Birds of urban landscapes

The purpose of the work To show the diversity of birds in the city of Rostov-on-Don To reveal the biological features and features of the "behavior" of birds To show the mutual influence of humans and birds on each other

Tasks: Compilation of a partial species list of birds found in the city of Rostov-on-Don. Finding out the nature of the stay of birds in the city. Study of the distribution of birds within the city

City Birds For many centuries, man, directly or indirectly influencing nature, changed its appearance. Following the change in the conditions of existence, the animal world also changed. Some species disappeared, others became few in number and remained only on lands untouched by man. But many more resilient species of animals and birds, despite a sharp change in the environment, managed to adapt and settled in habitats unusual for them. Developing the necessary biological features, they change not only the composition of food, but also the nesting biotope and become typical representatives of the cultural landscape - urban birds.

As cities grow, some species of birds leave urban areas forever, others immediately adapt to urban life, others first retreat, and then return and master the changed landscapes. The adaptation of birds to life in the city occurs too quickly to be explained by the action of natural selection. The urbanization of birds is based on changes in behavior leading to the formation of a special "urban" population structure. Some species of birds, forced out of their habitual habitats by growing cities, surprisingly quickly adapt to completely new living conditions in the city. At the same time, stable changes in behavior appear in birds, and the stereotypes of habitat, food and nesting sites characteristic of this species are abandoned. The "starting point" of avian urbanization is usually settlements in suburban forests or accumulations for wintering in the city itself. From there, there is a directed "recruitment" of birds into the composition of the emerging urban population.

The most characteristic birds for the city

Gray Crow A crow is a large bird that can be recognized by its coloration. People say that she is wearing "a black coat on a gray vest." It is a sedentary or nomadic bird. Nests are built on trees, on power lines. Crows are omnivores. The basis of their nutrition is various food residues, food production waste, household waste in garbage dumps and landfills. They destroy the nests of songbirds, eat the eggs of chicks. To reduce the number of gray crows in the city, it is necessary to improve the sanitary condition of the territories and attract birds of prey to the parks, which regulate the number of crows.

Great Tit The largest of all tits, slightly larger than a sparrow. It differs from other tits by a black longitudinal stripe - a “tie” on a yellow-green chest, and a light spot on the back of the head. Nests are placed in tree hollows, in holes between bricks, in artificial nests. In spring and summer, insects and other invertebrates predominate in the diet of the great tit, in winter the role of seeds increases, and near human habitation, food waste. In general, tits are very intelligent creatures. In England, they learned to peck through the caps of milk bottles and drink some of the milk out of them. With snowfall, most of the tits migrate to the south, and the individuals remaining to spend the winter move to the outskirts of settlements.

Starling Adult starlings are painted black with a metallic sheen. Looking closely, you can see the reddish, purple and greenish tints in the plumage. In autumn, there are white spots at the ends of the contour feather, as if covering the bird's body with a pearl scattering. The beak is yellow in spring and darkens in autumn. Juveniles have a dull brownish plumage, which in the very first autumn of life is replaced by an adult outfit. In spring, starlings are among the very first to arrive at nesting sites. It feeds on various animal and plant foods, and at the end of the nesting period it gathers in large dense flocks. It nests mainly near human dwellings, occupying specially made and hung artificial nests for starlings, niches under balconies and roofs, etc.

Swallow Short and wide, especially at the base of the beak, large mouth slit, narrow and very long wings, broad chest, and at the same time graceful physique, short and weak legs, unsuitable for moving on the ground, finally, a forked tail is a sign of this family . The nest is molded from clay to the buildings. They feed on insects caught in the air on the fly. The city swallow often forms colonies of up to several dozen or more pairs. During migrations and autumn migration, it gathers in flocks of up to several hundred individuals. The total number of this subspecies is very large.

Jackdaw Sedentary bird, medium size, black, with a gray "handkerchief" on the head. The most remarkable thing about the jackdaw is the eyes, the black pupil of which is surrounded by a gray-blue iris, so they appear whitish with a silvery sheen. Jackdaws feed on both animal and plant foods. Among the food of animal origin, insects predominate - pests of trees and shrubs. At the end of summer and autumn, grains of cultivated cereals form the basis of the diet, in late autumn and winter, food waste. The food activity of jackdaws is beneficial to humans. For nesting, they choose enclosed spaces - hollow trees, attics. It winters in settlements, where it is usually found together with crows.

Rook Rook is a large bird, its plumage is black with a metallic sheen. Due to the fact that birds constantly dig worms and larvae out of the ground with their beaks, the plumage of old birds is wiped off and dirty white skin is visible around the beak. Nests are built on groups of trees in or near human settlements. Such a colony is called a rookery. The rookery is visible and audible from afar. The main food is harmful insects and their larvae, as well as the waste of various products from human habitation. One of the significant differences between the rook and other corvids that lead a sedentary lifestyle or make autumn-winter migrations within the nesting range is that the rook is a migratory bird for the northern regions of its habitat.

Different degrees of connection between birds and human habitation

What do birds do to us? In places where birds gather, favorable conditions are formed for the reproduction of ticks, lice, fleas, flies, and moths. According to experts, from 40 to 90% of birds are infected with psittacosis - a dangerous disease transmitted to humans. Birds can also be carriers of pathogens such as encephalitis, brucellosis, pasteurellosis, etc. Birds, especially sparrows, fly into indoor areas (public areas, grocery stores, covered markets, food enterprises), where they spoil food, peck at packages and bring goods into disrepair. Bird droppings spoil the appearance of buildings, destroy metal and finishing materials, and are also a substrate through which various infections are transmitted (in particular, psittacosis). Synanthropic (dangerous) species in the city crowd out other birds that could nest in city parks. City birds struggle with urban noise in their own way. Robin males sing at night so that the female can appreciate the beauty of the voice. Tits in Belgium are moving to higher frequencies, and nightingales in Germany have become so loud that they are already violating European noise pollution laws. We must not forget about the possible disruption of various services (power lines, airports, etc.) caused by the activity of birds. According to statistics, bird strikes are one of the most common causes of aircraft accidents. The impact force of a bird the size of a seagull at an aircraft speed of 320 km / h is 3200 kg, at a speed of 960 km / h - 28800 kg. For a visual comparison, with a bird weighing 1.8 kg and an aircraft speed of 700 km / h at an altitude of less than 2400 m, the bird's impact force on the aircraft is three times stronger than the impact of a 30 mm projectile.

How to deal with birds There are sound imitators of birds of prey. They create various visual, acoustic and other interferences that prevent birds from navigating in space. They create various mechanical obstacles for the landing and movement of birds.

The benefits of urban birds Pecking insects and their larvae, weed seeds sparrows are of great benefit. They, of course, perform a useful role as orderlies in city dumps Once upon a time in China, it was decided that sparrows harm rice crops by eating grain. They announced a reward for sparrow corpses, went out together, the whole commune, began to prevent the birds from landing on the ground. Exhausted falling birds were pierced and strung on strings, handed over to the state. Then, as expected, the Lord of the Flies came and brought with him his little insect friends, who ate the crops better than any sparrows. New sparrows had to be bought abroad. They don’t joke with nature - it turns out too expensive. Capable and prolific Chinese outside of China are ready to restore the population of little sparrows in their homeland, and those, in general, do not need much - at least a grain of rice of freedom. But constantly. In a day, a starling can eat as many caterpillars as it weighs itself and will not get fat at all because it spends a lot of energy searching for food, building a nest and caring for chicks.

Interesting facts about birds Swifts use their own saliva as a building material. With its help, they stick together fluffs, scraps of paper and other debris flying in the air. The most modern nest was demonstrated at one of the ornithological conventions: it was a crow's nest made entirely of aluminum wire. Passeriformes (the largest order of birds known to science) are close relatives of parrots and falcons. Woodpeckers, hawks, owls, and hornbills look very different, but all are close relatives of passerines. A titmouse feeds its chicks a thousand times a day. The French call the dove the “flying rat.” Birds do not sing because they are happy. This is how they mark their territory. The most flying bird is the black swift. In the air, it can stay from 2 to 4 years. In the air, he eats, drinks, sleeps and mates. Taking off from the ground for the first time, the swift flies about 500,000 kilometers before landing. When flying, birds flap their wings up and down. Their movement is rather forward and backward, resembling a figure eight, if you look at the bird from the side. .

Birds are messengers of joy. Every year they bring spring to us on wings. Birds are our faithful helpers, defenders of forests and fields, orchards and orchards. Birds are beauty and mystery. It is not for nothing that beautiful poems and secrets, songs, legends, fairy tales are composed about them. Take care of the birds!

Greetings, my reader. The most significant element in the animal world of birds in our country is the cultural landscape, which arose as a result of both purposeful human activity and the natural environment, which affects many natural processes of nature transformation.

Under the conditions of Russia in the European part of the country and in Siberia, this landscape consists mainly of agricultural land, forming patches of the so-called cultural steppe, which dominates the most populated parts of the country and spreads more and more.

Another element of the cultural landscape is man-made objects - crowded cities and human settlements.

Finally, in the arid regions of our country, the cultural landscape is mainly in the nature of fertile oases, artificially irrigated territories.

World of birds of the cultural steppe

The richness and diversity of bird fauna in human settlements is largely associated with the development of woody vegetation in them; it basically corresponds to the fauna of broad-leaved and mixed forests. The same fauna is typical for shelterbelts and other artificial plantations.

However, the fauna of agricultural lands is of the greatest importance for the bird world. Here are some that are currently characteristic of the landscape of the cultural steppe:

1. from chicken - quail and gray partridge,
2. from shepherds - corncrake,
3. from passerines - crows and rooks, house and field sparrows, some buntings, in particular steppe and common; field and crested larks, partly magpie, hoopoe and others.

The economic development of these territories by man in the form of plowing land and deforestation led to a sharp violation of the natural habitat, to such adverse natural processes as:

• soil erosion and sand spreading,
• air and natural water pollution,

which largely affected the change in the distribution of certain bird species on the territory of Russia: the northward movement of a number of species, in particular the gray partridge and crested lark.

The development of human settlements attracts -

• house sparrow and swift,
• village and city swallows,
• jackdaw and raven.

In winter, ordinary buntings gather near the settlements. The development of urban gardens and parks over the past decades is causing an increase in the number and change in the area of ​​​​distribution:

• blackbird and black redstart,
• orioles and hawfinch,
• carduelis, chaffinch and partly rook.

In the most recent years, the wild canary penetrated the cultural landscape of the steppe type from the west, reaching Riga and Kyiv. These birds avoid deaf deserted areas, but go far to the north behind human settlements. Spreading low shrubs growing in clearings attract:

• warblers and warblers,
• lentils and hemp,
• greenfinches and vultures,
• forest skates, etc.

Change and development of the cultural landscape

The development of meadows along the banks of the rivers resulting from forest clearings is associated with the resettlement of some bird species:

1. Meadow minnows, yellow puffins and white wagtails,
2. meadow pipits and field larks,
3. corncrakes and harriers,
4. quails and other birds.

The young pastures of bushes are inhabited by hoopoe, which has become a regular nesting bird in the Moscow region since the 20s of our century. Moved to the north and roller.

Thus, it is clear that the development of the cultural landscape in itself does not cause the depletion of the fauna, but only leads to its change.

Of course, at the same time, species that are associated with the presence of forests are forced to recede, partly disappear, as the area of ​​forests decreases.
First of all, this includes such relatively small birds as. Such is the fate of birds, which, as an object of hunting, are directly persecuted by humans - this

• capercaillie and hazel grouse,
• pheasant and turach,
• swan, etc.

Only one species was completely exterminated in historical times on our territory - a large non-flying cormorant discovered in 1741 on Bering Island, which finally disappeared around the middle of the last century.

Apparently, at the beginning of this century, the Canadian goose disappeared from the Commander and Kuril Islands.

The fact that human activity, by changing and diversifying the natural landscape, contributes to the enrichment of the animal world, is clearly seen when studying the birds of the cultural areas of the North Caucasus. The list of species characteristic of them is very rich:

• white stork and hobby,
• kestrel and hawk tuvik,
• black kite and desert owl,
• owl and hoopoe,
• doves - ordinary, ringed, small,
• black swift and myna starling,
• oriole and greenfinch,
• goldfinch and house sparrow;
• tree sparrow and black-throated sparrow,
• buckwheat finch and black coinage,
• swallows - killer whale and red-belted,
• Asiatic field lark, etc.

Not so strongly associated with the oasis landscape are many other species, such as:

• starling and gall oatmeal,
• Roller and bee-eaters,
• wagtails and bullfinches,
• shrikes and thrushes.

All these species of birds are mainly associated with the fauna of the forest and shrubs, that is, in the conditions of the North Caucasus with the fauna of the riverside tugai, and then with the forest and shrub vegetation of the foothills and mountains.

The appearance of the animal world of birds of various latitudinal zones of Russia

Not all bird species found on the territory of our country can be distributed among the landscape zones indicated above.

In the bird world of Russia there are a significant number of species that are widely distributed, the relationship of which with certain latitudinal conditions is not clearly expressed; this applies especially to aquatic or near-aquatic birds.

Among them are the following:

1. from gulls - herring and common gull, river tern, grebe, grey-cheeked grebe;
2. many types of ducks - mallard, pintail, teal whistle, shoveler;
3. from copepods - a great cormorant;
4. some waders, such as snipe;
5. from the ankles - gray and red herons, bittern;
6. from predatory - real falcon, derbnik, kestrel, white-tailed eagle, osprey;
7. from owls - an eagle owl, a house owl, an ordinary nightjar;
8. many passerines - raven, jackdaw, starling, white and yellow wagtail, reed bunting, field lark, gray shrike, warbler grasshopper and talovka, warbler, thrush, mistletoe, common wheatear, bluethroat, killer whale and funnel swallow, sand martin and others.

Of course, the distribution of these birds depends on certain conditions, in particular on the availability of natural or artificial reservoirs for:

• seagulls and ducks,
• terns and waders,
• ospreys and grebes;

if there are reservoirs, these bird species are found in different latitudes.

Other of these species are found on the territory of Russia in a wide variety of conditions. So, for example, the eagle owl nests everywhere, except for the tundra - from the northern border of the forest to the south of the Caucasus, keeping in the forests and in the steppe, high in the mountains and in the deserts.

In the same way, the common falcon nests in the tundra, in the forest belt, in the mountains of the Caucasus, avoiding only flat treeless or vertically undissected areas. An ordinary wheatear can be found in the Arctic, and, and in temperate latitudes.

Not being characteristic of a particular latitudinal zone, these widespread bird species, nevertheless, significantly affect the appearance of the animal world of birds in certain areas of our country, since in different parts of it they are often represented by local subspecies forms.

Buy Sima-land Soft Toy Green Parrot 23 cm

And that's all for today. I hope you liked my article about the cultural landscape of the bird world of our country, and you learned something useful from it.

Maybe you have seen some of these representatives of the feathered world. Tell me about it in the comments to the article, I will be interested to read it. Let me say goodbye to you and see you again dear friends.

I suggest you subscribe to blog updates to receive my articles in your mail. And also you can rate the article according to the 10th system, marking it with a certain number of stars. Come visit me and bring your friends, because this site was created especially for you. I am always glad to see you and I am sure that you will definitely find a lot of useful and interesting information here.

Lesson topic: "Birds of cultural landscapes."

Tasks: to supplement, clarify, and expand students' knowledge of the birds of cities and towns, gives an idea of ​​the adaptability of birds to living conditions near human habitation; contributes to the development of children's cognitive interest in nature and its study, environmental education and upbringing of students.

Equipment: sets of drawings or didactic material depicting birds, a player, plastics with recordings of bird voices, tables.

Lesson plan:

Organizing time.

1. Create student working groups

2. Introductory speech of the teacher

Detachment of passerines birds covers a huge number of species and a large number of families. More than half of the bird species inhabiting the earth belong to this order. Passerines are birds of medium and small size. Their beaks are of various shapes. Wings can be long or short and blunt. Most are associated with woody vegetation.

They are characterized by the device of carefully made nests, which are built on trees, on the ground, in minks, human buildings.

The bird is diverse (plant seeds, insects). The vast majority of useful birds.

3. Distribution of tasks. Each group chooses an envelope containing tasks, texts describing the birds of one of the studied families, illustrations or didactic materials.

Tasks.

Read the text given to you.

Review the drawings.

Answer questions to reinforce.

Make conclusions about the adaptability of birds to the environment.

Prepare a report on the appearance and biology of the most common birds of this family using tables.

Formulate a conclusion about the common features of birds of this family.

Questions for consolidation.

What are the common features of birds of this family?

What do these birds eat, and what are the structural features of their beak?

What are the nesting characteristics of birds of this family?

What role do these birds play in nature?

Learning new material.

1. Independent work (10 minutes): studying the appearance and biology of the family 1) weaver, 2) crow, 3) tit, 4) starling, 5) wagtail, 6) swallow

Weaving family. (Slide 5.6)

Combine quite diverse in appearance birds. Most species lead an arboreal lifestyle.

Their physique is dense, the head is round, the neck is short, the beak is conical in shape. The wings of most species are short and rounded. On the ground they move by jumping. They like to bathe in dust or sand. Stay in flocks, some even during the nesting period.

house sparrow- one of the most widely known birds. Its weight is 23-25 ​​g, it is distinguished by a brown-brown color and a gray “cap”. The male has a black throat and chest, the female is all brownish-gray.

House sparrows are sedentary birds, adapted to live near human habitation. In winter, they are often found on the streets, near garbage cans, in garbage dumps. You can often hear their soft chirping: “A little alive, a little alive!”

In the spring, they begin to scream loudly and often, as if “Alive! Alive! Alive!

Sparrows nest under the roofs of wooden buildings, in the crevices of the skin. In winter, they feed mainly on grain feed, they can visit feeders. In the spring they eat insect pests. For only one brood, birds collect 500-700 insects.

field sparrow- somewhat smaller in size than the brownie, it also differs in the brown crown, black spots on the white cheeks and two light stripes on the wing.

It nests in a natural environment - along the edges of groves and parks.

The tree sparrow is somewhat more insectivorous. In winter, it is of great benefit by pecking at weed seeds.

crow family.(Slides 7,8,9,10,11,12)

This family includes the largest representatives of the order of passerine birds. They are characterized by a dense physique, strong legs, a large conical beak; the plumage is black or variegated, many with a metallic sheen.

Rook- a large bird, its plumage is black. A nomadic bird, reminiscent of itself "gra-a, gra-a", from which the name comes.

Jackdaw- a settled bird, of medium size, black, with a gray "kerchief" on its head. In winter, they often feed with crows in flocks, and in spring the birds break into pairs and make their nests in hollow trees, in the ventilation openings of buildings. Birds give themselves away with the characteristic call of "gal-ka, gal-ka." The jackdaw is an omnivorous bird, often feeding on garbage heaps.

Magpie- a medium-sized bird with a bright black and white color: the head, neck, upper chest, tail and wings are black with a metallic sheen, the abdomen and large spots on the shoulders are white.

It flies heavily, often flapping its wings.

A scream is a loud, sharp chirping. Nests are built on trees, more often on a birch, they look like a ball, consisting of dry twigs and branches. Inside it is a bowl smeared with clay. It feeds on forty insect worms, does not disdain a small frog.

swallow family.(Slide 13.14)

Short and wide, especially at the base of the beak, a large mouth slit, narrow and very long wings, a wide chest and at the same time a graceful physique, short and weak legs, of little use for moving on the ground, and finally, a forked tail - a sign by which it is easy to distinguish representatives this family from other birds.

barn swallow, or killer whale, as it is popularly called, has a forked tail, in which the extreme feathers - pigtails are long and thin. The top of the body is black-blue, the ventral side is white, the forehead and throat are rusty-brown.

This is a typical migratory bird, it appears with us in the first days of May and chirps.

Swallows are not very good flyers, they usually hover not far from the nest. The barn swallow's nest is an open cup attached sideways to the wall of a wooden building. The nest is molded from lumps of clay moistened with saliva and straw, inside there is a soft bedding on which the chicks hatch from the eggs. For them, swallows catch small insects in the air and feed the chicks up to 600 times a day.

Titmouse family. (Slide 15.16)

This family combines agile, lively birds with a short, straight beak. Their plumage is dense, soft, wings are relatively short. In the coloration of tits, white “cheeks” are typical.

great tit- the largest of all tits, a little more than a sparrow. It differs from other tits by a black longitudinal strip - a “tie” on a yellow-green chest, and a light spot on the back of the head.

In mixed and deciduous forests, her voice is often heard: "Sin-sin-verr." She begins to sing her wedding song in our area at the beginning of February. At this time, at the end of winter, flocks of wandering tits break into pairs. Bird nests are located in tree holes.

Their main food is insects, which the tit eats both in summer and winter. Her winter activities are especially useful for humans, when she pecks eggs of the gypsy moth on the trees. At the same time, tits can eat seeds of various plants, and large ones are crushed, holding them right in their paws. In the summer, tits feed themselves and feed their chicks exclusively on insects. Their broods are very large in one brood grows up to 14-15 chicks. There are usually two broods during the summer.

Starling family.(Slide 17.18)

The birds of this family are densely built, with a short tail and long wings, a rather long thin beak and strong hind limbs. Insects feed on fruits and berries.

Starling common appears with us in early spring after the rooks. First, males arrive, occupy a birdhouse and begin to sing. However, if there is no birdhouse, the birds settle in hollows. The females arrive in a few days. From dry grass and plant residues, birds begin to build a nest inside a birdhouse or hollow. Both parents incubate the eggs in turn, and both feed the chicks, bringing them food from gardens and fields up to 320 times a day.

At first, the chicks are helpless, and by the end of the third week they begin to scream loudly, jump up to the entrance hole for food, while helping themselves with their wings, and protrude from the nesting place. After 21-23 days after birth, they leave the nest.

Wagtail family. (Slide 19.20)

They will unite small birds the size of a sparrow. The legs of most species are thin and long, with large, slightly curved claws, well adapted to movement on the ground; medium-sized beak is thin and straight.

A typical representative white wagtail. Very dexterously and quickly running on the ground, this bird constantly shakes its tail. The wagtail has a black and white coloration, a black cap, throat and chest stand out.

It keeps alone and in pairs, on the ground, near water bodies, where it eats insects flying over moist soil.

In dachas, household plots, she appears, as if an inspector, after digging the soil, easily runs through the beds, pecks flying insects and, as it were, checks the quality of tillage.

1. Group reports with demonstration of tables, discussion, evaluation of each group (3 minutes).

Formulation of conclusions and their discussion.

Homework: crossword puzzles, riddles, poems, lesson feedback, drawing of a bird on a cozy nest.

ISSN 0869-4362

Russian Journal of Ornithology 2016, Volume 25, Express Issue 1371: 4634-4640

Fauna and bird population of open landscapes of Meshchovsky opolye

V.M.Konstantinov, S.D.Kutin

Second edition. First publication in 2005*

Changes in natural landscapes under the influence of human economic activities lead to fundamental transformations of the fauna and bird population. As a result of long-term and purposeful activities of people in the forest zone, open agricultural landscapes arose, in which peculiar fauna and bird populations were formed.

This study was undertaken to determine the uniqueness of the fauna and bird population of open agricultural landscapes of the forest zone, their seasonal dynamics. Despite the practical significance of such studies, they have received insufficient attention so far. There are works devoted to the birds of the agricultural landscapes of the steppe zone (Browner 1899, 1923; Pachossky 1909; Voistvensky 1960; Formozov 1962; Kirikov 1983; Ryabov 1946, 1974, 1982; and others). A number of works are devoted to the birds of open landscapes of anthropogenic origin in the forest zone (Kirikov 1966; Vladyshevsky 1975; Gyngazov 1981; Beintime 1982; Butiev, Ezhova 1986, 1988; Solonen 1985; etc.) Information on the ecology and practical importance of birds in open landscapes is contained in regional fauna reports (Birds of Kazakhstan 1960-1974; Fedyushin, Dolbik 1967; Ptushenko, Inozemtsev 1968; Malchevsky, Pukinsky 1983; and many others). However, there are practically no special works devoted to the fauna and bird population of open landscapes of anthropogenic origin in the Central region of the European part of Russia.

The material for this report was collected during the six summer field seasons of 1980-1984 and 1986. The studies covered all open landscapes of anthropogenic origin in the Meshchovsky opolye.

The original vegetation of the Meshchovsky opolye was represented by broad-leaved and mixed forests growing on gray forest soils. In the 7th-8th centuries, with the arrival of the Vyatichi tribes on these territories, deforestation, plowing and cultivation of land took place. The greatest intensity of agricultural

* Konstantinov V.M., Kut'in S.D. 2005. Fauna and bird population of the open landscapes of the Meshchovsky opolye II Issues of archeology, history, culture and nature of the Upper Poochie: Proceedings of the 11th All-Russian scientific. conf. Kaluga: 362-366.

naya human activity reached in the XIX-XX centuries. At present, the woody vegetation of the opolye is represented by patches of secondary insular forests. They are formed mainly by small-leaved trees with an admixture of broad-leaved species and occupy about 5% of the district's area.

The studies were carried out in various agricultural lands - meadows, pastures, including areas of shrubs and woody vegetation surrounded by fields, on borders, roadsides, areas overgrown with weeds, occupied by power transmission line supports, depressions and ravines. The length of the counting routes was more than 250 km, the width of the counting strip for small birds was 100 m, for medium and large birds 300 m. Phenological observations of the arrival and formation of the nesting fauna of birds in open landscapes were regularly carried out. At the same time, several stages were distinguished in the nesting period, which lasted from the second decade of May to the end of July. On the first stage (from the second decade of May until the end of this month), late migrants arrive in the study area, nests are built, and eggs are massively laid in the nests of birds that arrived earlier. At the second stage, which falls on the month of June, all birds nest in open landscapes, incubation and mass hatching of chicks occur, fledglings of early nesting birds appear. At the third stage, which occurs in July, nesting is completed in most species. This stage is characterized by the presence of second clutches in some species, the appearance of nomadic flocks of young birds. The post-nesting period, which covers the month of August, is characterized by local trophic migrations of birds, the gradual loss of stable connections with nesting biotopes by birds, an increase in migratory activity and the beginning of autumn migrations.

Analysis of the data obtained during the surveys shows that the bird fauna of open landscapes is 78 species of birds from 13 orders. Of these, 16 species nest in agricultural fields. These include the common teal Anas querquedula, meadow harrier Circus pygar-gus, gray partridge Perdix perdix, quail Coturnix coturnix, corncrake Crex crex, lapwing Vanellus vanellus, snipe Gallinago gallinago, short-eared owl Asio flammeus, skylark Alauda arvensis, meadow pipit Anthus pratensis, yellow wagtail Motacilla flava, white wagtail Motacilla alba, jackdaw Corvus monedula, badger-chok warbler Acrocephalus schoenobaenus, bush warbler Acrocepha-lus palustris, meadow coin Saxicola rubetra. Nesting of 10 species is probable, as evidenced by encounters of current male pairs exhibiting nesting behavior and broods of young birds. These include the common teal Anas crecca, harrier Circus cyaneus, pipit Anthus trivialis, shrike Lanius collurio, gray warbler Sylvia commu-

nis, river cricket Locustella fluviatilis, common cricket Locustella naevia, common wheatear Oenanthe oenanthe, common bunting Emberiza citrinella, reed bunting Emberiza schoeniclus. Thus, the list of birds nesting and probably nesting in meadows, fields and pastures includes 26 species. Of these, 10 species of birds in agricultural landscapes nest constantly. This is their main habitat. These include meadow harrier, gray partridge, quail, corncrake, lapwing, short-eared owl, skylark, meadow pipit, yellow wagtail, meadow coin. This group of birds is obligate for the open landscapes of the Meshchovsky opolye.

The second group consists of birds whose nesting biotopes are forests and elements of woody vegetation in agricultural areas. These include the honey buzzard Pernis apivorus, black kite Milvus migrans, goshawk Accipiter gentilis, sparrow hawk Accipiter nisus, common buzzard Buteo buteo, hobby falcon Falco subbuteo, common kestrel Falco tinnunculus, black grouse Ly-rurus tetrix, woodcock Scolopax rustumicola, oenas, wood pigeon Columba palumbus, common turtle dove Streptopelia turtur, roller Coracias garrulus, forest pipit, shrike, gray shrike Lanius excubitor, jay Garrulus glandarius, magpie Pica pica, hooded crow Corvus cornix, raven Corvus corax, gray warbler, willow warbler Phylloscopus trochilus , finch Fringilla coelebs, greenfinch Chloris chloris, siskin Spinus spinus, goldfinch Carduelis carduelis, common bunting.

The third group includes species whose nesting sites are meadow-bog and waterways: the gray heron Ardea cinerea, the mallard Anas platyrhynchos, the cracked teal, the common teal, the marsh harrier Circus aeruginosus, the gray crane Grus grus, the little plover Charadrius dubius, the black Tringa ochropus, snipe, great snipe Gallinago media, black-headed gull Larus ridibundus, gray gull Larus canus, white-winged tern Chlidonias leucopterus, badger warbler, bush warbler, reed bunting. They nest irregularly in open landscapes.

The group of synanthropic birds in open landscapes is represented by the following species: rock dove Columba palumbus, swift Apus apus, barn swallow Hirundo rustica, city swallow Deli-chon urbica, white wagtail, common starling Sturnus vulgaris, jackdaw, rook Corvus frugilegus, wheatear, tree sparrow Passer monta-nus, linnet Acanthis cannabina. These birds feed in areas of fields and meadows adjacent to settlements, roads, human outbuildings.

Unlike the first group of obligate species, the other three are facultative in open landscapes. The facultative species should, apparently, also include a group of birds whose stay in

agricultural landscapes is associated with periods of seasonal migrations: Buzzard Buteo lagopus, Merlin Falco columbarius, Golden plover Pluvialis apricaria, Philomachus pugnax turukhtan, Eremophila alpestris rum, Fringilla montifringilla brambling.

Of particular interest is the placement of birds nesting in open landscapes. According to their preferred nesting sites, the following groups are distinguished among them. The first one occupies the central parts of the fields, having the highest population density here. It includes quail, field lark, meadow chasing. In a strip of open landscapes about 100 m wide, adjacent to the edges of forests, current male quails and skylarks are not found. Meadow coinage nests among forbs preserved along the outskirts of fields, at the edges of the forest, on the borders, less often among cultivated cereals.

The second group of birds is associated with elements of the forest landscape - bushes, single trees and their small groups surrounded by fields. They usually nest on forest edges. These include the following species: gray partridge, forest pipit, shrike, bush warbler, gray warbler, common bunting. These species are also found in areas occupied by power transmission towers. The hollow concrete poles of power lines, as in the steppe regions, began to serve as a permanent place for nesting jackdaws. Lekking of forest pipits and common buntings in areas occupied by power transmission towers, telephone poles indicates the possibility of their nesting in these places, sometimes at a considerable distance from forests.

The third group of birds gravitates toward meadow-marsh vegetation, preserved in places in agricultural areas. These include the common teal, common teal, meadow harrier, corncrake, lapwing, snipe, short-eared owl, meadow pipit, yellow wagtail, river cricket, badger warbler, reed bunting. These species also nest in fields resembling their nesting stations in height and layered vegetation.

When analyzing the current state of the fauna and bird populations in open landscapes, it is necessary to take into account their seasonal dynamics (see table). The group of obligate species is characterized by the greatest seasonal stability. It retains a constant number of species during the spring-summer-autumn period. The high number of birds of this group in the snowless season, similar numbers during spring and autumn migrations, late spring decline and a gradual increase in population density as a result of breeding indicate that open landscapes are the main habitats for obligate birds. In the post-nesting period, the population density of most obligate species decreases. The number of these birds continues to decline during the period

autumn migrations due to the departure of birds of local populations to the south against the background of a relatively small influx of migrants from limited areas of agricultural territories located north of the study area.

Seasonal Dynamics of Fauna and Bird Populations in Open Landscapes of the Meshchovsky Opolye

(A - density, ind./km2, B - number of species)

Biotope groups of birds April May June July August September-October

A B A B A B A B A B A B

obligate birds

open landscapes 91.6 9 77.6 9 83.1 9 106.7 8 92.8 10 78.8 9

Synanthropic birds 39.4 8 83.2 6 110.8 7 116.3 9 465.0 9 671.6 8

Forest birds 29.4 20 7.6 10 14.2 13 35.2 18 75.4 19 107.6 21

Meadow wading birds 4.5 13 1.7 4 1.3 4 7.6 7 11.4 8 5.2 2

Total 164.9 50 170.1 29 209.4 33 265.8 42 644.6 46 863.2 40

Of the group of facultative species, birds of the forest and meadow-marsh complexes are most similar in the nature of the seasonal dynamics of species diversity and abundance in open landscapes.

Of all the groups in the open landscapes of the Meshchovsky opolye, forest birds are most represented. This may indicate the comparative youth of open landscapes in the forest zone. But in terms of numbers, the group of forest birds here is inferior to groups of obligate species and synanthropic birds, which reflects the low forest cover of the Meshchovsky opolye. The high population density of forest birds in agricultural areas is due to the fact that the outskirts of the fields serve as a gathering place for food by many species of birds nesting in the forest.

The group of meadow-bog birds differs from others in its lower species diversity and abundance in the summer-autumn period. In spring, the birds of the meadow-marsh complex are attracted to the fields by numerous temporary reservoirs. This creates a large species diversity and high population density of meadow-marsh birds.

A constant number of species in the spring-summer-autumn period and a high population density are characteristic of synanthropic birds. The gradual increase in the number of synanthropes by autumn, which at that time reaches the highest values ​​not only for this group itself, but also in comparison with other groups of birds, indicates the importance of open landscapes for synanthropic bird species as the main feeding places. Thus, the development of agricultural landscapes, the increase in the food supply in them contribute to the growth of the populations of synanthropic birds.

It is important to note a significant increase in the species diversity and abundance of birds of various biotope groups in open lands.

shafts in the post-breeding and autumn periods. This is explained not only by the increase in the number of bird populations resulting from reproduction, but also by the loss of stable links with nesting biotopes, the redistribution of birds across the territory, and the movement of birds from other biotopes to open areas.

Attention is drawn to the difference in species diversity and abundance of most biotopic groups in the spring and autumn periods. This is due to the different spatial distribution of spring and autumn flyways and nesting habitats. In spring, birds adhere to the boundaries of their nesting habitats. It is possible that the closer they approach the nesting sites, the deeper on the migration the birds penetrate into biotopes that are physiognomically similar to nesting ones. In autumn, the food supply of the territories through which they migrate is of greater importance.

Thus, the bird fauna of the open agricultural landscapes of the Meshchovsky opolye is heterogeneous in its origin and seasonal dynamics. Intensive seasonal dynamics of the bird population of agrolandscapes is associated with the heterogeneity of its faunal complexes and sharp seasonal changes in bird habitats in open landscapes. The most capacious and vital open landscapes are for the majority of migratory and nomadic birds during the period of seasonal migrations.

Literature a

Beintime A. 1982. Reducing the number of meadow birds in the agricultural

landscape of Holland // 18th International. ornithol. congress. M: 73. Brauner A.A. 1899. Harmful and beneficial animals of the Kherson province // Zap. Society

village households of Southern Russia 4/6: 99-122. Brauner A.A. 1923. Agricultural zoology. Odessa: 1-436.

Butiev V.T., Ezhova S.A. (1986) 2016. Changes in the fauna and population of birds in connection with the agricultural development of the territory in the taiga zone // Rus. ornithol. magazine 25 (1371): 4640-4641.

Butiev V.T., Ezhova S.A. 1988. The structure of the bird population of agricultural lands in the conditions of the taiga of the European territory of the USSR // Morphology, systematics and ecology of animals. M.: 28-38. Vladyshevsky D.V. 1975. Birds in the anthropogenic landscape. Novosibirsk: 1-177. Voinstvensky M.A. 1960. Birds of the steppe zone of the European part of the USSR. Kyiv: 1291.

Gyngazov A.M. 1981. The impact of economic activity on the birds of the West Siberian

plains. Tomsk: 1-168. Kirikov S.V. 1966. Game animals, natural environment and man. M.: 1-346. Kirikov S.V. 1983. Man and nature of the steppe zone. M.: 1-123.

Malchevsky A.S., Pukinsky Yu.B. 1983. Birds of the Leningrad region and adjacent territories: History, biology, protection. L., 1: 1-480, 2: 1-504. Birds of Kazakhstan. 1960-1974. Alma-Ata: 1: 1-471, 2: 1-779, 3: 1-637, 4: 1-364, 5: 1-468. Ptushenko E.S., Inozemtsev A.A. 1968. Biology and economic importance of birds in the Moscow region and adjacent territories. M.: 1-461.

Ryabov V.F. 1946. The benefits and harms of birds in open spaces // Tr. Mari. ped. in-ta 5: 1175.

Ryabov V.F. 1974. Changes in the avifauna of the steppes of Northern Kazakhstan under the influence of anthropogenic factors // Ornithology 11: 279. Ryabov V.F. 1982. Avifauna of the steppes of Northern Kazakhstan. M.: 1-175. Fedyushin A.V., Dolbik M.S. 1967. Birds of Belarus. Minsk: 1-513. Formozov A.N. 1962. Changes in the natural conditions of the steppe south of the European part of the USSR over the past 100 years and some features of the modern fauna of the steppes // Studies of the geography of natural resources of the animal and plant world. M.: 114161.

Solonen T. 1985. Agriculture and bird life in Finland. A review // Ornisfenn. 62, 2:47-55. ISSN 0869-4362

Russian Journal of Ornithology 2016, Volume 25, Express Issue 1371: 4640-4641

Changes in the fauna and population of birds in connection with the agricultural development of the territory in the taiga zone

V.T.Butiev, S.A.Ezhova

Second edition. First publication in 1986*

As a result of studying in 1970-1985 birds of agricultural lands that arose on the site of forests in the center and north of the Vologda Oblast, a number of general patterns and trends in changes in the taiga fauna and bird population were identified. The replacement of the original forest and natural meadow groups of birds with groups of agricultural lands leads to a sharp reduction in the number of nesting species (up to 2 or more times), primarily due to typically dendrophilic species. To a lesser extent, this applies to edge-shrub birds, the composition of which in some cases becomes richer. At the same time, the role of bird groups initially associated with open areas increases. Agrocenoses include species that inhabited areas of natural meadows in the taiga zone, synanthropic species, as well as invaders from other natural landscape zones (for example, lapwing Vanellus vanellus, skylark Alauda arvensis, linnet Acanthis can-nabina, warbler Iduna caligata, etc. .). In general, the considered changes in the avifauna consist in a sharp reduction in the share of the taiga ornithocomplex in its composition with an increase in the participation of

* Butiev V.T., Ezhova S.A. 1986. Changes in the fauna and population of birds in connection with the agricultural development of the territory in the taiga zone // Study of birds of the USSR, their protection and rational use. L., 1: 108-109.