The songbird is traditionally called the yellow-headed kinglet. It belongs to the king family, many individuals are found in the Eurasian forests. It has a small size and a yellow, even golden stripe in the crown area, which is called the crown.
Description
The yellow-headed kinglet is highly mobile, constantly moving from the branches of one tree to another. Can stay in different positions, even head down. Prefers the top of the crown, so to see such a miracle, you need to climb higher.
Forests full of pine needles are good for them. Also found in parks and gardens where there are spruces. In winter, they can be seen in the company of tits. Together they roam between shrubs and deciduous thickets.
When the nesting period comes, the yellow-headed kinglet becomes the most vigilant and not inclined to contact with a person, which cannot be said about the rest of the time. In Luxembourg, this creature is recognized as a national feathered symbol.
Parameters
This tiny bird is able to touch everyone who looks at her. LengthHER entire body does not exceed 10 centimeters, the wingspan is 17 cm. Learning about such small dimensions, many are wondering how much the yellow-headed kinglet weighs. Only 4 to 8 grams.
His back is painted olive and his bottom is gray. On the wings you can see the transverse stripes of white. The crown is decorated with a yellow fragment. In males, it may be orange. Females also have a lemon tone of this element. It rises at those moments when the bird is agitated, a small crest appears. The eyes are framed with short white feathers. The beak is pointed and thin.
Juveniles look almost the same as adults. The only difference is the yellow stripes on their heads that appear with age. The yellow-headed kinglet has fourteen subspecies. Coloring distinguishes them.
Amazing singing
An amazing creation of nature - the yellow-headed beetle. His voice is different from many songbirds. It is thanks to him that zoologists often recognize this creature. This is especially true when a person is on the ground and does not see in the thick of the branches what is happening at the top. You can hear a subtle squeak. Common call signs are approximately two to three syllables long.
An interesting fact is that older people may not perceive sounds in such a high range at all. Different versions of the whistle alternate in a special melodic rhythm. Such a performance ends with a trill, in total it lasts about 6 seconds, it can be repeated five times at once. Sometimes before a songa chant is performed, sounding like a pair of sounds. The tone is the same as the rest of the elements.
During the breeding season, males sing regularly. It occupies the time interval from the second half of April to August. At the end of summer, the chicks hatched in the second brood gain the ability to fly. Such melodies can be heard at other times of the year. They are not always related to marital obligations. This is a general expression of the excited state of the bird.
At home
In the spring, a yellow-headed kinglet finds a mate. A nest is a habitat that is an essential condition for reproduction. As a rule, it is built on trees of great height. Old fir trees, on which thick branches have grown, are great.
A spherical house is being built, slightly flattened on the sides, suspended and masked at a distance of about 2 meters from the trunk. The distance to the ground can be 3-15 m. A round hole is created for departure and return inside. The diameter of such a house, as a rule, is 11 centimeters outside and 6.5 cm inside.
Does not require much space yellow-headed beetle. The bird's weight allows it to build a fairly light and small nest. Moss, grass, lichens, spruce twigs, aspen, fern, willow are used as building material. The adhesive is the web. For insulation, down, wool, birch bark, feathers are laid out inside. Such a house is quite crowded, so the inhabitants have to sit very close.
Raising offspring
There are two clutches per year, including from 6 to 12 white eggs. You can notice a cream or yellow coating. Dimensions usually do not exceed 15x11 mm. Chicks have very little down. Just a little gray soft covering on the head.
For a whole week, the female does not fly out of the nest in order to monitor her offspring and ensure their safety. The male provides food for her and the children. Upon reaching the age of 17 to 22 days, the chicks can go outside on their own, sit on a branch, and then completely take off into the air.
When the nesting period ends, the birds form flocks united with other species and search for food together. On average, a beetle lives for 2 years. An individual from Denmark turned out to be a long-liver, whose existence lasted 5 years and 5 months.
Exotic in your home
A yellow-headed beetle at home is the cherished dream of many wildlife lovers. It needs special care, because in fact such birds are quite gentle and demanding.
It is worth taking care of buying a special cage and proper feeding. An ordinary perch for a parrot will not work. It is better to pour twigs and needles. They put food on them. Chopped worms work well. There were cases when kinglets were caught from wildlife conditions, put in a cage and put food on the bottom, but they simply did not eat it. This sometimes even led to starvation.
When your pet starts pecking at the offered dishes from the branches, you can switch touse of a tray suspended from the wall of the cage, but not earlier. Of great importance is not only the location, but also the composition of the food itself, since, when feeding, the owner may encounter the problem of the bird's pickiness. Not enough simple bird food. The diet should contain worms, ant pupae, bloodworms, cedar nuts, cottage cheese and hemp.
Taming
The technology used to catch kinglets is interesting. To do this, use semolina bird, onion, weighted net. The bird is very trusting, so it does not offer much resistance. There is no need to tie the wings. The best time for catching is the beginning-mid-autumn.
Korolkov is better to settle not one by one, but in pairs or groups. To do this, you need a large cage with branches on which they can sit. The issue of feeding deserves great attention, since these creatures are so delicate that they can die from violation of their diet.
Also, the owner should know that during the molt, previously friendly birds may begin to conflict and show aggression, so at this time it is better for them to live separately. This wonderful creation can make any home look like an exotic castle.
