Dupel - description, habitat, interesting facts

The hollow bird belongs to the snipe family. They, like other snipe, prefer to settle in moist biotopes. A distinctive feature of the appearance are long legs, as well as a long beak. These appearance features help the bird to find food.

The family has 21 species of birds. Interestingly, in German, the name of the duplex sounds like Doppelschnepfe. It is from this word that it came about. The view is described by the scientist Lazam. Records date back to 1787.

Habitat

Birds that belong to the genus Bekasovy live almost throughout the globe. You can not meet them only in Australia and Antarctica. But representatives of the hollow species live only in Eurasia. You can see this bird from the north of Scandinavia to Siberia. They also live in Central Europe, but there are very few representatives of the species. A small number of birds also live in Asia. They can be seen in Palestine, Mesopotamia, India. In the CIS countries there is a forest hollow. This species is related to the hollow.

Birds are migratory, in the fall they fly to Africa. They winter in the central and southern parts of the continent. Sometimes hollows remain wintering in the Mediterranean or on the British Isles. They return to their nesting sites in the second half of spring or early summer.

Like all representatives of Bekasovs, they live in marshy areas, as well as in meadows covered with low vegetation. Sometimes they can also settle on the banks of rivers. Prefer places with high humidity.

Appearance description

These birds are often confused with snipe, which are a related species. But, if you look closely, you can see a lot of differences. Hollows have a much denser physique. Their beak is more powerful, shorter. The neck of this bird is also shorter than that of the snipe.

Representatives of the species have a colorful plumage. The body is brown above, but below it is lighter, covered with dark spots. Between the eyes is a dark strip that starts from the beak. Stripes of contrasting white are visible on the wide feathers of the bird. The steering feathers are wide, have an asymmetrical shape. In shape and size, these feathers are similar to the tail feathers of a snipe. But the hollow has more feathers.

The motley color of these birds allows you to perfectly hide from the enemy. When a bird is on grass or in reed thickets, it is very difficult to notice it against the background of such a terrain. Young individuals are almost the same color as adults. The only difference is that in young individuals on the extreme steering feather there is a pattern that extends to almost the entire feather, while in adults the upper part of the same feather is white in color.

Nutrition

These birds can eat both plant and animal food. Their favorite treats are earthworms, various small clams. They get them, digging in soft peat with their beak. They also love insects and their larvae. Among plant foods, seeds of various plants, as well as wheat grains, are present in their diet. In the autumn, they can be found on potato or wheat fields. In the summer, they seek food on clover plantations.

They eat in the morning before sunrise or in the evening before sunset.Activity is shown at night or at dusk. They are very shy, therefore, as soon as they hear any extraneous sound, they take off abruptly, flapping their wings strongly.

Hollows fly at an altitude of about 3 to 5 meters above the ground. This height is relatively small compared to other birds. In flight, they make quacking sounds. Flying 30-50 m, the bird usually descends to the ground. But, if she is scared and wants to get out of danger, she can fly 300 m or more. This happens when she hears the shots of a hunter. But it is not difficult for a hunter to catch a hollow, because a bird does not fly very high and straight.

They molt twice a year. One molt occurs in the spring, the second in the middle of summer. In July, the hollows begin to accumulate fat. As a result, the bird becomes clumsy, it is quite difficult for her to move. But by the time you have to fly away for the winter, all the accumulated fat is gone. They fly away already thin, and having flown to the territory of Africa, they become quite miniature. Going for the winter, they do not gather in packs, but fly alone. This feature also distinguishes the hollow from many other species of birds.

Breeding

As soon as the birds return to their nesting sites, the mating season immediately begins. Toking occurs on the surface of the earth. First, females fly there. They begin to sing in order to attract partners. They do not change the current location, arriving at the same thing every year. When the males arrive to sing the females, they in turn begin to attract their attention. To interest the female, he fluffs his tail, begins to walk around, making knocking sounds. The male takes various interesting poses. Sometimes, in order to achieve the location of the female, they arrange fights among themselves. By morning, couples form and fly away. They choose a partner only for one season, as the species belongs to polygamous. Next year, birds will choose their new partner.

Mating begins in mid or late May. The female begins to build a nest. The male is not involved in this process. They find a safe place, for example, under bushes or in tall grass, so that the nest is least visible to predators. Females make a small hole, which is lined with grass.

Hollows usually lay 4 eggs each. Sometimes there may be fewer eggs. They have a pear-shaped, painted in a dirty brown shade. They lay eggs only once per year. But sometimes the nest is destroyed by predators. Then the female can lay eggs again. The duration of incubation is about 3 weeks. Two weeks later, the chicks begin to grow feathers. Mother takes care of them for about a month and a half. Already at the age of three weeks, they learn to fly. At the age of 6-7 weeks they reach the size of adult birds.

Hunting

To detect a hollow in the area, you must very carefully examine it. When the hunter finds one bird, he is sure that there will be several more individuals nearby. It is more convenient to hunt them than many other birds. When a bird hears a slight rustling, it will not immediately break away. In front of the dogs, they are hiding. This allows the hunter to come closer. The disadvantage is that the dog does not always scare the bird so as to make it fly up.

It is not difficult to shoot a dupel. They fly straight, not rising high into the sky. Even a novice will be able to catch about 10 of these birds at a time. The main thing is to find a place where they live. Having found one bird, somewhere near the hunter will find more.

Interesting Facts

Researchers have found that representatives of this species are the fastest compared to other migratory birds. They are able to fly at a speed of about 100 km / h. When they fly long distances, they do not descend to the ground.

1. The people call the dupel differently. Sometimes you can hear such names as a couch, a silence, or a white cup.
2. In recent years, the number of hollows began to decline sharply. Experts believe that the species is already close to a threat. Therefore, perhaps soon hunting for them will be banned. The decrease in numbers is associated with human activities.
3. During the currenting period, they become careless. As a result, they can let a predator or a person close to themselves.
4. In the photo they are extremely difficult to distinguish from a woodcock or snipe. Only a specialist can consider the difference.

Video: hollow (Gallinago media)