Birds of the Kuban: photo and description

Kuban is a historical and cultural area in the south-west of Russia. On its territory there are more than three hundred species of birds, some of them are listed in the Red Book. What species are found in this region? What birds are called in Kuban kochetami? We will try to answer these questions in this article.

Kuban Region

Kuban or the Krasnodar Territory is located in the North Caucasus, covers the eastern coast of the Azov and Black Seas. It is a cultural and historical area on which unique domestic and cultural features were formed.

There are even unique names for some animals. For example, do you know which birds in the Kuban are called cocks? Petukhov. Most likely, the word appeared in Ancient Rus from the word cddot, and this last, in turn, arose as a word onomatopoeic (co-to-ko).

Within the edge of many natural areas - from the steppes to the subtropical forests and alpine meadows. Such diversity attracts a variety of animals. More than 80 mammal species live in the Kuban, about 10 amphibians, 20 reptiles and 300 species of birds. Detailed descriptions of some species of birds of the Kuban with a photo you will find below.

There are many small rivers and lakes in the region, including Abrau - the largest lake in the North Caucasus. The weather in the region is not constant and varies greatly throughout the year. In spring the rivers often come out of the coast, flooding their valleys.

The climate of the Krasnodar Territory is mostly moderately continental, and in the coastal regions it is subtropical. Part of the region is occupied by coniferous and deciduous forests. In the Anapa and Taman peninsula, steppes with estuaries predominate. In the mountains, vegetation and conditions vary with altitude. So, the zone with deciduous and coniferous forests gradually turns into an alpine meadow with low grasses and berry bushes.

The settlement of birds in the Kuban

Steppes with lime-lakes and growing grasses, rivers, lakes, dense forests all attract many birds. In the northern part of the Kuban, birds are represented by the families of passerines and crows, eagles and larks.

Limans and plavni - a favorite place for birds. They are more than 200 species. Many arrive only during the nesting period or during migration, but about one hundred species remain in winter. In these areas, you can meet pelicans, eagles, herons, cranes, giggles, chibis, geese and waders.

Seagulls, seagulls, magpie-magpie, duck duck, cormorant, and petrel are settling on the seacoasts. Their diet is more exotic than that of the inhabitants of the estuaries. Seabirds of the Kuban can catch themselves not only fish, but also rapans, crabs, shrimp.

In the woods live woodpeckers, thrushes, forest pigeons vyahiri, jays, Orioles, goldfinches, owls and tits. There are among the birds and fans of steep cliffs, for example, a gray and rocky dove. In sparse forests, in low groves and floodplains of rivers live sparrows, swallows, blue trousers.

Birds of the Red Book of the Kuban

Despite the large number of birds in the region, some species are quite rare, while others are completely disappearing. Birds of the Kuban, listed in the Red Book: karavayka, white stork, belladonna, curly pelican, avdotka, black-headed eagle, white - tailed eagle, cucumber, small cormorant, crow-crow, etc. There are a total of 57 species.

Vulnerable species, the number of which decreases every year, is a pale sneer, a large lentil, a large curlew, a bustard, and a Caucasian snowcock. Endangered species include golden eagles, bearded, white-eyed blacks, to rare - golden plovers, Caucasian black grouses.

Of the 2000 individuals of golden eagles living in Russia, only four pairs are in the Krasnodar Territory. White storks in the region live up to 7 pairs, although in some periods they arrive more than a hundred. Of the other places arrive about 40 cranes, only eight pairs remain nesting.

The number of birds decreases for natural reasons, and thanks to man. Some species disappear due to lack of food, others die at birth due to long periods of bad weather. A serious factor is also poaching and sport hunting, the transformation of natural areas into agricultural lands and recreational areas.

Variegated stone thrush

A stone thrush is a small bird that lives in high-altitude areas, as well as in the Gelendzhik and Novorossiysk regions. The females of the motley thrush look modest and have a gray-brown plumage. Males are bright, with blue feathers on their heads and orange breasts.

They settle near sea cliffs, in high-mountain meadows covered with grass, in woodlands. Their nests are built in rocks or earth. They belong to vulnerable species. In the Kuban there are about 60 of these birds.

Coot

Lysukha represents waterfowl of the Kuban. In size it resembles a duck and reaches a length of forty centimeters in length. The bird is found in the steppe regions, in the upper reaches of the Kuban River. She prefers estuaries, river valleys and lightly salted or fresh lakes. Nests are built directly in the water, on sites with shallows or in reed thickets.

The trunk of the coot matte black or dark gray, on the head there is a small white spot (from which the name originated). The bird's beak is also white, slightly compressed laterally. The legs are yellow, and the fingers are long and gray, with wide membranes.

In addition to the Krasnodar Territory, the coot is found in Asia, Africa, Northern and Western Europe, Australia and the nearest islands, the Mediterranean and the Far East.

Curly Pelican

One of the endangered birds of the Kuban. In the region, the curly pelican settles in the region of the Taman Peninsula and the Eastern Azov Sea. It prefers terrain with marshes and limans. Currently, up to 70 pairs of pelicans inhabit the Krasnodar Territory. Their number is decreasing due to capture, extermination, water pollution.

It is a large bird with a body length of up to 180 centimeters. The range of its wings is 3.5 meters. A characteristic feature of the pelican is its beak. It grows to 50 centimeters in length. The curly pelican has white color, on the head and neck the feathers curl like curls.

Most birds are kept in groups. They feed exclusively on fish, so they spend a lot of time on the water. Nest in reed beds or on small overgrown islands.

Eagle-dwarf

In the mixed forests of the coastal areas, the eagle-dwarf lives. It is a fairly common bird in the Kuban. The eagle can settle in the forest-steppe and steppe, and sometimes in coniferous forests. In the Krasnodar Territory, he inhabits the surroundings of Novorossiysk, Gelendzhik, Mezbay and Psebai.

The bird is small in size. It resembles a buzzard hawk, but has characteristic eagle features. The tail of the eagle-dwarf is long, the wingspan is 1.3 meters. The beak is curled and short.

There are two colors of the plumage of these eagles. One is dark, brownish-brown, sometimes reddish or golden. The other is light brown with a darkish bottom. Feature of birds is a large head and shaggy strong legs.

Strept

Strepet is a rare bird that inhabits only in the steppe. It belongs to the family of bustards. The color of the bird on top is sandy or brown with black spots, the abdomen is white. During the mating season, the male plumage changes - the neck becomes black with two white stripes.

The flight of the bird is peculiar. It seems that she trembles or trembles, making a whistling sound. Strepets live in pairs and gather in flocks only before flying to wintering grounds.

In the Kuban the bird nests in Novopokrovsky district and on the Taman peninsula, during the flight it meets on the Black Sea coast. Because of hunting and reduction of the area of unraveled steppes, the population is rapidly decreasing.

Quakwah

Kvakva vulgaris is called the nocturnal heron in another way. She does not look very much like her family. Unlike other herons, its beak, legs and neck are not so long. Young birds have brown plumage. When they grow up, the color changes. The sides and abdomen become white, the black stripe stretches across the back from the beak. A few long white feathers grow on the back of the head.

Kvakva settles near water bodies with dense vegetation and in forests. It lives on all continents, except for Antarctica and Australia. In the afternoon it is not active and can sit still for hours. With the advent of dusk, it "comes to life" and begins hunting for frogs and fish.