In the southern part of the territory of the Far East, in a relatively small corner of it, a very bold and at the same time secretive bird lives. Her name is wild grouse, but taiga hunters and locals called her humble hazel grouse. Photos of the wild grouse prove that it really looks like a hazel grouse, from a certain distance it is easy to confuse them.
What is this bird, what is its lifestyle and where can it be found? All this can be found in this article.
Legend
According to one legend, these birds were specially created by forest deities to help travelers who got lost in the forest. When a lost unfortunate person had no provisions or cartridges left, a wild grouse appeared, completely fearless, not afraid of a person.
You could just knock her off a tree with a stick or put a noose around her neck to cook food from her and not die of starvation.
Habitats
In Russia, the distribution range of the wild grouse consists of three small isolated areas, one of which extends from the regions of the Amur Region(north-western part) and from Yakutia (south-eastern part) to the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk. The second region is the mountain-taiga territories of the Sikhote-Alin. The third habitat of wild grouse is the central and northern regions of about. Sakhalin. But in all these areas, the bird is quite sporadically distributed.
The favorite habitat is the dark coniferous taiga, and this bird is also found on the plains and mountains, overgrown with spruce-fir vegetation, sometimes with birch. They are located at altitudes reaching 1600 meters above sea level.
Description
Wood grouse in its physique and behavior is a cross between hazel grouse and black grouse, but closer to the first. It is slightly larger than a hazel grouse, but smaller than a black grouse: its mass is about 600 grams. The length of the body together with the tail is 43 centimeters. Her wings, like those of many other chickens, are blunt and short, however, despite this, she flies quite quickly. The paws are covered with thick warm down, which protects the bird from the cold in severe Siberian frosts.
The plumage has a darker color than that of the hazel grouse. Chestnut-black is the main background, and there are white, gray, reddish and pale ocher spots and streaks on it. Females due to the greater number of light spots have a lighter color than males. Their feathers show more of an admixture of reddish tones.
Sparrow birds, the photos of which you see in the article, have a dense physique and a small head. On the throat and part of the neck there is a white border on a black background. ATduring the mating period in males above the eyes, “eyebrows” of red color are clearly visible - these are areas of bare skin.
The species of these birds (grouse) has the following classification: animal kingdom, type of chordates, class of birds, order of galliformes, family of grouse, genus of wild grouse.
Lifestyle
This bird is silent and inconspicuous, moves through the forest mostly slowly and does not even take off in case of danger. It is often stationary, rarely flies and for short distances - no more than 30 meters. Flight is accompanied by a characteristic whistle of wings. Due to the well-developed ability of the wild grouse to hide, it can rarely be the prey of predators (including sable).
The male in the spring makes soft sounds, reminiscent of the howling of the wind in the stove pipe. Even if it is only 10 meters away, it is impossible to determine the place from which these sounds are heard. The female has a creaky voice, mixed with clucking.
In winter, birds are inactive, and they spend time in a small area of fir or spruce forest, feeding in the crowns of tall trees. Most of the time they sit under the snow in the cells. Like the hazel grouse, the wild grouse deftly hides in the branches of coniferous plants, sitting motionless in one place for quite a long time. Disturbed by the noise heard, the bird does not hide, but flies to the lower branch and, without fear, watches the cause of the alarm. Surprisingly trusting wild grouse is not very cautious and is not afraid of a person.
Food
In winter, the main diet of this speciesfeathered is the needles of spruce and fir, as well as larch. They eat it, cutting off the branches with their beak.
In summer and autumn, wild grouse eat larch needles, moss seed pods, foliage of herbaceous plants, various berries (cloudberries, blueberries, crowberries, cranberries, lingonberries). Sometimes they also eat insects.
Reproduction
Nesting time is mid-May-early June, and their nest is a small hole lined with green moss, leaves and grass. Usually in the clutch of a wild grouse there are 8-12 eggs of a pale ocher color with chestnut spots.
The downy chick is bright brown in the upper part of the body, pale yellow in the lower part. Also, babies have a brown “hat” on the crown of their head. From a week old, chicks can fly up to the lowest branches of trees.
Interesting facts
Sparrow is a bird that, as noted above, is overly trusting. She, who is not at all afraid, is easy enough to catch even for novice hunters. The Siberian indigenous people (Evenki) have a custom that is associated with wild grouse. The hunter who met this bird will not kill it, but mentally wish it to those who, left without strength, are dying of hunger, since this bird is the easiest prey in these places.
An interesting fact is that when it starts to get dark, wild grouse, like black grouse, fall like a stone into the snow, in which deep holes are made (length - 60 cm, diameter - 14 cm). They rest in them until morning. In these chambers, the birds do not freeze at all even at 45degrees of frost. On the contrary, they are very warm in them. With the onset of dawn, the humble hazel grouse, leaving the shelter, again begins to feed, settling on the branches of trees.
These amazing fearless birds do not fly away at sharp sounds, but continue to sit still. Therefore, wild grouse among all birds is the easiest prey. Any real hunter will not even try to catch her, because, as noted above, she can save the life of any traveler lost in the taiga forests, who for various reasons cannot hunt other, more serious game.
Currently, wild grouse hunting is prohibited, and this species is listed in the Red Book.
Population
In the Khabarovsk Territory of Russia, the total number of wild grouse is approximately 12-15 thousand individuals, and in the most favorable habitats, the population density reaches about 15 individuals per 1 square kilometer. Within the habitat of this species there are several reserves (8 in total), where they, among other birds and animals, are also under protection. It should be noted that the attachment of wild grouse birds to some areas of the dark coniferous taiga can lead to the fact that during a fire or during deforestation of this type, they disappear along with them.
In addition, very often gullible birds die at the hands of poachers. And at the same time, the fearlessness of these birds is a promising decorative variety of birds for park areas and forest parks of the suburban areas of the Far East.
Bconclusion
Sparrow grouse is a bird that, due to its coloration, has received another local name - "black hazel grouse". In Primorye, too, for her amazing credulity, she was nicknamed by the locals a meek or humble hazel grouse.
This one of the little studied and rare birds is on the verge of extinction. Their total number is currently unknown, and, unfortunately, it is declining rather quickly. And man has a lot of work to do to keep the species of spruce grouse.
