil. steam.

In Finland, Poland, the Netherlands and Lithuania, the number of turukhtans has more than halved in recent years. This is a continuation of the general trend in Europe over the last 2 centuries. The main reasons are the drainage of swamps, the intensive use of mineral fertilizers, hayfields in the meadows. Nevertheless, the International Union for Conservation of Nature classifies turukhtans as species with the least risk of existence.

View and person

At present, there are no special relationships between this wader and a person, since now it has no hunting value and does not have any influence on the human economy. However, in the recent past, in the 19th century, turukhtans were hunted, as well as woodcocks, snipes, great snipes. There used to be Turukhtan Islands in St. Petersburg, the name of which suggests that Turukhtans nested here in the 19th century. At present, these islands have been lost, but the road to the Turukhtanny Islands (travel in the Kirovsky district of St. Petersburg) has been preserved to this day. Now you can admire the magnificent picture of the current of turukhtans, having got into our northern regions in the spring. And the spectacle is unforgettable!

Distribution and habitats

The range of turukhtan covers the northern part of Eurasia from the British Isles and Scandinavia in the west to the lower reaches of the Kolyma and Anadyr in the east. From north to south, its range extends from the arctic tundra (sets at a latitude of 72-73o) to the middle taiga zone. To the south there are only single nesting centers.
The most typical nesting biotopes of turukhtan are swamps and wet grassy meadows.
Turukhtans winter in tropical Africa.

Appearance

Turukhtan is a medium-sized, long-legged, slender wader, and the male looks much larger and more massive than the female. Its body length is 28–33 cm, wingspan 50–58 cm, weight 120–310 g. Females are smaller in size: body length 22–27 cm, wingspan 46–52 cm, weight 70–150 g. in the character and color of plumage in the nesting period. The male and female are so different from each other that in the 19th century hunters mistook them for different birds.

In winter, both birds are colored approximately the same: a uniform grayish-brown upperparts with dark streaks and a white belly. The beak is also grayish-brown, and only the orange legs stand out against the general background.
In breeding attire, males grow lush multi-colored collars on the neck, peculiar feather “ears” on the sides of the head, patches of orange or yellow warty skin form around the eyes, and the beak becomes brighter - orange-yellow. In different males, the color of the collar can be very diverse - from white to red, with and without a metallic sheen, striped, speckled, etc. But the most interesting thing is that in one flock to find two males with the same breeding color almost impossible. According to ornithologists, such a variety of colors helps these silent waders to recognize each other during mating ceremonies.

Juveniles are very similar to autumnal adults, but with a buffy tinge; their legs are greyish-green.

Lifestyle and social behavior

The brightest thing in the life of turukhtans is, of course, their spring mating games. Arriving at the nesting sites (and sometimes also on the way), the males, already dressed in their luxurious multi-colored plumage, arrange group currents, which gather several dozen birds.

They straighten their collars and "ears", bounce, bow, squat, jump on each other. However, the birds do not even touch each other, this is not a real fight, but a kind of tournament duel or performance. Periodically, the current stops, the birds freeze in bizarre poses, the collars are lowered, and then everything starts all over again. In the north, during the polar day, these currents run almost around the clock. Currents are both permanent and temporary, moving from place to place.

Not all males on the lek behave in the same way. There are so-called "territorial" ones that protect their small individual area within the boundaries of the general current. And then there are those who stay on the outskirts of the common current, do not enter into “battles”, but manage to mate with females, while the “territorial” males sort things out among themselves. In recent years, ornithologists have been able to find out the relationship between mating strategy and collar coloration. So peripheral males most often have light collars, and "territorial" - dark with a metallic sheen. But quite recently it was possible to discover that there is a third type of males, very similar in color to gray, nondescript females. They practically do not take part in currents, but they also manage to mate with females. Females visit the lek regularly, and mating usually takes place somewhere nearby. Sometimes the same female can mate successively with different males. Shortly after mating, the females build a nest and lay their eggs, while the males leave the lekking areas and fly away to molting areas on coasts and swamps rich in food. All their amazing beauty disappears, and they become similar in color to females. Post-nesting migrations go all summer (sometimes in a northerly direction), and by the end of July they turn into autumn migrations.

In the conditions of the North, especially during the period of currents, turukhtans are active almost around the clock. In flight, they keep in dense shapeless flocks, constantly maneuvering synchronously.
Turukhtans have many enemies in nature. Nests are destroyed by large gulls and skuas, crows, birds of prey, and mammals - arctic foxes and foxes. During the current, males lose their vigilance and become easy prey for many predators.

Vocalization

Turukhtans are very silent birds, sometimes only they make a sound similar to grunting.

Feeding and feeding behavior

Unlike other waders, turukhtans are characterized by a sharp seasonal difference in diet. In summer, the basis of food is aquatic and terrestrial insects and their larvae (beetles, flies, mosquitoes, water bugs, caddisfly larvae).

In winter, plant foods (seeds of various herbs and aquatic plants) dominate. In West Africa, wintering flocks of turukhtans can even cause damage to agriculture by feeding on grain in human-cultivated fields, such as rice fields.

During feeding, they are active both in the light and in the dark. They get food from the surface of the earth or plants, sometimes immersing their beak in liquid mud, or feed in shallow water. There are observations (wintering in East Africa) when Turukhtans foraged by swimming in the water and collecting food from its surface.

Reproduction and parenting behavior

Turukhtans are polygamous birds (males can mate with several females), but females can sometimes mate with several males. Males do not take part in incubation and upbringing of chicks. Females build nests in damp places away from the current, usually no further than 400 m.

The beginning of laying, depending on the latitude of the area, falls on mid-March - early July.

The nest is made from the stems of various herbaceous plants and is abundantly lined with last year's leaves and dry blades of grass. Like most waders, the turukhtan clutch has 4 eggs, which lie in the nest with sharp ends inward. The background of the shell varies from ocher to greenish with brown or reddish spots. The incubating female is very cautious and, in case of danger, at first, bending down, quietly runs away from the nest and only then takes off. Incubation lasts 20–23 days. Brood-type chicks are covered with dense brownish down with a slight reddish coating. From the first days, they can already quite independently get food - small invertebrate animals, which are pecked from the grass. However, in the first days, the females still warm the chicks. At the same time, they become very restless, often flying from place to place and taking away from the brood. The young fledge at the age of 25–28 days; the females leave the brood long before this time. Young fly away for wintering last, not earlier than August-September.

Young turukhtans become capable of reproduction the very next year.

Lifespan

On average, the life expectancy of turukhtans is about 4.5 years. The maximum known age in nature is registered in Finland - 13 years and 11 months.

life in the zoo

Unfortunately, we still have only 1 male turukhtan in our collection and he lives in one of the aviaries of the Bird House in the Old Territory. Despite the loneliness, in the spring he still has a wedding dress, a collar and “ears” grow. The ornithology department plans to increase the number of turukhtans, and then visitors will be able to admire their spring current.

He receives about 200 g of vegetable and animal feed daily, with about 40 g of vegetable food (millet, carrots, cabbage, onions) and 175 g of animals (meat, fish, squid, cottage cheese, egg, flour worm). etc.).

Refers to waders, and has a great many names. Its name came from the eastern word "kurakhtan", the so-called chicken-like birds.

In Russia, he used to have names: millet, bryzhach, cockerel and many others. The peoples of the north are also not far behind, and, in turn, came up with many different nicknames for Turukhtan, depending on their appearance. So they have "Turukhtan-bear", "Turukhtan-deer", "Turukhtan-wolf" and the like.

Appearance of turukhtan

The dimensions of the turukhtan are small - it is slightly larger. The male and female are in different weight categories - the weaker sex is much smaller. male body length turukhtana about 30 cm, and the weight 120-300 grams. The female is about 25 cm in size and weighs 70-150 grams.

Appearance in normal times is quite standard for all variegated and long-legged waders, and only in the mating season males flaunt a rich outfit of multi-colored feathers.

Small outgrowths appear on the bare area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe scalp, beautiful collars and ears are assembled from feathers. The rest of the time they can be distinguished only by larger sizes than those of females.

The coloration of both is grayish-brown, the abdomen is slightly lighter than the back. In general, the appearance of a male turukhtan changes 2-3 times during the year. Birds molt frequently. On the photo of turukhtans you can see how diverse their colors can be, it is difficult to find two identical birds.

Females are always the same gray-green color. You can also distinguish different variations in the color of the legs, depending on the age of the bird. So in females and young turukhtans(individuals not older than three years), the legs are gray-green, brown.

In adult males, they are bright orange. beak turukhtana birds not long, in males orange, the color of the legs. In females, the beak is dark gray, but it can have a glamorous pink tip. On each wing and above the rump, all turukhtans have a white stripe of feathers.

One feature of some male turukhtans can be distinguished. Ornithologists call the birds that possess it "federas". They do not have any special signs of difference, it's just that these males do not reach the usual ones in size, but at the same time they are larger than females.

There is no way to distinguish them if you do not catch and measure the length of the wing. This fact was found out only during anatomical research. At the autopsy of the dead individuals, it became clear that these seemingly too large females are actually male. They can also be calculated by their behavior in the flock - males can attack feders, as well as ordinary males. They don't get into fights with females.

Turukhtan habitat

Turukhtan is a typical migratory bird. Wintering spends mainly in warm Africa. For nesting, it returns to the northern part of Eurasia, east to Anadyr and Kolyma. area turukhtan habitats in Europe and Asia, it occurs in the tundra from Great Britain and northwestern France to Chukotka and the Sea of ​​Okhotsk. To the north they can reach the very Arctic, to Taimyr and Yamal. From the east, the range is limited to the shores of the Arctic Ocean.

The highest nesting density is in Russia (more than 1 million pairs). Sweden (61000 pairs), Finland (39000 pairs), Norway (14000 pairs) follow the statistics. It is difficult to establish the lower boundary of the nesting range, since turukhtans often fly far south of the tundra. For nesting, wet meadows and grassy swamps are chosen.

Turukhtan's lifestyle

Turukhtan's character very cocky. Not for nothing, translated from Latin, his name means "militant lover of a fight." This is not accidental, since these current handsome men, first of all, show themselves not to females, but bully males.

In spring, they flock to nesting sites, and painted in a wide variety of colors, fluff their collars and ears, begin to run around their territory, attracting the attention of other males.

Excited opponents selflessly fight each other. Even if the birds are scared at this moment, they will fly away and continue their fights. Sometimes the flock is very large, there are many males, then it doesn’t matter who to fight against, the process of the battle itself is important. In such a situation, even the females are given a common fighting spirit, and they also try to take part in the battles.

But these seemingly fierce battles are just window dressing. Having played enough, they will calmly sit side by side, completely safe and sound. The most cocky males can be identified by the color of the collar - the brighter it is, the more aggressive the male.

These are called dominants. Individuals with white collars are called satellites (satellites), they are usually very calm. The activity of turukhtans falls on the daylight hours. In the conditions of the northern polar day, birds lek almost around the clock.

Turukhtan nutrition

The main feature regarding nutrition is that turukhtans share food by season. So in summer they prefer animal food, and in winter almost only vegetable food. They almost always feed in shallow water. But they can also pick up food from the ground, or fish it out of liquid mud.

In summer, flies, water bugs, mosquitoes, caddisfly larvae, bugs, crustaceans, mollusks, and small fish are caught. In winter, they feed on grass seeds and aquatic plants. On wintering grounds, they can even harm agricultural plantings of rice by pecking at its grains.

Reproduction and life expectancy of turukhtan

Turukhtans do not differ in fidelity to each other - both sexes are polygamous. Just as males can mate with several females, so females do not wait for one single one. After puberty, which occurs at 2 years, the female builds a nest in March-June (depending on the latitude of the area).

Having copulated with one or more males, the female alone incubates the clutch, which usually contains 4 eggs. She equips the nest according to her taste from plant building materials, abundantly lining it with last year's soft foliage and grass.

In case of danger, the female will not immediately fly up from the nest, so as not to give out its location, but first run away from it. After 20-23 days, babies hatch, covered with thick brown fluff.

From the first days they are completely independent and can even get their own food, which crawls next to them on the grass. Females continue to warm their children for several more days, monitoring the situation around the nest in order to lead the enemy away from the chicks in case of danger.

After about a month, the young rise to the wing. But they are the last to leave for wintering, not earlier than August. The average life expectancy is about 4.5 years. Turukhtan would live longer if it were not for him hunting both human and natural enemies. In past years, turukhtan was mined on an industrial scale, and now it is being hunted for sport.

Batalyon (earlier - Turukhtan)

The whole territory of Belarus

Snipe family - Scolopacidae.

Monotypic species, does not form subspecies.

A small breeding migratory and fairly common transit migratory species. Relatively rare almost everywhere, most numerous in Polissya.

Sandpipers of medium size with pronounced sexual dimorphism. Males and females in breeding plumage differ in color, plumage and size. Males at this time have elongated feathers on the sides of the back of the head ("ears"), on the sides and front of the neck ("collar"). The front part of the head is not feathered and covered with colored warts (“millet”). The feathers of the “collar” and “ears”, as well as the chest, back and wings of different birds are painted in different colors (white, pale yellow, red, brown, black, black-green, etc.) in a wide variety of combinations, so that it is almost impossible to pick up two males of exactly the same color. The back part of the back, rump and tail are grayish-brown with black streaks, the belly is white. Legs are often gray-green or red-yellow, rarely other colors. The female is not so brightly colored, although it is also variable; There is no “collar” and “ears”, gray-brown tones prevail. The top is variegated with dark brown feathers in the center with buffy and whitish edges and tops. The bottom is white. Concerning breeding and summer attire, females are colored almost the same throughout the year. In summer and juvenile attire, both sexes are colored the same. Legs greenish-yellow or orange. Beak and iris dark brown. Males are also larger than females: male weight 137-232 g, female 95-120 g. Male body length 30-33 cm, female 22.5-27 cm, male wingspan 56-59 cm, female 49.5-53 cm. Male tail length 6.5-9 cm, tarsus 5.5-6 cm, beak 3-4 cm. Female wing length 15 cm, tail 5 cm, beak 3 cm.

Groups of birds arrive in the southwest of the country in mid-March. Mass arrivals and flights to Belarus occur in the second decade of April - the first decade of May. In the second half of May - the first decade of June, migration ends. Turukhtan males arrive 2 weeks earlier than females, while the peak of passage in males is observed only 5 days earlier.

Typical habitats are swampy areas of wide open floodplains, water-filled depressions in meadows and hummocky sedge marshes. in the Brest region. prefers meadows abounding with oxbow lakes in floodplains (Grivda, Pripyat, Yaselda, Z. Bug), extensive sedge bogs, marshy grassy shores of water bodies (Lakes Sporovskoe, Vygonovskoe, Loktyshi reservoirs, etc.).

The bird is not very cautious, sometimes settles (together with herbalists and lapwings) on small grassy lowlands adjoining settlements and open swampy shores of lakes.

Does not form permanent pairs. Turukhtans are characterized by the so-called polybrachyginia - a type of polygamous relationship in which each female mates with many males, and each male with many females.

Direct nesting 3 weeks after arrival is preceded by a group current - a "tournament" of males attracting females to their territory. Up to several dozen birds gather at leks (usually 10–15 birds, sometimes they are smaller - 5-6 individuals each or large - up to 30 individuals), where they have tournament "fights" - current demonstrations, during which the birds, spreading their collars , jump in front of each other; there are no real fights. The mating attire of males serves as a signal to help females find a lek, since turukhtans lek silently. It also stimulates females' readiness for mating. The place of current is open mounds, flat hummocks, flat dry areas, and in waterlogged areas - islands, old haystacks in the water. The females come to the lek to mate. The number of females about one lek is 4-8, the maximum number is 9-12.

The current can be stretched for the entire daylight hours. At the end of the current, the males fly off to the side in flocks. In the third decade of May, the activity of displaying turukhtan falls and in the first decade of June, displaying stops. After the end of the currents, the males wander separately and do not care about the offspring.

Subsequently, not far from the place of the current (at a distance of 5–50 m), each female arranges a nest. The distance between nests within each group varies from 5 to 25 m. The nest, as a rule, is well hidden by grass and is a depression in the ground (in a drier area), or on a tussock or hillock (in highly humid places). The lining consists of dry stems of sedges and grasses. Nest diameter 11-13 cm; tray depth 2.5-4.5 cm, diameter 9.5-10.5 cm.

In a full clutch there are 4 eggs, very rarely 3. Their shape is pear-shaped. The shell is matte or slightly shiny. The color of the main background varies from stone gray, olive green, olive brown and brownish yellow to clay brown and pale green. The superficial spots thickening at the obtuse pole are dark brown and light brown. Deep spotting is usually light, brownish-gray and brownish-violet. Egg weight 22 g, length 44 mm (40-48 mm), diameter 31 mm (29-32 mm).

The nesting period is very long - fresh clutches are found from the middle, sometimes from the first decade of May until the beginning of the next month. The female incubates for 21-23 days. One brood per year.

The chicks hatch fully developed, after 2-3 days they already follow the female, who warms and feeds them for about 10 days. In case of danger, the female runs away from the brood, lowering her wings, but stops every minute and keeps herself in sight of the enemy all the time. Having run away for some distance, it takes off and starts circling, making a soft grunt. Then the young gradually switch to an independent lifestyle and begin to move away from the female. On the 22nd–23rd day of life, young turukhtans fly well. In August, the young reach the size of adults, with whom they begin to roam in the direction of wintering. At first, the young are kept by broods (3-4 each). From the end of July, they begin to roam, mixing with flocks of lapwings and less often other waders. Since that time, the autumn migration of waders arriving from the north also begins. On sandy spits and shoals of rivers, in muddy areas along the shores of lakes, they become noticeably more numerous.

By the end of May, males cease to lek, in June they already begin to molt, as a result of which, by mid-July, they no longer have marriage collars, although individuals in spring plumage are often found even at this time.

Autumn departure and migration of birds from more northern populations begins in August and continues throughout September. In flocks, there were from 5 to 25 individuals. Separate groups of 3–8 individuals were observed in October.

Turukhtan food consists of insects and their larvae, earthworms, sometimes in small quantities - berries and grass seeds.

In spring, Turukhtans fly long non-stop flights, covering considerable distances, mainly in two migration corridors: the first passes through Western Europe and leads to nesting sites in the temperate zone of Europe and the European Arctic, the second corridor passes through Eastern Europe and is used by birds whose nesting sites are located in Western and Central Siberia.

At present, three key stopping places for the turukhtan during their migration to the north are known in Europe, at least 10 thousand individuals are noted at each of them at the same time: 1) agricultural meadows in the province of Friesland, the Netherlands, 2) floodplain meadows of Pripyat, Belarus, 3 ) shallow estuaries at Sivash, Ukraine. During the stop, turukhtans increase their body weight, and molt into breeding plumage. Moulting and "refueling" require large energy expenditures for turukhtans at stopping places during their spring migration.

Dynamics of spring migration of turukhtan in the floodplain of Pripyat on the territory of the reserve "Turovsky meadow" (Zhitkovichi district, Gomel region) during 2003-2017 over the entire period of research had a two-wave character. The first wave of migration coincides with the beginning of male migration and runs from the 2nd decade of March to the 1st decade of April. Usually during this period, an average of 15% of the total number of recorded birds fly by. The second, more numerous wave of migration begins from the 2nd decade of April and continues until the 1st decade of May. During this period, the majority of birds fly through the Pripyat floodplain, including all sex and age groups. Flyby peak in 2003-2011 on average fell on a pentad with an average date of April 23, the maximum number of turukhtan for one count was 30,000 individuals (April 24, 2010).

Starting from 2012, earlier accumulations of turukhtan began to be recorded, which were at least 2 times larger than previously known for this territory. The average number of turukhtan in such aggregations ranged from 60 to 80 thousand individuals in different years. Such early spring nocturnal aggregations of turukhtan were noted in 2012-2016, with the exception of the 2013 season, which is atypical for this territory. , and remained at such a high level on average until April 8 in different years. The maximum number of turukhtan that was recorded during this period was 80,000 individuals (March 20, 2014 - 60 thousand, March 30, 2015 - 80 thousand, April 9, 2014 - 80 thousand). On April 17, 2017, i.e., in the second half of the migration of the species in the floodplain of Pripyat, in a meadow in the vicinity of the city of Turov, in one cluster, the maximum number of turukhtan was recorded for the entire observation period at the station - 120 thousand individuals. Since 2012, the start of migration (5% of all recorded birds) and the median of migration have shifted to earlier periods. The start of the mass migration of turukhtan shifted on average by ten days from March 24 to March 14), and the median of the passage by 27 days - from April 25 to March 30. Depending on the timing of the beginning of spring, two “models” of the spring migration of turukhtan are distinguished: 1) a two-wave model: in years with early spring with a small peak of migration (up to 10% of all birds) in the first half of April and a second, main peak in the first pentad of May ; 2) single-wave model: in years with spring corresponding to the climatic norm and was characterized by the presence of one well-defined peak in the first pentad of May.

The number of turukhtan in Belarus is estimated at 2-2.4 thousand pairs (females) with a slight decrease trend. In Belarus, especially in its southern part, turukhtan is the most widespread species of waders during spring migration. According to the latest estimates, its abundance during the spring migration is only in the floodplain of the river. Pripyat is about 100-150 thousand birds.

Literature

1. Grichik V.V., Burko L.D. "Animal world of Belarus. Vertebrates: textbook" Minsk, 2013. -399p.

2. Nikiforov M. E., Yaminsky B. V., Shklyarov L. P. "Birds of Belarus: A guide to identification of nests and eggs" Minsk, 1989. -479 p.

3. Gaiduk V. E., Abramova I. V. "Ecology of birds of the south-west of Belarus. Non-passerines: monograph". Brest, 2009. -300s.

4. Fedyushin A. V., Dolbik M. S. "Birds of Belarus". Minsk, 1967. -521s.

5. Karlionova N. V., Pinchuk P. V., Natykanets V. V., Luchik E. A."Growth of Turukhtan (Calidris pugnax) abundance in early spring accumulations in the south of Belarus" / Actual problems of zoological science in Belarus: Collection of articles XI Zool. International scientific and practical. Conf. dedicated to the tenth anniversary of the founding of the SNPO "SPC of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus for Bioresources", Belarus, Minsk. T. 1, 2017. pp.185-191

6. Fransson, T., Jansson, L., Kolehmainen, T., Kroon, C. & Wenninger, T. (2017) EURING list of longevity records for European birds.