Mountain turkey is a bird not familiar to everyone. She lives far from everywhere, so there are few of those who saw her with their own eyes. The Caucasian ular, as the mountain turkey is called in a different way, looks like a domestic chicken, and a little like a partridge. This is the largest bird in the pheasant family.
Short description
What does a mountain turkey look like? The photo shown above shows that the main color in the plumage of these birds is gray. On it are lighter blotches. Such camouflage helps the snowcock hide from predators, as it makes it invisible against the background of rocks. Their average number ranges from 400-700 thousand individuals.
The largest weight this bird can reach is 2.5 kg. It has a downed body, short and plump legs, a small neck, a small wide beak, short pointed wings and a relatively long rounded tail. This body structure allows her to quickly move along steep slopes. Wings in the process of walking the ular uses to maintain balance.
Where do they livemountain turkeys?
The mountain turkey, also known as the Caucasian snowcock, is concentrated in the alpine zone of the Main Caucasian Range. And here these birds can be found both at the level of 1800 and at an altitude of 4000 meters. The bird usually settles in gorges and stony placers. Since July, the snowcock has a habit of rising closer to the tops of the mountains, and in winter it descends to the lower belts. Ulara can, although much less frequently, be found in Central, Middle and Minor Asia, Southern Siberia.
The mountain turkey bird prefers to move not alone, but in small groups. Mountain turkey activity peaks in the early hours of the day. At this time, on the slopes of the mountains you can hear their melodic singing. Seeing the danger, the Ulars run to the cliff in order to glide into the abyss. During the flight, the bird emits a whistle.
Features of food
Mountain turkey eats exclusively plant foods. On the slopes of the mountains, she collects leaves, seeds, flowers, buds and stems from about 70 plants growing in her habitat. The diet of the snowcock mainly consists of cereals, sedges, cloves and legumes.
To grind food, ulars have a habit of swallowing small pebbles. It happens that in their stomach at the same time there can be a number of pebbles approaching 20 g.
How reproduction works
Until mid-March, birds usually stay in flocks. However, when they have a mating season - each for himselfby oneself. In males of the Caucasian snowcock, like most feathered representatives of the fauna, it is customary to attract a female by singing. The male considers it useful to fight for the chosen one with the enemy. The mating war greatly exhausts the male snowcock, and he decently loses weight during love.
When the male mountain turkey realizes that he has finally won the favor of the female, he raises his tail and stretches his head. After fertilization, the male begins to actively gain weight, bringing it up to his usual weight.
After mating in March-April, birds nest. The female can carry from 5 to 8 eggs, then incubate them without the participation of the male. The hatched chicks reach the size of an adult in 3 months, and next spring they will be able to leave offspring.
Hunting for snowcocks
Caucasian hunters usually don't go specially for snowcocks. If a turkey meets on the way, they will be happy to shoot it. But their main target is usually large animals. Snowcocks, moreover, are not so easy to hunt, even for seasoned hunters. These birds often interfere with hunters in getting big game with their loud voice. Seeing danger, they make piercing sounds that warn all animals in the mountains of the danger. Previously, the meat of ulars was considered curative. Today it is a delicacy, the taste of which, probably, everyone would like to appreciate.
Few people in their lives saw a mountain turkey, or a Caucasian snowcock, even among the inhabitants of the Caucasus. This bird is very careful andlives in hard-to-reach places. Many had to watch her only from afar. The bird does not let a person close to itself. If you ever come across a bird with marbled plumage that looks like a chicken in the mountains, it may be the same mountain turkey.
