There are wonderful birds from the order of passerines. They have spread all over the world. Most often they can be found in Asia, Africa and, of course, in Europe. The territory of Russia and the former republics of the Soviet Union can especially boast of this bird. She pleases the ear and lives both in the mountains and on the plains. They can also live very well in captivity. What is this bird? You can learn about this by reading the article.
Description of male
Outwardly, the bird looks like a sparrow, which is why it is classified as a passerine. A photo of oatmeal shows the resemblance well. At the same time, it is easy to distinguish it, as it compares favorably with plumage and tail. In total, the bird has up to 197 species. In the vastness of Russia, the most common species is the common oatmeal. It can also be found in the vastness of Scandinavia and Spain. The baby, garden, millet, white hat and others also live in Russia.
In the article we will focus on the bird, called oatmealremez, which is slightly smaller than usual. The male has a black and white pattern on the head, neck and back. Characteristic color: rusty-brown with dark variegation (streaks). He has a chestnut necklace on his chest, and spots on his sides. The abdomen of the male is white.
Female description
Female Remez bunting, colored like the male, but with less contrast. The head is painted brown instead of black. Autumn feather coloration is very similar: ocher. A noticeable difference between the female and the male is the absence of a white spot on the back of the head. If it occurs in females, it is very small, barely noticeable. The female also has an ocher color of the feather completely, except for the base. In males, it is only on the edges of the feathers.
Differences between young and mature males
Young males of the Remez bunting, having a nesting outfit, are very similar to females. They are duller and with more ocher bloom. Dark brown streaks are observed on the chest, and brown on the sides with dark brown strokes on the trunks. Their helms are pointed.
At one year old, males differ from mature ones by a dull and narrow stripe on the chest, which has a chestnut color. On the mask they often have brown feathers (especially on the ear). Since young males differ little from females, they can be confused with cane-type buntings. To prevent this from happening, you need to carefully look at the signs. They should be distinguished by a light spot above the ear. In addition, as a rule, the feathers of the remez on the crown bristle, resembling a tuft, and the streaks of the sides are brown. A bird of the species Remez bunting has a similar appearance in the east of the region: yellow-browedoatmeal.
Distribution
Most of all, she, flying, lives in the southern forest-steppe. The first arrival takes place in the spring. Arrival times are not always the same. This happens from the 1st to the 3rd decade of April. In autumn they fly for the last time from late September to mid-October. Remez oatmeal settles in the Moscow region from late March to early April. The bird steams and prefers to settle on the forest edge, large glades, meadows with thickets of bushes and clearings.
Quite a lot of birds nest directly on the ground and less often in bushes at a height of one and a half meters. They build nests from grass stalks and cereal panicles, birds neatly line the tray with roots and hairs. In the southern taiga, the bird is observed during nesting time on the right bank of the Irtysh River. Coniferous forests inhabit floodplain habitats and sphagnum bogs covered with low growing pine. In the second half of summer, Remez bunting, whose photo is posted in the article, lives in the zone of mixed forests. Most of all, these are pine ryams.
Birds fly in Omsk too. In the 19th century, common oatmeal was deliberately brought to New Zealand (to its islands) from its natural habitat - Great Britain. If we consider the territory of the former Soviet Union, then the nesting of buntings is observed in the south of Moldova and Ukraine. The mountain plains of Elbrus are considered isolated areas. All types of oatmeal are in the same squad. However, each bird has its own individuality, its own subtleties of color, its own singing melody anddifferent way of life.
Structure, size and features of oatmeal
The bunting bird has a poorly developed palatine tubercle. The first flight wing is rudimentary. The outer fan from 3 to 6 primary flight wings has clippings. The body of the male has a length of 127 to 160 millimeters, the average is 241 millimeters. The length of females in the body is from 130 to 155 millimeters, the average is 230 millimeters.
Wings have length:
- males 71.5 to 81.5 mm, average 76.9 mm;
- females 65 to 79.5 mm, average 73.2 mm.
The beak is 11 to 12 millimeters long, the tarsus is 18 to 19 millimeters long, and the tail is 55 to 65 millimeters long. Males weigh between 19 and 22.3 grams (average 19.87), females between 17 and 20.8 grams (average 17.98 grams).
Oatmeal doesn't avoid people. She often settles next to a person and even in the city. Most of all they like to nest close to farms. This is understandable, because it is easy to get food here: grain seeds. Of course, it is not difficult to guess that the most favorite delicacy for a bird of this species is oats. Apparently, the name oatmeal was not chosen by chance. A bright bird can spend the winter next to the stable, again because of the oats, which is enough. An entire population can thus feed and survive the winter. When the snow melts, and the nights are still sometimes frosty, the males begin to return from wintering. Then people rejoice, hearing the first trills of birds, among which is the singing of buntings.
Egg laying
Waiting for females, males mostlyspend time looking for food. Between this vital activity, they sing, praising the mysteries of the awakening of nature, its beauty and generosity. When the snow leaves, last year's grains can be found on the surface, and the first insects appear from under the ground. In the future, they will make up the bulk of the oatmeal diet. It is very important that insects will be in abundance, because future offspring need to be fed. It is they who will serve the newly-made parents for feeding the chicks. In the first days, the chicks are fed ground invertebrate food from the crop of the parent (male or female).
When the chicks are able to take whole insects, the parents bring them grasshoppers, wood lice, spiders and insects of other species. Sweet-voiced buntings enter into marriage after the second half of April. Already at the end of May they acquire offspring. Males, endowed with bright colors, nurse in front of females, flirting with them in every possible way, showing off and filling with a trill with overflows. Having chosen a pair, the female looks for a place for a nest. The construction of the future family house begins, where you can raise your offspring. In May, bunting remez begins to massively lay eggs. The bird's nest has a clutch of 4 to 6 eggs. They are white in color with pink and purple hues. Specks and fine lines are visible on the eggs. The incubation period lasts from 12 to 14 days. Juveniles leave the nest when they are about 14 days old. Chicks are fed mainly on insects and sometimes half-ripe grass seeds and green shoots.
Life in captivity
The bird has a wide distribution, but in captivity it lives differently andoften. She has a distrustful and shy personality. Most of all, it is preferred by canar breeders. For them, Remez bunting is a bird (there is a photo in the article) necessary for learning oatmeal tunes. Young males are taken for training. A cage for oatmeal should be taken spacious up to 70 centimeters long. If there are other birds in the cage, then the males can be aggressive. If such a case occurs, the male is removed. The cages contain both remez and common oatmeal. You can also find in captivity garden, gall, baby, greyhead and some other species.
Food
Seeds of canary grass, millet, rapeseed, oatmeal, chumiza with a small amount of hemp, mogar, flax, crushed sunflower - everything that Remez oatmeal eats. Keeping in captivity imposes its own characteristics on the nutrition of the bird, since it cannot get its own food on its own. A good supplement is screenings (weed seeds). It is imperative to give soft food, in which daphnia or gammarus are added. Periodically, the bird is fed with flour worms, various insects, especially during molting and reproduction. It is important that the Remez oatmeal bird (the photo and description of which is above) eat vegetables and herbs. The cage should be stocked with clean river sand, chalk, crushed shells and eggshells.
Breeding
This is a rare occasion when poultry farmers breed oatmeal. But if this is of interest to someone, then for such purposes it is necessary to use enclosures or large cages. In enclosures it is necessary (at leastleast desirable) to have an earthen floor and bushes. Then bunting remez, whose singing can please the owner's ear, can winter and not be afraid of frost. Hybrids have already been bred in captivity. They are derived from common oatmeal and canary. In nature, such a bunting is crossed with a white-capped bunting if the contact has in the zone of their contact.
Singing
The song of the oatmeal tinkles silver and consists of repeating fast zit-zit-zit sounds and ends with a drawling "chili". Most of all, Dubrovnik with yellow-throated bunting sing a beautiful waxwing. And oatmeal remez sings with dignity. But still, if the goal is bird singing, then you need to start singing leaders. Keeping and feeding Dubrovnik and yellow-throated similarly to ordinary bunting.
Lifespan and features of Remez's nest
If the bird has favorable conditions, then oatmeal can live up to 4 years. But there are special interesting cases when cases of centenarian birds have been registered. For example, in Germany they found oatmeal over 13 years old. The feathered builders of remeza gained the widest fame. These birds are closely related to titmouse. Graceful and sharp-beaked, small birds build nests that are a closed cavity.
The nest has a narrow entrance. It is so durable that in Africa the locals often use it as a wallet. Such nests resemble a mitten. Only her thumb is missing.
Looking at the size of birds, you are surprised at their bulkinessbuildings:
• height - up to 22 centimeters;
• diameter – up to 12 centimeters;
• thickness - up to 2 centimeters.
The entrance to the nest is a tube up to 5 centimeters long.
The nest is suspended on thin branches of a tree or bush hanging down. It is fixed on reed stems. If the area is damp with flooding, bird nests are arranged at a height of 2 to 4 meters. It happens that they hang directly above the water.
Land for nesting pennytails are chosen very rarely. Then the height of the nest reaches 12 meters. The frame is connected by elastic and thin fibers, carefully wound on the supporting branches. The main building material is the fluff of poplar, willow, cattail. The inside of the nest is necessarily lined with a thick layer of down with feathers.
