Steppe harrier (Circus macrourus)Eng. Pale, Pallid Harrier

Unfortunately, in the hawk family, there has been an endangered species of birds of prey. This steppe harrier, with which residents of Russia and a number of Asian countries are well acquainted.

The bird looks quite original, especially in terms of color. At the same time, males and females differ significantly from each other. The color of males is not uniform. The top of their body is ash-gray. Closer to the shoulders, it becomes darker. As for the chest and abdomen, they are almost white. Light plumage is also present in the area of \u200b\u200bthe eyes. The tips of the wings also have a white border.

The females look a little different. Most of their plumage is dyed brown tones. The ends of the wings are red, and their lower part has a beige color tint. White color is present only in the region of the forehead, eyes, and the tip of the tail.

The beak of the steppe harrier is black. The paws are painted yellow. Medium sized bird. The body length of an adult reaches 45 centimeters.

At the moment, the steppe harrier belongs to an endangered bird species. Its population has survived only in the southeastern part of the European continent. You can meet the harrier in Transbaikalia in the Altai Territory, in the Crimea. There are they in Iran, Turkestan, Mongolia and a number of other countries. In summer, birds migrate to the area of Arkhangelsk, Krasnoyarsk and Omsk, and with the onset of autumn colds they fly to India and Burma. Some of them prefer to spend the winter in Africa.

The steppe harrier prefers steppe regions and semi-deserts. It is easier for him to hunt in open areas. Soaring smoothly over the plain, he looks out for prey, which he then attacks. It feeds on small rodents, lizards, mammals, other birds, and insects. prey on certain territory, whose boundaries are never violated.

The mating season is in the spring. It was at this time that you can observe the peculiar mating dances of males. Trying to please the female, they write out the most complicated pirouettes in the air, while making loud rattling sounds.

The bird builds its nests directly on the ground, mainly on hills. This is a small depression, the bottom of which is lined with dry grass. The first clutch, consisting of three to five eggs, is made by the female in early May. The incubation period lasts about a month, and incubation of eggs is the prerogative of the female. At the end of June, chicks hatch from the eggs, which in a month become winged.

The male is engaged in feeding the female sitting on the eggs, as well as the newly hatched chicks. Somewhere in a week, the female also connects to it. By this time, the chicks will be strong enough, and can remain alone for some time. The average life expectancy of the steppe harrier is 20 years.

The natural enemy of the bird is the steppe eagle, which preys on it. A lot of problems for the steppe moon are created by a person who unceremoniously invades his natural environment habitation. In particular, he plows up vast areas of the steppes, depriving him of the opportunity to hunt and reproduce. And although the steppe harrier is listed in the Red Book, this does not change the situation in any way. Its population continues to decline.

The steppe harrier is a bird of prey of the hawk family. Nesting places - the southern regions of Eastern Europe and the central part of Asia to the Mongolian steppes.

Before the onset of the cold season, birds migrate to Southeast Asia, India, Central and East Africa. Occasionally, representatives of the species were seen in Western Europe and Britain. There is a separate population of these birds that does not migrate and leads sedentary life. These are birds living in the Caucasus and in the steppes of the Crimea.

The appearance of the steppe harrier

The females of this species are slightly larger than the males. If the body length of the male is from 43-48 cm, then the females grow up to 48-52 cm.

The average wing length is 34 cm, the wingspan ranges from 95 to 120 cm. The weight of the female is usually 445 g. The males weigh about 330 g.

The wings of birds are pointed and narrow. The plumage of males is white below the body, light gray above. The ends of the wings are black. The females have a white uppertail and are covered with brown feathers. Under the eyes of birds there are spots of white feathers. Claws and beak are black, cere and paws are yellow. Young steppe harriers have a brown iris, while in adult birds it is pale yellow. The color of the plumage of young animals is similar to the plumage of females. On the 4th year of life, after 3 molts, young birds acquire the color, as in adults.

Behavior and nutrition of the steppe harrier

The steppe inhabits the steppes and forest-steppes, preferring to live on open spaces, wastelands and swampy areas. These are places near rivers, lakes and the steppe zone, where tall grass and shrubs grow. In the forest, a bird can choose a clearing to live.

This type birds of prey are practically not found in areas far from water sources. The choice of nesting site depends on how rich the area is in food, that is, it depends on the number of rodents.

The bird is active during the daytime. When hunting, she flies at a fairly low distance from the ground and looks out for prey. The food for predators is mainly rodents, but also birds and. Seeing potential prey, the steppe harrier sharply decreases, spreading its tail near the surface of the earth - thus slowing down. He stretches forward clawed paws and grabs a gaping animal.

Each representative of the species has its own hunting area, rather small in size. The bird flies around its hunting grounds along an unchanged route. In those years when the rodent population decreases, the steppe harrier is forced to look for other places for nesting.

Reproduction and lifespan

The steppe harrier has its nest right on the ground and prefers places close to water sources. The bird's nest looks like a hole surrounded on all sides by grass. Usually, it is arranged in bushes on a small hill. The female lays 3-6 white eggs. Experts did not observe more than 7 eggs in the clutch of the steppe harrier. Having laid the first egg, the female immediately proceeds to incubation. The incubation period lasts 3-3.5 weeks.

The steppe harrier is a sharp-sighted and dexterous bird.

At the very beginning of July, chicks hatch from eggs. Nesting time is 1.5 months and throughout this period a pair of steppe harriers shows increased aggressiveness. Birds can fight even with a large predator.

Puberty in birds of this species occurs at the age of three. In conditions wildlife life expectancy is 20-22 years.

population

This bird species is listed in the Red Book. The population of steppe harriers is only 40 thousand individuals. But this figure is approximate. The fact is that in Russia there is no exact data on the number of representatives of this species.

The life of these feathered predators is directly related to the number of rodents. It can be said that the bird follows its favorite food. If the population of voles is large, then there will be many harriers in the area. In such a situation, the wrong impression is created that there are many steppe harriers. However, this is not the case, due to their concentration in one place.

The steppe harrier is a rare species of birds of prey from the hawk family, from the hawk-like order.

Appearance

Males have a light dorsal part and dark shoulders, cheeks and eyebrows of gray or white. The plumage is mostly light gray or completely white. The wings are long but narrow and have pointed ends, sometimes they are characterized by ashen or white color with light edges.

On the stomach most of body has gray plumage. The upper tail is represented by light tones. It has a brown or brown short, curved beak. Paws and retina yellow. The length of the body without a head is 45-47 cm. They weigh about 330 grams.

Females are slightly different from males, primarily in feathers. So, top part they are dark in color, and the neck and head have a very variegated color scheme. outer part the wings are also dark, with a reddish ending. The face has White color especially near the eyes.

The cheeks do not stand out from the body and have the same dark brown color with a brown tint. The rump has a whitish tint, with heterogeneous spots. The tail has several brown feathers with black stripes. Undertail red or yellow.

The undercoverts are beige, with dark spots and stripes. The iris of the eyes is brown, the legs, like those of males, are yellow or red. The length of the body is on average slightly larger than that of the male, and is 45-50 cm. They weigh about 450 grams.

Habitat

A rare species can most often be found in the following areas:

In the steppes of southeastern Europe, southern Belarus and the western part of the Black Sea coast.
On the territory of Central Asia, near Altai and southwestern regions of Transbaikalia.
In the north, they live almost everywhere near Moscow and neighboring regions.
In summer, birds can be seen in Siberia, not far from St. Petersburg and not far from Novosibirsk and Irkutsk.
They also live in the south of Russia, in the Crimea, in the Transcaucasus and in some countries of the Middle East.
Sometimes several representatives can be seen in the following countries: Kazakhstan, Denmark, Finland, Latvia, Estonia.

Birds migrate most often to the central and southern regions of India, Burma, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and northern Africa. There are also individual families that do not migrate.

Lifestyle

The species does not settle in places where there is no sufficient source of water, and also where there is a lack of rodents. If they settle in forests, then nests are made in clearings, or in places of dense vegetation, near shrubs and in tall grass. The main activity takes place during the day.

The main habitats of the steppe harrier are steppes and semi-deserts, and therefore it leads a corresponding lifestyle. Sometimes they also settle in forest stands and close to the countryside.

Harrier nests are on the ground, on low hills, as well as in various reeds and under bushes. Eggs are laid between April and early May. This species is endangered, and there is no exact data on the number of its representatives, they can fluctuate with each migration.

Adult representatives fly slowly and smoothly, with slight swaying in the air. The voice of these birds is not very expressive and is similar to rattling and makes shaky screeching sounds, turning into frequent screams.

Nutrition

It should be understood that this is a bird of prey and they hunt not only moving targets, but also any living creature that sits on the ground. As for most members of the family, for this predator the main dish is small rodents, lizards and smaller birds with chicks.

Basic diet:

mice, hamsters;
ground squirrels and shrews;
pied, quail;
larks, sandpipers;
small black grouse, chicks.

Inhabitants Altai Territory, in addition to these dishes, they do not disdain large insects, including locusts, grasshoppers, dragonflies and beetles.

The hunting grounds of this bird have a limited radius and are usually located not far from the nest, since the flight for prey takes place at a low altitude and only along a certain route. The hunting process is similar to the hunting of many of their relatives, noticing the victim, the harrier drops sharply and opens its wide tail right before landing.

Reproduction and lifespan

The breeding season begins in the spring. During this period, the males try to show themselves in every possible way in front of the female, they can fly up sharply, and after that they fall sharply and spin. Such "flirting" is not complete without loud cries and exclamations while approaching the nest.

Nests have a relatively small coverage area and shallow litter, and are very simple in structure. Usually it is a standard hole, bounded by dry branches and grass. One clutch of eggs does not exceed six pieces.

Eggs have a white shell, sometimes with small variegated specks. Females incubate them on their own for a month. The family during this period contains the male, bringing food to the nest for everyone, and after a while the female herself begins to fly hunting and feeds the children on her own.

The chicks usually hatch between June and July. They begin to fly within 2-3 weeks after hatching.

Under natural conditions, the steppe harrier lives no longer than 20 years.

View status

The main threat to the harrier is the steppe eagle. But, even a flock of such enemies will not lead to a strong reduction in the number of the species. A much greater threat, from this point of view, is hunting. This species appears in the Red Book of many countries where it lives. Also a threat in some areas is plowing land and grazing cattle, mowing fields and meadows, deforestation, drainage of water bodies. The approximate number of living representatives today is no more than 40 thousand. But this figure is far from accurate, in Russia there is no data at all on the number of these birds.

Circus macrourus S.G. Gmelin, 1771

Spreading: The type specimen is described from the south. Russia. The nesting range consists of three zones: optimum (steppes, forest-steppes, semi-deserts of Eurasia), sporadic distribution (south of the forest zone in Europe and northern deserts of Kazakhstan) and episodic nesting invasions (Northern and Western Europe). On the territory of Russia enter significant areas of western, sowing. and east. parts of the range. At the end of the nineteenth and first half of the twentieth centuries. the steppe harrier was widespread from Ciscaucasia and the south of the European part to the west. to Southwest. Transbaikalia to the east. . From the 50-60s. almost completely disappeared in the south. districts steppe zone Russia: in Ciscaucasia, on the Lower and Middle Don, North-West. Caspian Sea. His stay here at the present time is in the nature of rare nesting invasions (in places with an increased number of mouse-like rodents), as noted in 1988 in the Middle Don. Sparse, isolated nesting sites have been preserved until sowing. steppe zone and in the forest-steppe of the European part of Russia. Separate pairs penetrate to the south of the forest zone. In the second half of the 60s. the steppe harrier was a common nesting bird in the forest plantations of the semi-deserts of the Volga-Ural interfluve. There are no recent data from this region. In Asia, modern nesting is known in the steppe Cis-Urals and in the south of the West. Siberia, in the Baraba steppe. Further to the east. penetrates to the Minusinsk basin, but throughout the south Central Siberia is extremely rare and irregular. The European part of the range has undergone a greater reduction, the sporadic distribution in the marginal parts has increased, especially in the east.

Habitat: Inhabits Various types flat and hilly landscapes of the forest-steppe, steppe and semi-desert zones. In the European part of the range penetrates into the south. districts of the forest zone. Prefers forb-grass, fescue-feather grass and wormwood-grass steppes interspersed with mesophilic biotopes: forb-shrub hollows, meadow depressions, overgrown floodplains of streams, rivers and lakes. In the forest zone, it occupies vast meadow areas and forest clearings. Distribution on nesting is associated with foci of increased abundance of mouse-like rodents. Nests are placed in places with good protective conditions, usually in waterlogged areas of floodplains. Rarely settles away from water. In the semi-desert, it regularly nests in forest clearings inside wide forest belts. In the last decade, the settlement of agrocenoses in the European part of the range has been noted, where the natural nesting biotopes of the species are practically destroyed. On migration occurs in various conditions of flat landscapes. In the mountains - along the wide river valleys. Reaches sexual maturity at the age of 3-4 years. The populations are dominated by males in a ratio of at least 2:1. Clutch of 3-7 eggs. There are 1-6 chicks in a brood. Their number varies greatly in different years and at different couples and related to nutritional conditions. Based on materials from the steppe Cis-Urals, it is known that only 1-2 chicks often fly out of nests with a clutch of 5-7 eggs. The nests are characterized by increased aggressiveness, expelling even large predators: eagles, foxes, dogs. The diet is dominated by mice, voles, ground squirrels, as well as small and medium-sized birds - larks, skates, wagtails, wheatears, up to and including lapwings and crows, less often - reptiles and insects. distant migrant. Winters in the Southwest. Asia (Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka) and in Africa, excluding the Sahara and some districts of the central and southwest. parts of the continent.

Security: It is included in the IUCN-96 Red List, Appendix 2 of CITES, Appendix 2 of the Bonn Convention, Appendix 2 of the Berne Convention, Appendix of the agreement concluded between Russia and India on the protection of migratory birds. It is protected in the Altai, Khopersky, Central Black Earth and Orenburg steppe reserves. It is necessary to search for districts with a consistently high nesting abundance of the predator with the prospect of organizing protected areas or specialized reserves on their territory; the most promising in this regard are the districts of the optimum east. parts of the range - dry steppes of the Trans-Urals and Western. Siberia.

area. Steppe strip of southeastern Europe, in the west to Dobruja, Podolia and Belarus (Pripyat basin); in Asia to the east to Dzungaria, Altai, southwestern Transbaikalia; the northern border runs approximately to Moscow, Tula, Ryazan, Kazan, Kirov (nesting has not been proven there), then near Ufa, then near Sverdlovsk, however, it was noted in the summer near Arkhangelsk, in Siberia near Tyumen, Omsk, Krasnoyarsk; south to the Crimea and the Caucasus, Iran (northwestern Iran, Khorassan, perhaps Kerman and Kugistan), in Turkestan. More or less random finds of the steppe harrier are also known from other areas: from Sweden, Germany, here in the Baltic States; at least some of these finds are undoubtedly nesting. Recorded on migration in northwestern Mongolia. Winters in India (up to Ceylon) and Burma, Mesopotamia and Iran; in Africa, wherever there are no dense rainforest but mostly sub-Saharan. Flights to China. Single individuals winter in the southern zone of the USSR: in the Crimea (Senitsky), in the northwestern Caucasus (Nasnmovich and Averin, 1938), in the lower reaches of the Volga (Vorobiev, 1938), in the Aral-Caspian steppes (Bostanzhoglo, 1911).

Habitat. The steppe harrier prefers open terrain, drier than where the meadow harrier is commonly found. Dry steppes are especially characteristic, although the steppe harrier can also be found in river valleys, along the outskirts of steppe ravines, etc. in Central Asia up to about 1350 m (Severtsov according to Menzbir, 1891). Outside the nesting period, it rises even higher - in Altai up to 2300 l, in the Pamirs up to 2750 m (Lake Shorkul, Tugarinov, 1930), in Africa up to 3300 m.

population. A common bird in suitable biotopes (dry steppe), but in other landscapes - forest-steppe, wet steppe, cultural zone - is found more or less sporadically. Deforestation and plowing of land apparently contribute to the settlement of the steppe harrier to the north in the middle zone (Moscow, Tula regions). In some years in Western Europe, on migration, a massive appearance of the steppe harrier in autumn was noted, which is to a certain extent invasive in nature.

reproduction. Steppe harrier occurs in pairs already on spring migration. The cycle begins two weeks earlier than that of the meadow harrier. Nuptial flight and games begin with arrival, at the end of April; birds soar into the air, turn over, the male "chases" the female; after the start of laying, the mating "curly" flight is continued by one male. The nest of a very simple device, small size(about 50 cm in diameter with a tray diameter of 15-20 cm) with a shallow tray, sometimes it is only a hole surrounded by dry grass; often it is located on a tussock or a small elevation among weeds, thickets of chiliga or bean grass, etc., less often among bread or on wet meadow, even marshy, areas with sedge, meadowsweet, etc. (Baraba, Zverev, 1930). Laying takes place in different numbers May, in the south from the end of April (Syrdarya, Spangenberg, 1936); it is possible that the timing of masonry depends on the latitude of the area. The number of eggs in a clutch is 3-6, usually 3-5. The color of the eggs is white, occasionally with small brown streaks. Dimensions (80) 40.1-50x32.6-37, on average 44.77x34.77 mm (Wiserby, 1939). In case of death of the masonry, there is a second, additional one (Naurzum, Osmolovskaya). Incubation begins with the laying of the first egg (chicks of different ages), only the female incubates (Karamzin, 1900). The incubation period is about a month.

Chicks hatch in late June-early July; flying chicks appear in mid-July, broods stay together until August. The duration of the nesting period, therefore, is about 40-45 days. The incubating female and chicks at the first time of their life (when they are in the first downy outfit) are fed by the male, later the female also begins to hunt.

Moult. Like a meadow harrier - a full annual. Sequence of change of flywheels from 10th to 1st; helmsmen - from the middle of the tail to the edge. Strongly molting young in the first annual plumage are also found in summer (possibly single individuals). The sequence of changing outfits is the same as that of the meadow harrier.

Nutrition. The steppe harrier, like other harriers, hunts for prey that is moving or sitting on the ground. The main place in its feeding regime is occupied by small mammals, but when there are few mice, it switches to feeding on lizards, birds nesting on the ground, etc. Various mice and voles are indicated as food for the steppe harrier in the USSR, in particular Stenocranius gregalis, S. slowzowi, Microtus arvalis, M. oeconomus, Micromys minutus, Arvicola terrestris, Apodemus sylvaticus; pied Lagurus lagurus, hamster Cricetus cricetus, gophers, among them Citellus erythrogenys And C. pygmaeus, shrew Sorex araneus; from birds - steppe pipit, larks and their chicks, warblers, quail, black grouse, short-eared owl, sandpipers, shoveler, ducklings; in Altai, young white partridges and lizards; different large insects- beetles, locusts, grasshoppers, grasshoppers, dragonflies, etc.

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