Drozd mountain ash - a beautiful pest

The thrush of the fieldfare is a bird belonging to the Sparrow detachment, the Drozd family, the genus Drozdy. Biological group - harmful birds.

Самки и самцы имеют одинаковую окраску, в которой there are white, black, gray-bluish and reddish shades. The body is 25-28 cm long, the wing length is 15 cm, the mass is about 100 g. Here it is, the thrush of a soldier. The photo shows it well.

It prefers to live on the edges of deciduous andconiferous forests, near floodplain thickets, in city parks, gardens and in the gardens. Distributed almost everywhere. The most inert of all drozdovyh.

The bird is omnivorous. In spring and summer it feeds mainly on insects, worms, snails, in winter and autumn - berries, fruits, seeds. Can feed on trees and on the ground.

Special preference in the winter time these thrushesgive rowan. No wonder they were called so. With a bountiful harvest, the birds can linger in one place for a long time until all the berries are eaten. Common ground thrush is the main seed distributor of these plants. Having been in the gastrointestinal tract of birds, seeds do not lose their germination.

A flock flying over a rowan tree,dispersed over it. Tearing and swallowing berries, birds relatively evenly clean the tree from the fruits. Some berries fall to the ground, and they are not lazy to go down to pick up the dropped. Then on the snow (if it lies) their tracks are clearly visible. By the way, the бинabinniki have the biggest tracks of all the blackbirds.

The thrush of the fieldfare is a migratory bird, wandering,pack It nests in colonies, in which there can be up to 30 pairs. Nests - deep strong bowls, twisted from thin twigs, grass and fixed clay soil. They are built in the forks of thick branches of trees and shrubs, at different heights.

Sometimes colonies are ruined by ravens, jays,magpies. But the mountain ash is not inactive, they protect their nests, "firing" enemies with droppings. This is a serious weapon, because the pollution is so strong that birds with glued feathers cannot fly. People who are in a colony can also get it.

During the summer, the female lays eggs twice.In the clutch there are from 4 to 7 eggs of an interesting color - greenish with brown patches. Protection of the nest and the female takes over the male. Chicks feed up together. Nestlings spend the first 12-14 days in the nest, then fly out of it, but they are not prepared for independent life at all. Parents continue to take care of them, feed, learn to fly.

The youngsters gather in packs and wander, looking for places for feeding. Later the second broods join their ranks. By the fall, large flocks are formed, which include both young and adult birds.

Common groundbird can harm berryplantings, garden strawberries as well. They eat some of the berries, but much more bite. They damage currants, blueberries, gooseberries, raspberries, sea buckthorn, juniper, viburnum, cranberries, red elder, cherries, pears, apples. These birds cause great harm to nurseries engaged in the cultivation of especially valuable and new varieties of fruit and berry crops. In some states even shooting of blackbirds is allowed in a certain period of the year.

The singing of the thrush is unpleasant, crackling, chirping. Because of these sounds, the bird is not suitable for keeping at home.