Red-headed dive - description, habitat

Such a migratory, waterfowl, as a red-headed duck, belongs to the family of ducks, anseriformes. This type of bird also has nicknames known to many - sivash or rudd, which, in fact, are reflected in the peculiarities of the original and bright color of the plumage of its representatives.

Appearance, features

The body size of an adult individual bird of this species is about 58-60 cm, body weight is up to 1.1 kg, wing span is up to 83 cm. Sivash duck has a more modest size than ordinary mallard, a dense, fairly large body with a short neck and tail. A characteristic feature of the bird during its standing is its legs too left behind, due to which it seems that the dive bends. The beak of the bird is quite long and large, in size not inferior to the head, has a slight extension in the upper part. The tail of a dive consists of 14 tail feathers. All plumage of birds of this species is characterized by characteristic vague patterns of grayish color.

The mating outfit of the male dive has significant differences from the main one. The head of an individual has a darker color - brown-red. The back closer to the tail is dark, the tail itself is black with a glossy tint. The back and sides of the bird have a lighter color - ashen. The black beak has a bluish tint, the paws of the bird are gray.

Habitat

Red-headed dives most often choose open shallow reservoirs surrounded by reed thickets as their habitat. During the period of migration, they often stop at sea bays and lake reaches. Try to avoid ponds with brackish water and sparse vegetation. Often this bird of the Anseriformes order for its habitat chooses old quarries with overgrown shores, reservoirs, a marshland and small rivers with a calm flow of water. This species of birds inhabits most of Eurasia, Central Asia. During the winter quarters, dive colonies fly to southern Europe, East Asia and North Africa.

Bird behavior

Often, red-headed duck can be seen in the so-called mixed flocks, which make up several species of birds of the duck family. As a rule, in the event of any danger, they are not in a hurry to rise into the air. For these birds, it is more preferable in this case to immerse in water, which helps to quickly escape from pursuit. This is because in order to take off a dive from the earth's surface, it is necessary to exert sufficient effort to push off, after which it is necessary to actively work with wings. In the water, he feels more confident (swims and dives very well), quickly moves away from the enemy, while making a strong noise due to sudden flapping of wings.

Landing on the surface of the water at the dives is quite deep - almost the entire tail of the bird sinks. Individuals of this species on land move rather awkwardly, a characteristic feature of which is the strongly protruded chest of the bird. Dives make hoarse sounds, a bit like croaking. It should be borne in mind that during the molting period of the red-duck duck, there is a change in the wing plumage of the wings, respectively, at this time they are not able to fly.Often, this time the bird waits in remote and inaccessible places, straying into small groups.

Breeding

The breeding season is from early April to June. As a rule, representatives of this species of ducks form pairs even during the flight from the hibernation to the nesting place. During mating games, the males try their best to attract the attention of the selected female. To do this, the male circles around the female on the surface of the water, dropping his beak deep into the water and making hoarse, not too loud noises and whistles.

After pairing and mating birds, the male, as a rule, is constantly next to the nest, but practically does not take part in the care of offspring. Most often, the nest is built by birds in thickets of dense vegetation on the shore of the reservoir. Directly the very nest of birds of this species is a small depression in the ground, framed by dry vegetation and lined with duck down. Medium sizes - up to 40 cm in diameter.

Sometimes a red-headed dive builds a nest deeper, while it is located directly in the water, such a floating structure on the surface due to reed rhizomes is held. The first laying of eggs can sometimes be done with a duck directly into the water or a nest saturated with moisture.

The average number of eggs in one clutch is from 6 to 12 pcs. The eggs are large, regular in shape, bluish, with a not pronounced greenish tint. Hatching future offspring lasts about a month. Sometimes a female can throw her eggs in the nests of other representatives of the species, hatching their offspring. For the next 8 weeks, hatched diving chicks remain next to the female.

Note that, since the red-headed dive leads a migratory lifestyle, accordingly, for breeding offspring, the bird has a clearly defined seasonality.

After biting, the chicks after a short time begin to swim. Already in the first few days, young individuals of the dive show an enviable activity and independence: they dive, keep well in the water, try to eat on their own. As a rule, do not sail far from the nest. Almost full plumage of chicks occurs after three weeks after hatching. The ability to fly appears on the 50-55 day.

Already at the end of summer, young individuals are ready for migration, this is manifested in the fact that birds stray in small groups, which will fly to the place of wintering.

Diving Nutrition Features

This species of birds of the duck family eats the most diverse food, eating almost everything that comes in the way of a dive both on land and in water. Nevertheless, the representatives of this species have their own preferences in the diet they eat, such as char algae, some buds of aquatic plants, duckweed, elodea, as well as the roots and seeds of different plants. During diving, the duck obtains worms, larvae of water insects, crustaceans, and mollusks as food. The main time for eating red-headed dive is morning and evening.

During diving, the red-headed dive, as a rule, disappears in the water for a rather long time (up to 20 seconds). The main feature is that the bird dives under water, pushing strongly off the water surface with its feet. For feeding, representatives choose reservoirs with clean water. The depth of diving of an adult is up to 3.5 m. Birds love to splash around in shallow water.

At the end of the summer, diving young chicks begin to eat chironomid. With the onset of autumn and the first cold weather, stalks become the main food of young birds in bodies of brackish water, as well as vegetation such as quinoa and saltwater, which is characteristic of this area.

View and man
Such a migratory waterfowl, such as the Krasnobash, is of rather great importance for humans as an object for sports and commercial hunting. This is especially common in such a region of our country as Western Siberia and in Kazakhstan.

The red-headed dive is also interesting for a person and as an object for obtaining aesthetic pleasure. The behavior of this bird causes considerable interest among observers; it is distinguished by a bright and eye-catching plumage.

The average duration of representatives of this species of ducks in captivity is about two decades.
Today, one of the most popular destinations is sports events with the participation of birds of this species. Due to its unique colorful look and behavior, the red-headed duck is a welcome bird for keeping in urban ponds and park areas.

Video: red-headed dive (Aythya ferina)