What kind of birds live in the city (Moscow or other locality - it doesn't matter)? What do they eat and what is their distribution area? Before answering this question, let's say a few words about artificial selection between animals.
Survival of the fittest
From century to century, man directly or indirectly influenced nature, changing its appearance in every possible way. Naturally, following the changes in the conditions of existence, the animal world also underwent metamorphoses: some species completely disappeared from the face of the Earth, being replaced by new ones, while others simply lost their population, remaining only on lands untouched by people. But, despite this, many birds managed to adapt and settle in stations that were completely unusual for them, not paying any attention to a sharp change in their habitat. So, the topic of our article is birds living side by side with humans. In it you will find out which birds live in the city, we will give a photo and description of them here.
Our neighbors
There are animals on the planet that have become strong neighbors of man. These are cats, dogs, and, of course, birds. You can meet the latter wherever there are human settlements: invillages, cities, parks, squares, forest park areas, etc. Many of these birds make a huge contribution to human activity, providing it with invaluable benefits: they destroy objectionable insects that damage agriculture and forestry, they fight rodents in our gardens etc. Before telling what birds live in the city, it is necessary to pay attention to the fact that feathered creatures manage to survive even in million-plus cities, here they manage to find food, shelter for the night and in bad weather, as well as in most cases flee from predators.
How do birds survive in cities?
City-dwelling birds build their nests in trees, bushes, balconies of dwellings, rooftops and, of course, attics. If you delve into this, it is not so much what birds live in cities that is important, but how they manage to survive in the territories of administrative units with more than a million people! Ornithologists say that all this is due to their unique ingenuity and resourcefulness: only those birds survive who, in a short time, can find food and shelter from enemies and bad weather. What do birds eat in the city? They collect insects on trees and bushes, feast on berries in parks and gardens, peck grass seeds in flower beds and lawns. In especially difficult times, they feed on food waste in city dumps.
The most famous city birds
Which birds live in the city and are the most famous? Of course,pigeons! These feathered creatures are distributed throughout the globe. The only exceptions are the polar regions of our planet - the Arctic and Antarctic. Ornithologists have calculated that the largest number of these birds lives in Australia and the Malay Archipelago. Currently, scientists have described over 300 species of various wild pigeons. Why do you think these birds are so drawn to us and are practically inseparable from us? The fact is that they were specially domesticated by man about 5,000 years ago. All domestic breeds of pigeons, numbering more than 200 species, are descended from wild sizar. It once inhabited only the rocks, but now it has moved into the cities, living side by side with people.
What do pigeons eat?
Basically, these birds prefer to eat the seeds of certain plants. However, among the pigeons there are also tropical species that are happy to eat fruits and berries. But if we talk about the pigeons that live next to us (about the city sizars), then it should be noted that in difficult times they adapted to eat garbage in landfills. It is the absence of disgust that plays a decisive role in the natural selection of urban sizars. It is curious that these creatures breed all year round due to the fact that they live in warm basements and attics. In addition, they do not leave the city in the winter. That is why rock doves are the most numerous birds in our cities.
Crows
What birds live in the city in winter and summer, except for rock doves? These are crows. As a rule, two subspecies of these live in Europebirds: black crows inhabiting Western Europe, and gray crows that spread closer to the East (Eastern Siberia). Initially, these birds chose the edges of copses and forests, meadows and fields for their nesting sites. But a few decades ago, they firmly entered our lives and began to inhabit the centers of large cities in large numbers. There are especially many of these birds in the east of Europe: in Siberia, in Altai. These feathered creatures never nest in whole colonies, as rooks do, but only in separate pairs. Crows-parents build their nests high above the ground in dense crowns of trees.
What do crows eat?
These birds are omnivorous, but they still give their preference to animal feed. Ravens eat everything that gets on their teeth: insects, small mammals and birds, carrion. These gray scoundrels love to destroy bird nests, feasting on their eggs. With great pleasure they devour various grains, green parts of certain plants, berries, fruits and other fruits. In the winter, when their diet is scarce, they scavenge in the city dumps, eating all sorts of food waste there. In principle, these are smart and cautious birds, but not the gray crows that inhabit the cities of the eastern part of Europe, these birds are annoying to the point of impudence! In winter, they often join flocks of rooks and jackdaws. What other birds live in the city?
Oriole, jackdaw, crane, sandpiper, black grouse
The oriole, or forest flute, is one of the most beautiful songbirds of our forests. But its habitat is not limited to the forest zone. Thesesongbirds settle in alleys, gardens, cities. Their favorite city places are old parks with tall trees. For gardens and orchards, these birds are of great benefit, exterminating harmful insects. You can meet these creatures throughout Europe to the south of England and Sweden, as well as in the south-west of Siberia. The oriole also lives in northwestern Africa and Asia Minor. What birds live in the city besides them?
Daws are also city dwellers - cheerful and lively birds. They are able to breathe life into even the most dreary regions. Jackdaws bring with them joy and delight. These birds are omnivores. Together with crows, they dig in garbage deposits, extracting food for themselves in the winter. You can meet them not only in Europe, but also in Asia. They usually settle in abandoned city towers.
It cannot be said that cranes are purely urban dwellers, since their usual habitats are large swamps in both suburban and forest areas. They especially like to settle in the swamps bordering the fields. In cities, these creatures settle in nests at high altitudes. In nature, they make their nests mainly on the ground. They live on the territory of Central Europe up to Eastern Siberia, in Transbaikalia and in Africa.
Kulik is an unusual bird. The family of waders includes spindles, turnstones, yakans, phalaropes, oystercatchers, and many, many other species. The smallest sandpiper does not exceed the size of a sparrow, and the largest is the size of an adult chicken. These birds are likeand cranes, it would be a stretch to call urban dwellers, because their main habitats are coastal strips.
Some ornithologists classify black grouse as city and forest birds at the same time, while their opponents, on the contrary, believe that the habitats of these birds are exclusively zones of mixed forests and forest-steppe. We will not take responsibility and give our preference to any of the options, but simply note that these birds are common throughout Europe and Asia.
Sparrows and tits
Speaking about what kind of birds live in the city (photos of these birds are presented in the article), one cannot fail to mention the familiar sparrows and great tits to all of us. These are impudent, courageous and smart birds, living safely side by side with a person, even in noisy and crowded cities. In the summer, they eat berries, fruits, seeds, and in the winter they do not disdain food production waste thrown by people into a landfill. They like to settle in gardens and parks.
Tits are one of the few birds that bring great benefits to humans: they eat harmful insects. That is why people in every possible way invite titmouse to their gardens and gardens. Neither sparrows nor tits leave their native lands for the winter. In search of food, they fly in flocks from place to place. Where there is a lot of food, there they linger. They live in Europe, Africa, Asia.
So, in this article, we learned what birds live in the city, what they eat andterritories of which states they inhabit.
