Every year, the Russian Bird Conservation Union selects the bird of the year. In 2016, the hoopoe replaced the redstart in this category. We bring to your attention some interesting facts about this bird.
For example, Russians most often perceived the bird’s characteristic sounds “hoop-hoop-hoop” as the phrase “It’s bad here!” And here Gerald Durrell in the book “Garden of the Gods” he talks about a wounded bird he took into his house: “I named my hoopoe Hiawatha, and its appearance in our midst was met with unanimous approval, because my relatives liked hoopoes, and besides, it was the only exotic species that they could all identify at twenty paces.”
As noted by Polit.ru, all candidate birds must meet several conditions: have a wide distribution, people must easily recognize and distinguish the bird from other species without special training, and everyone must be able to provide specific assistance to the bird, for example, take part in population counts, help solve a housing problem or protect habitats. As it turned out, the hoopoe perfectly meets all the criteria: when we see a bird, we can easily recognize it.
What is remarkable about the hoopoe?
1. The most striking external feature of a hoopoe is a crest on its head made of red feathers with black tips.. Usually it is folded, but sometimes the bird opens it in the form of a fan. The main color of the hoopoe's plumage is reddish, from pale ocher to bright red depending on the bird's habitat (usually brighter in the south). The color is more intense on the chest of the bird, and the abdomen is rather whitish. On the back and wings of the hoopoe there is a contrasting pattern of black and white stripes.
2. Hoopoe is widespread. Hoopoes are found much more often in the south, in the north they are rare. Biologists believe that hoopoes began to settle in the north relatively late, when people began to reduce the northern forests to pastures and fields. Hoopoes love open spaces, interspersed with forests and groves, do not avoid gardens and parks, and can nest in human buildings, although the best place for a hoopoe nest is a hollow tree. In the north of its range, the hoopoe is a migratory bird; it flies to Africa or India for the winter. In India, Indochina, Arabia and Africa, the hoopoe is a sedentary bird. In Europe, resident hoopoes are known only in southern Spain and Portugal.
In Russia, the hoopoe was included in several regional Red Books. This bird can be found throughout Eastern Europe from Poland to Greece, Italy, France, Spain and Portugal. In Germany, hoopoes are found only in certain areas; they are occasionally found in southern Sweden, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, the Netherlands and England. Hoopoe is also widespread in Asia from Turkey to China, and in Africa (except for the desert zone). In 1975, hoopoes were first spotted in Alaska, in the Yukon River delta.
3. During a hoopoe's flight can rise to great heights, overcoming the Himalayan mountains. Participants in one of the expeditions that conquered Everest noticed hoopoes at an altitude of 6400 meters.
4. Many peoples celebrated The characteristic cry of a hoopoe is a muffled “whoop-oop-oop” or “hoop-hoop-hoop”. The cry of the bird gives its Latin name - upupa , and ancient Greek - ἔποψ , their combination became the official name of hoopoe in biological nomenclature - Upupa epops . The onomatopoeic origin of the names of hoopoe in many other languages: English hoopoe, Arabic هُدْهُد, Armenian հոպոպ, Catalan puput, Chechen hӏuttut, Czech dudek, Irish húpú, Kurdish (sorani) pepû, Latvian pupuķis, li Soviet kukutis, Macedonian pupunets, Portuguese poupa, Romanian pupăză.
Russians most often perceived the “hoop-hoop-hoop” of the hoopoe like the phrase “It’s bad here!” and was considered an evil omen (in some areas there was even the name “hudututka”) for the hoopoe. There was also folk sign: if it seemed to the peasants that the hoopoe was shouting “It’s bad here!”, the harvest would be bad, but if they heard the cry “I’ll be here!”, then they expected a rich harvest . In the south of Russia and Ukraine, it was believed that the cry of a hoopoe foreshadows rain, hence another name for it in Ukrainian dialects – slotnyak, from the word slot “bad weather”. In some regions of Ukraine, the hoopoe was called “sinokos”, since it was believed that it screams on the eve of haymaking time.
5. According to the legend that existed in Volyn, The hoopoe was once the king of birds, but wanted to become a bird god. God punished the hoopoe for this, giving him a forelock on his head and a disgusting smell. In the Caucasus, other legends about the appearance of the crest were told. They said that one day the father-in-law found his daughter-in-law combing her hair. Out of shame at being seen with bare hair, the woman asked to be turned into a bird, and the comb remained stuck in her hair. This plot is known in the folklore of Azerbaijanis, Armenians and Rutulians.
6. In Poland they said that the Jews brought the hoopoe with them from other countries, and also that it screams in Hebrew. In the Lviv region it was believed that the hoopoe pronounces the name of the Jews: “Yud-yud!”, and near Brest, in the cry of the hoopoe they heard “Vus-vus-vus?” - “What-what-what?” in Yiddish.
7. Another noticeable sign of a hoopoe is smell. In hoopoe chicks and the female, during the period of incubation of eggs, the coccygeal gland produces a special black-brown liquid with a very unpleasant odor. In a moment of danger, the bird can release a stream of this liquid, also mixed with droppings, at the enemy. As a rule, this measure is enough to scare away a cat or weasel trying to destroy the nest.
The smell of hoopoe was well known to people, and this gave rise to a number of dialect names: Ukrainian smerdyukha, vonyak, gidko, Serbian smrdul, smrdel. A number of things have been associated with the smell of hoopoe folk signs. So in the south of Russia they believed that if you hold a hoopoe in your hands, you won’t be able to get your hands on the horse.
Perhaps because of its characteristic smell, the hoopoe was among the birds that devout Jews were forbidden to eat (Deuteronomy 14:18, Leviticus 11:19). Another reason that the hoopoe was declared non-kosher may have been the bird's craving for manure.
Hoopoes feed on insects, and piles of dung have always attracted a variety of flies and beetles, from where they can be easily picked up by the hoopoe's curved, tweezer-like beak.
In Transcarpathia there was a legend that explained the smell of the hoopoe as a punishment for betraying the hiding Christ to his pursuers.
According to a legend from Algeria, the hoopoe was punished by King Solomon for his offense. It’s as if Solomon’s beloved once asked him to build her a house out of eggs. The king ordered all the birds and fish to bring eggs. Only Sparrow and Hoopoe did not do this. Solomon ordered them to be brought to him. The sparrow, appearing before the king, said that he did not dare bring such a small egg to such a great king. Hoopoe explained his delay by saying that he was thinking about important questions: “Which is longer - night or day?”, “Who is there more - living or dead? men or women? The hoopoe also reported on the results of his thoughts. The day is longer than the night, as the light of the moon prolongs it. There are more living people because they talk about the recently deceased and the great as if they were still alive. And there are more women than men, because a fool who demands to build a house of eggs is not a man.
But the Berbers in southern Morocco considered the hoopoe a loving son. When his mother died, he could not bury her in the ground, but began to carry her on his head. As a result, the mother turned into his crest, and the hoopoe acquired an unpleasant odor.
Birds are the youngest in evolutionary terms, highly developed animals, which are characterized by walking on two legs, feather cover, wings and beak, warm-bloodedness with an intense metabolism, a well-developed brain and complex behavior. All these features of birds allowed them to spread widely across the globe and occupy all habitats - land, water, air; they inhabit any territory from high polar latitudes to the smallest oceanic islands.
The habitat was a selection factor in the evolution of birds (body structure, wings, limbs, methods of movement, food production, features of breeding).
Birds are characterized by seasonal cycles, which are most noticeable in migratory birds and less pronounced in migratory or sedentary birds. The greatest species diversity of birds is concentrated in the tropical zone. Almost every bird species can live in several different biogeocenoses.
The most numerous group of forest birds includes carnivores, herbivores and omnivores. They nest in hollows, on branches, on the ground. Birds of open places - meadows, steppes, deserts - build nests on the ground; Coastal birds nest on rocks, forming bird colonies, where several species of birds not only live together, but also protect themselves from enemies.
Birds are characterized by clearly defined dynamics of population changes. Thus, the maximum of birds on Earth (up to 100 billion individuals) is observed after the emergence of the young, the minimum - by the beginning of next summer (decrease in number up to 10 times). Human economic activity plays a major role in changing the number of birds. The areas of forests, swamps, meadows, and natural reservoirs are being reduced, and some birds are simply exterminated.
The role of birds in food chains is great, since they represent the final links of many food chains.
Birds are of great importance in the distribution of fruits and seeds. In human economic activity, the importance of birds is mainly positive: they exterminate rodents, insect pests, and weed seeds, which can be considered as biological protection of fields and gardens. Birds must be protected and protected, fed, especially in winter, and their nests must not be destroyed. Without birds - so bright, mobile, loud-voiced - our forests, parks, meadows, and reservoirs become joyless and dead.
The damage caused by birds is incomparably lower than their benefit. They devastate orchards and vineyards, peck out sown seeds, pull out seedlings, so they have to be scared away. Cases of bird collisions with airplanes have become more frequent. Birds carry infectious diseases - influenza, encephalitis, salmonellosis, and spread ticks and fleas.
A person is engaged in poultry farming, raising poultry, as well as ornamental and songbirds.
80 species of birds are listed in the Red Book of the USSR.
There are about 8,600 species of birds in the world fauna, of which approximately 750 species are found within the territory of our country. Birds are common on all continents of the globe with the exception of the interior regions of Antarctica; some of them spend most of their lives on the open sea. On land, different species of birds are found everywhere where there is plant or animal food for them - in forests, bushes, parks, shelterbelts, meadows, swamps, deserts, mountains and tundra.
Class characteristics
Birds are very similar in structure to reptiles and represent their progressive branch, the evolution of which followed the path of adaptation to flight. Birds are often combined with reptiles into the group of lizards (Sauropsida). Birds are bipedal amniotes whose forelimbs have developed into wings; the body is covered with feathers, the body temperature is constant and high.
The organization of birds is adapted to flight conditions. The body is compact, the skeleton is extremely lightweight. The spread wings and tail form an area much larger compared to the area of the body. In the body structure of birds, one can note not only features characteristic of birds, but also features common to reptiles. Thus, there are no glands in the skin of birds, with the exception of the coccygeal gland above the root of the tail. Some birds also lack this gland.
Coverings of the body. The skin is very thin. There are horny sheaths on the beak, horny scales on the limbs, and claws on the fingers. Derivatives of the skin are feathers, phylogenetically related to scaly formations (this is indicated by the similarity in the development of feathers and scales in the early stages). Feathers cover the outside of a bird's body, help retain heat (thermal insulation function), provide streamlining of the body, protect it from damage, and form load-bearing planes in flight (wings, tail).
There are contour and down feathers.
Outline feathers consist of a strong and elastic hollow horny trunk (rod) and a soft fan. The fan is formed by a dense network of thin horny plates - barbs. The first-order barbules extend parallel to one another from the rod, on both sides of which numerous thinner second-order barbs extend, the latter interlocking with small hooks. There are long and especially strong feathers - flight feathers - they form the plane of the wing; long and strong tail feathers form the plane of the tail, the remaining integumentary contour feathers provide a streamlined body shape. 9-10 primary flight feathers are attached to the rear edge of the skeleton of the hand; during flight they form a thrust that carries the bird forward, and to a lesser extent - a lifting force. The secondary flight feathers are attached to the forearm and form the main load-bearing surface of the wing. On the leading edge of the latter there is a small wing with several short feathers that make it easier for the bird to land. Tail feathers take part in flight control and braking.
Down feathers have a thin short shaft and a soft fan with thinner and fluffy beards, without hooks (i.e. not connected to each other). Down feathers increase thermal insulation and help reduce heat transfer.
Birds molt periodically (once or twice a year), and new feathers grow in place of old feathers.
Skeleton. The bones of the skeleton are filled with air (pneumatic) and are lightweight. The thickness of the bones is small, the tubular bones are hollow inside, except for air, they are partially filled with bone marrow. Many bones fuse together. Thanks to these features, the bird's skeleton is light and strong. The spine is divided into five sections: cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral and caudal. The cervical vertebrae (there are from 11 to 25) are movably connected to each other. The vertebrae of other sections are fused to each other and are motionless, which is necessary during flight. The thoracic vertebrae are almost motionless; the ribs are attached to them. The ribs have hook-shaped processes that overlap the adjacent posterior ribs. The thoracic vertebrae, ribs, and broad breastbone, or sternum, form the rib cage. The sternum has a high ridge at the bottom - the keel. Powerful muscles that move the wing are attached to it and the sternum.
All lumbar and sacral (there are two) vertebrae are fused with each other and with the iliac bones; several caudal vertebrae join them, forming the complex sacrum characteristic of birds. It serves as a support for a pair of hind limbs, which bear the entire weight of the body. There are 5-9 free caudal vertebrae, the terminal caudal vertebrae are fused into the coccygeal bone, to which the tail feathers are attached.
The forelimb girdle consists of three paired bones: coracoids, scapulae and clavicles. The skeleton of the forelimb, which turned into a wing, is significantly modified. The wing skeleton consists of one humerus, two forearm bones (ulna and radius), several hand bones (most of them fused to form one bone) and three fingers. The skeleton of the fingers is sharply reduced.
When moving on land, the entire weight of the body is transferred to the pelvic girdle and hind limbs, and therefore they are also transformed. The hind limb girdle consists of three pairs of bones that fuse to form the pelvis. Along the midline of the body, the pelvic bones do not fuse together; this is the so-called open pelvis, which allows birds to lay large eggs. The skeleton of the hind limb is formed by long and strong tubular bones. The total length of the leg exceeds the length of the body. The skeleton of the hind limb consists of one femur, fused bones of the lower leg and foot bones that form the tarsus, and four toes.
The skull is characterized by complete fusion of all bones until the sutures disappear, extreme lightness and large eye sockets close to each other. The jaws of birds are represented by a light beak, devoid of teeth.
Musculature well developed, its relative mass is greater than that of reptiles. At the same time, the abdominal muscles are weaker than the pectoral muscles, which make up 10-25% of the total mass of the bird, i.e. approximately the same as all other muscles combined. This is due to the fact that the paired pectoralis major and minor muscles, starting on the sternum and its keel, lower and raise the wings during flight. In addition to the pectoral muscles, the complex work of the wing in flight is controlled by several dozen small muscles attached to the body and forelimbs. The muscles of the neck and legs are very complex. Many birds have a special device on the tendon of the deep toe flexor muscle that automatically secures the toes in a compressed state when the bird wraps them around a branch. Therefore, birds can sleep sitting on branches.
Digestive system. The digestive organs are characterized by the complete absence of teeth in modern birds, which greatly facilitates the body for flight. In granivorous birds they are replaced by a muscular stomach, which serves for mechanical grinding of food, while the glandular stomach serves for enzymatic action.
The digestive organs begin with the beak - this is the main organ for capturing food. The beak consists of an upper part (the mandible) and a lower part (the mandible). The shape and structural features of the beak are different in different birds and depend on the method of feeding. The tongue is attached to the bottom of the oral cavity; its shape and structural features depend on the nature of the food. The ducts of the salivary glands open into the oral cavity. Some birds have the enzyme amylase in their saliva and digestion of food begins in the oral cavity. Swallows and some swifts use sticky saliva when building nests; woodpeckers have insects stuck to their long tongue moistened with sticky saliva. Food moistened with saliva is easily swallowed and enters the esophagus, the lower part of which in many birds forms an extension - a crop (in which the food is soaked and partially digested). Further along the esophagus, food enters the thin-walled glandular stomach, in which numerous glands secrete digestive enzymes. Enzymatically processed food passes into the gizzard. The walls of the latter have well-developed strong muscles, thanks to the contraction of which food is ground. The ground food enters the duodenum, into which the ducts of the pancreas and gall bladder flow (birds have a two-lobed liver). The food then passes into the small intestine and then into the hind intestine, which is not differentiated into the colon and rectum and is significantly shortened. Through the hind intestine, undigested food remains are excreted into the cloaca.
Birds are characterized by high digestion intensity. For example, sparrows digest caterpillars in 15-20 minutes, beetles in about 1 hour, and grain in 3-4 hours.
Respiratory system. The respiratory organs begin with the nostrils, located at the base of the beak. From the mouth, the laryngeal fissure leads into the larynx, and from it into the trachea. In the lower part of the trachea and the initial sections of the bronchi there is the vocal apparatus of birds - the lower larynx. The source of sounds is the membranes that vibrate as air passes between the last cartilaginous rings of the trachea and the semi-rings of the bronchi. The bronchi penetrate into the lungs, branching into small tubes - bronchioles - and very thin air capillaries, which form an air-carrying network in the lungs. Blood capillaries are closely intertwined with it, gas exchange occurs through the walls of the latter. Some of the bronchial branches are not divided into bronchioles and extend beyond the lungs, forming thin-walled air sacs located between internal organs, muscles, under the skin and even inside hollow bones. The volume of the air sacs is almost 10 times the volume of the lungs. The paired lungs are small, are densely spongy bodies, and not bags, like in reptiles, and have little extensibility; they grow into the ribs on the sides of the spine.
In a calm state and while moving on the ground, the act of breathing is carried out due to the movement of the chest. When inhaling, the chest bone lowers, moving away from the spine, and when exhaling, it rises, approaching it. During flight, the sternum is motionless. When the wings are raised, inhalation occurs due to the fact that the air sacs stretch and air is sucked into the lungs and sacs. When the wings lower, exhalation occurs, oxygen-rich air moves from the air sacs into the lungs, where gas exchange takes place. Thus, oxygenated air passes through the lungs both during inhalation and exhalation (so-called double breathing). Air sacs prevent the body from overheating, as excess heat is removed with air.
Excretory system. The excretory organs are represented by two large kidneys, constituting 1-2% of body weight; they lie deep in the pelvis on both sides of the spine. There is no bladder. Through two ureters, uric acid in the form of a white mushy mass flows into the cloaca and is excreted out along with excrement without remaining in the body. This reduces the bird’s body weight and is important during flight.
Circulatory system. The heart of birds is relatively large, its mass making up 1-2% of body weight. The intensity of the heart is also high: the pulse at rest is 200-300 beats per minute, and in flight - up to 400-500 (in medium-sized birds). The large volume of the heart and rapid pulse ensure rapid blood circulation in the body, intensive oxygen supply to tissues and organs and removal of metabolic products.
In the structure of the heart, noteworthy is the complete division of the heart by a longitudinal continuous septum into the right venous and left arterial halves. Of the two aortic arches, only the right one, originating from the left ventricle, is preserved. The large and small circles of blood circulation are completely separated. The systemic circulation begins from the left ventricle and ends in the right atrium; arterial blood is carried through the arteries throughout the body (all organs are supplied only with arterial blood), venous blood through the veins enters the right atrium, and from it into the right ventricle. The pulmonary circulation begins from the right ventricle and ends in the left atrium. Venous blood through the pulmonary arteries enters the lungs, is oxidized there, and arterial blood through the pulmonary veins enters the left atrium, and from it into the left ventricle and into the systemic circulation. As a result of the fact that arterial and venous blood do not mix, the organs receive arterial blood. This enhances metabolism, increases the vital activity of the body, and causes a very high and constant body temperature of birds (42-45 ° C). The constancy of body temperature and its independence from environmental temperature is an important progressive feature of birds and mammals compared to previous classes of animals.
Nervous system. The brain has relatively large hemispheres and optic lobes, a well-developed cerebellum, and very small olfactory lobes. This is associated with more complex and varied behavior and the ability to fly. All 12 pairs of cranial nerves arise from the brain.
Of the sense organs, vision is the best developed. The eyeballs are large, allowing the retina to capture large images with clear detail. The eye has three eyelids - the upper, lower and transparent inner, or nictitating membrane. Accommodation (focusing the eye) is carried out by changing the shape of the lens and simultaneously changing the distance between the lens and the retina, as well as some changing the curvature of the cornea. All birds have color vision. The visual acuity of birds is several times higher than the visual acuity of humans. This property is associated with the enormous importance of vision during flight.
The hearing organ is anatomically similar to the hearing organ of reptiles and consists of the inner and middle ear. In the inner ear, the cochlea is better developed, and the number of sensitive cells in it is increased. The cavity of the middle ear is large, the only auditory bone - the stapes - is of a more complex shape, it is more mobile when the dome-shaped eardrum vibrates. The eardrum is located deeper than the surface of the skin; a canal leads to it - the external auditory canal. Birds have very acute hearing.
Compared to reptiles, birds have an increased surface area of the nasal cavity and olfactory epithelium. Some birds (ducks, waders, carrion-eating predators, etc.) have a well-developed sense of smell and are used when searching for food. In other birds, the sense of smell is poorly developed.
The taste organs are represented by taste buds in the mucous membrane of the oral cavity, on the tongue and at its base. Many birds distinguish between salty, sweet and bitter.
Reproductive organs. The male has two testes, the vas deferens form a small expansion in the lower part - the seminal vesicle - and flow into the cloaca. The female has only one left ovary and a left oviduct, which flows into the left side of the cloaca. Fertilization is internal and occurs in the initial part of the oviduct. Due to the contraction of the walls of the oviduct, the fertilized egg moves towards the cloaca. In the oviduct there are protein glands and glands that form on the egg a two-layer leathery subshell shell, a porous calcareous shell and a thin supershell shell. The latter protects the egg from microorganisms.
The egg moves through the oviduct for 12-48 hours and is successively covered with a thick albumen, subshell, shell and supra-shell membranes. At this time, the development of the embryo occurs. At the moment the egg is laid, it looks like a germinal disc, which is located on the surface of the yolk. Two convoluted protein cords - chalazae - go from the inner shell to the yolk and support the yolk so that the embryonic disk is on top, closer to the body of the bird that incubates the egg. For egg development, a temperature of 38-39.5 °C is required. The duration of incubation varies among different birds: from 12-14 days for small passerines to 44-45 days for the golden eagle and almost two months for large penguins, albatrosses, and vultures. In different species of birds, the eggs are incubated by the female, the male, or both in turn. Some birds do not incubate eggs: the sandpiper in Turkmenistan buries its eggs in hot sand, the weedy (or big-footed) chickens of Australia and the Malay Archipelago lay them in heaps of sand and rotting plants; during decay, the heat necessary for the development of the embryo is generated.
Most birds incubate their eggs in a nest. Most often, birds build or weave nests from twigs, grass, moss, often fastening them with some additional material (hair, wool, clay, mud, etc.). The nest usually has raised edges and a recessed interior - a tray that holds the eggs and chicks. Thrushes, finches, and goldfinches strengthen their nests in the forks of branches on bushes and trees. In the wren and long-tailed tit, the nest has the form of a dense ball with thick walls and a side entrance, fixed in the fork of the branches. Larks and wagtails make nests on the soil, in a hole lined with grass. Woodpeckers, nuthatches, tits, flycatchers, and whirligigs nest in hollows, kingfishers, bee-eaters, and shore swallows nest in holes along river banks. Many swallows make a nest out of lumps of clay and mud, held together by sticky saliva. Rooks, crows, storks, and many daytime predators build nests from large twigs and branches. Seagulls, guillemots, and loons lay eggs in the sand and in depressions on rock ledges. Female ducks, geese, and eiders pluck the fluff on their abdomen and line their nest with it. Temperature fluctuations in nests are significantly less than in environment; this improves incubation conditions.
According to the degree of physiological maturity of the chicks at the time of hatching, all birds are divided into two groups - brood and nestlings. In brood birds, immediately after hatching, the chicks are covered with down, sighted, can move around and find food independently. Adult birds protect the brood, periodically warm the chicks (this is especially important in the first days of life), and help in searching for food. This group includes Galliformes (grouse, hazel grouse, pheasants, partridges, quails, chickens), Anseriformes (geese, ducks, swans, eiders), cranes, bustards, ostriches. In nestling birds, the chicks are initially blind, deaf, naked or slightly pubescent, cannot move, and remain in the nest for a long time (in passerines - 10-12 days, in some birds - up to 2 months). All this time, their parents feed and warm them. This group includes pigeons, parrots, passerines, woodpeckers and many others. First, parents feed the chicks soft, nutritious food (for example, tits feed the chicks spiders in the first days). The chicks leave the nest feathered, almost reaching the size of adult birds, but with uncertain flight. For 1-2 weeks after departure, the parents continue to feed them. At the same time, the chicks learn to search for food. Thanks to various forms of caring for their offspring, the fertility of birds is much lower than the fertility of reptiles, amphibians and fish.
Extinct forms and phylogeny. All the features of birds that distinguish them from reptiles are primarily adaptive in nature. It is quite natural to believe that birds evolved from reptiles. Birds originate from the most ancient reptiles - pseudosuchians, whose hind limbs were built in the same way as those of birds. A transitional form - Archeopteryx - in the form of fossil remains (imprints) was discovered in Upper Jurassic deposits. Along with the features characteristic of reptiles, they have the structural features of birds.
Taxonomy. Modern forms of birds are divided into three groups: ratites (South American, African, Australian ostriches and kiwis), penguins and keels; the latter unite a huge number of species. There are about 30 orders of keelbirds. Of these, the most important are passerines, chickens, diurnal predators, Anseriformes, pigeons, etc.
Flights
Sedentary birds live in certain territories throughout the year, for example sparrows, tits, magpies, jays, crows. After the breeding season, nomadic birds make migrations over hundreds of kilometers, but do not leave a certain natural zone, for example, waxwings, bullfinches, redpolls, crossbills, and many owls. Migratory birds regularly fly to wintering grounds thousands of kilometers from their nesting sites along clearly defined flyways to other natural areas.
Migration is a seasonal phenomenon in the life of birds, which arose in the process of evolution under the influence of periodic changes in weather conditions associated with the change of seasons, intensive processes of mountain building over vast areas and sharp cold snaps in the Quaternary period. The long northern day and a large amount of animal and plant food contribute to the feeding of offspring. In the second half of summer in the northern regions, the duration of daylight hours decreases, the amount of animal food (especially insects) decreases, the conditions for its production worsen, the birds' metabolic patterns change, which, with increased nutrition, leads to the accumulation of fat reserves (in American tree warblers before flying over sea fat reserves account for up to 35% of the mass of birds). Many birds begin to unite in flocks and migrate to wintering areas. During migrations, birds fly at normal speeds, small passerines move 50-100 km per day, ducks - 100-500 km. The migrations of most birds take place at an altitude of 450-750 m. In the mountains, flocks of flying cranes, waders, and geese were observed at an altitude of 6-9 km.
Migration in some species occurs during the day, in others at night. The flight alternates with stops for rest and feeding. Migrating birds are capable of celestial navigation, i.e. to select the desired flight direction based on the position of the sun, moon and stars. The selected correct general direction of flight is adjusted according to visual landmarks: when flying, birds adhere to river beds, forests, etc. The direction and speed of migrations, wintering places and a number of other characteristics of birds are studied using their mass ringing. Every year, about 1 million birds are ringed in the world, including about 100 thousand in the USSR. A light metal ring with the number and symbol of the institution that carried out the ringing is put on the bird’s leg. When a ringed bird is caught, the ring is removed and sent to Moscow to the Ringing Center of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
The meaning of birds
Birds are of great economic importance, as they are a source of meat, eggs, down, and feathers. They destroy pests of fields, forests, orchards and vegetable gardens. Many species of domestic and wild birds suffer from psittacosis, a viral disease that can also infect humans. Birds living in the taiga, along with mammals, represent a natural reservoir of the taiga encephalitis virus. Birds living in Central Asia, along with mammals and reptiles, can be a natural reservoir of tick-borne relapsing fever pathogens.
However, not a single bird can be considered only useful or only harmful; it all depends on the circumstances and time of year. For example, sparrows and some granivorous birds feed on the seeds of cultivated plants and can peck juicy fruits in gardens (cherries, cherries, mulberries), but feed their chicks on insects. Feeding chicks requires a particularly large amount of food. The great tit brings food to the chicks up to 400 times a day, while destroying up to 6 thousand insects. The pied flycatcher collects 1-1.5 kg of insects, preferably small caterpillars, to feed six chicks over 15 days. During the autumn migration, the blackbird destroys a lot of blackbird bugs in forest belts and bushes: blackbird bugs during this period make up up to 74% of the total number of insects in the stomachs of blackbirds. Especially many harmful insects on agricultural crops and in forest plantations are destroyed by tits, flycatchers, nightingales, swallows, nuthatches, swifts, shrikes, starlings, rooks, woodpeckers, etc. Insectivorous birds eat many mosquitoes, midges, and flies that carry pathogens. Many birds (larks, pigeons, tap dancers, goldfinches, partridges, quails, bullfinches, etc.) feed on weed seeds, clearing fields of them. Birds of prey - eagles, buzzards, falcons (falcons, saker falcons, kestrels), some harriers, as well as owls destroy large numbers of mouse-like rodents, some feed on carrion and, thus, are of no small sanitary importance.
Under certain conditions, some bird species can be harmful. In particular, the bee-eater near apiaries feeds on bees, but in other places it destroys many harmful insects. The hooded crow eats the eggs and chicks of small birds, but also feeds on insects, rodents, and carrion. The goshawk, sparrowhawk, and marsh harrier destroy a large number of birds, in particular, the marsh harrier - chicks of waterfowl. One rook eats more than 8 thousand larvae of cockchafers, click beetles, and beet weevils per season, but in the spring, rooks pull out seedlings of corn and some other crops, so crops have to be protected from them.
Bird strikes sometimes cause serious accidents in jet and propeller-driven aircraft. In the areas of airfields, birds have to be scared away (in particular, by broadcasting recorded distress calls or alarm calls).
By making transcontinental flights, birds contribute to the spread of pathogens of certain viral diseases (for example, influenza, ornithosis, encephalitis, etc.). However, most birds can be considered beneficial. Many birds serve as objects of sport or commercial hunting. Spring and autumn hunting is permitted for hazel grouse, wood grouse, black grouse, pheasants, partridges, ducks and other birds. On the islands and coasts of the Arctic Ocean, light and warm eider down is collected, which eiders use to line their nests. Down is used to insulate the clothing of pilots and polar explorers.
Poultry farming
Poultry farming is an important branch of agriculture, developing rapidly. Chickens are bred at poultry factories and poultry farms (egg-laying breeds - Leghorn, Russian White, Oryol; egg-meat breeds - Zagorsk, Leningrad, Moscow), geese, ducks, and turkeys. Tens of thousands of eggs are laid in incubators at a time. Feeding, collecting eggs, maintaining the required temperature and light, cleaning processes, etc. mechanized and automated.
Bird conservation
To increase the number of beneficial birds, it is necessary to create favorable conditions for their nesting, for example, mixed forest plantations with a varied shrubby undergrowth, planting clumps of shrubs in parks and gardens. By hanging artificial nesting boxes (birdhouses, nest boxes, etc.), you can increase the number of tits, flycatchers, starlings and other birds by 10-25 times. In winter, it is recommended to feed sedentary birds by installing feeders on window sills, in front gardens, gardens, and parks. You should not disturb birds during the nesting period, destroy nests or collect eggs. During the hatching period, bird hunting is prohibited. Birds should also be protected in their wintering areas. State reserves and sanctuaries are of great importance in the protection of birds. For some rare and endangered bird species (for example, the white crane, etc.), measures are being developed for artificial maintenance and breeding in nature reserves.
Nature is very persistent in helping plants spread their seeds. She invented and implemented a huge number of devices that allow new shoots to appear at great distances from the mother plant. For example, light dandelion seeds are equipped with parachutes, allowing them to fly with the wind, and thistle seeds firmly cling to human clothing and animal fur with small thorny hooks. And who can help the oak tree?
What does an acorn look like?
Oak is a powerful and strong tree. It has a massive trunk and a powerful crown. It is no wonder that its seeds are not particularly light. The oak sower must have enough strength to lift and carry the heavy and smooth fruit.
The acorn has a leathery pericarp and a hard cap. This is a single-seeded fruit formed from fused simplified oak inflorescences. The fruits of chestnut and beech are also acorns, but the cap of an oak acorn always contains only one fruit, while the cap of a beech and chestnut may contain several fruits.
Bird eating acorns
A small bird with bright plumage lives in the forest. It's called a jay. This bird is an oak sower. The bird is no larger than a pigeon. She has short wings and a strong beak. It is difficult for the bird to cover long distances, but in the treetops it feels quite confident and is able to move along the branches quite quickly.
Most often, jays settle in deciduous forests, where many oak trees grow. The basis of the birds' diet is plant food, but they feed the chicks with insects, and adult jays do not completely give up animal food. But the favorite delicacy of feathered fidgets is acorns. Birds split the dense shell with their beaks, and when they are full, they begin to take them to secluded places. In preparation for winter, a jay can store up to four kilograms of reserves in various hiding places. Many hiding places are forgotten, and acorns hidden in the pine litter sprout. This is why people believe that the jay is an oak sower. Thanks to the little thrifty bird, young oak shoots appear in different places. This helps preserve the majestic trees.
Man and birds
Birds and plants
The connections of birds with the plant world are not as clear as with the animal world. But even these subtle threads, which a person is just beginning to understand, cannot be called insignificant. Even Charles Darwin discovered that plant seeds extracted from bird excrement are able to germinate, and sometimes even increase germination due to the effect of gastric juice on their hard shells. By consuming the seeds and fruits of plants, birds often serve as their distributors. Rowan thrushes play an important role in the dispersal of rowan trees, the very name of which indicates their close connection with this tree species. They feed on rowan from late summer until late autumn, and in productive years - all winter. When feeding, thrushes swallow the berries whole, but do not completely digest them. After passing through the bird's intestines, the seeds remain viable. Being very mobile birds, mountain ash, song thrushes and white-browed birds widely carry and disperse rowan seeds. Waxwings participate to a lesser extent in this process. Although they consume a huge amount of fruits, they do not disperse them so widely, since they move little and often leave seeds under the same trees from which the berries were picked. In such conditions, the regeneration of rowan is difficult and the overwhelming majority of the emerging seedlings die, mainly due to the lack of light under the canopy of the mother tree. But on the edges and in gardens, where there is enough light, waxwings can help the spread of mountain ash. Much the same can be said for viburnum and other shrubs. To some extent, rowan grouse, black grouse and wood grouse disperse the rowan.
Common nuthatches have a highly developed instinct for storing seeds from various trees and shrubs. In years with a good harvest of hazel nuts, they often tuck them into the cracks of the bark. Dropped by nuthatches, the nuts overwinter well on the forest floor and remain viable. Thus, nuthatches participate in the spread of hazel trees. Nutcrackers actively stock up on pine nuts, as well as hazel, in the fall. The sublingual pouch of one bird can hold up to a hundred nuts. The bird distributes this supply in caches in small portions, and if the reserves are not used during the winter, entire “beds” of seedlings grow from them. The jay plays the same role in the spread of oak. Always loud, the jay is very silent and careful when placing supplies in caches. She hides acorns under the roots, in moss, in old anthills, 5-7 pieces each. Each jay makes several hundred and even thousands of hiding places in a harvest year.
This is of great importance for the spread of oak, the heavy fruits of which cannot be transported over long distances without the help of zoochore animals. This is how the oak regains previously lost positions in nature. On the territory of the reserve of the Zvenigorod Biological Station of Moscow State University, young oaks are found among the spruce forest, often several kilometers from old fruit-bearing trees. Undoubtedly, they appeared there with the participation of birds, primarily jays.
In the mountains of Central Asia, birds are of great importance in the spread of the tree-like juniper - juniper. Archa is a valuable forest-forming species, largely destroyed by humans in many parts of its range. Black-throated blackbirds, blackbirds, blackbirds and fieldfares, alpine jackdaws and wood pigeons feed on the pulp of its seeds.
The role of black grouse in the spread of steppe cherries and rose hips is described. Gradually they are replaced in this by rooks, crows and magpies. The same birds participate in the dispersal of thorns. In the same way, in the mountains of the Caucasus and Central Asia, thanks to thrushes, the elk is being restored. In Primorye, the nutcracker and the Amur nuthatch play an important role in the fate of the Korean cedar. THEY collect supplies by hiding nuts mainly in the forest floor, where some of them germinate. In the European part of the RSFSR, birds distribute more than 30 species of plants, mainly those that have succulent fruits. However, this does not mean that a bountiful harvest of berries appears in new places. Often, under the forest canopy, where thrushes, robins, and dunnocks fly to rest after feeding, the seedlings of berry bushes do not have enough light and moisture, they grow oppressed and frail and never bear fruit. By this sign, you can distinguish them from those individuals that settled in a different way. But in clearings and edges, plants find themselves in favorable conditions and, in turn, attract numerous consumers, creating a diversity of fauna, the so-called “edge effect.”
The complex, diverse relationships of birds with a particular tree species can be demonstrated using the example of spruce. More than 40 species of birds feed on spruce seeds to one degree or another. Even birds that at first glance are not related to this breed, such as bramblings, finches, pigeons, robins, buntings, pipits and others, switch to this available food during the years of high spruce seed harvest. However, crossbills have developed the closest connection with them. Crossbills appear where there is a crop of spruce seeds; they are not associated with a specific nesting territory and change it from year to year. These are wandering birds, which also do not have a specific breeding season. They nest in winter, spring or autumn, as long as the spruce seeds in the cones are ripe. Crossbills feed their chicks with seeds softened in the crop. Deftly extracting seeds with their cross-shaped beaks, crossbills drop more than 30% of ripe cones to the ground, which is why some foresters consider them to be harmful birds in forestry. Actually this is not true. Crossbills do not immediately distinguish a full-fledged cone from a damaged one. They pick everything, and those that are infected with the pine budworm, weevil or moth are immediately thrown away. They also do not completely use healthy cones; a lot of seeds remain in them. Falling on the forest floor, the pests in the cones die from the cold, and whole seeds are stored for a long time and over the next year, and sometimes 2-3 years, serve as valuable food not only for the crossbills themselves, but also for various forest animals.
Such a supply is especially valuable for squirrels, helping them survive periods of lack of food. The diverse connections between tree-producers and animals - consumers of their products are of great theoretical and practical interest. The mutual adaptability of the life cycles of birds and plants ensures the sustainability and long-term existence of forest ecosystems, and therefore the stability of natural conditions. They can only be known by approaching the study of natural complexes from the point of view of modern ecology, that is, taking into account that the plants and animals in them are closely related to each other in the process of joint evolution. We refer those who want to learn more about the relationships between plants and birds to the works of the famous Soviet ecologist-naturalist A. N. Formozov.
What kind of animals do not take part in the distribution of seeds and fruits! These even include mollusks (according to some data, they are involved in the distribution of Adoxa moschatellina fruits) and earthworms. The role of the latter was first pointed out by Charles Darwin. It is assumed that earthworms play, in particular, a role in the distribution of small seeds of saprophytic orchids. But among invertebrate animals, ants play the largest role in the distribution of seeds and fruits. The role of ants in the distribution of seeds and fruits is so great that there is even a special term “myrmecochory” (from the Greek myrmex - ant). Moving on to vertebrates, it is necessary to mention the role of fish in the distribution of diaspores of some aquatic and coastal plants, but there is little data on ichthyochory (from the Greek ichthys - fish). Interesting are the observations of the Brazilian botanist G. Gottenberg (1978) about the distribution of seeds and fruits of some tropical trees by fish in the Madeira River basin (a tributary of the Amazon). He lists 16 species of plants, the seeds and fruits of which are distributed by fish during floods. These include some Annonaceae, Muscataceae, Mulberry, Sapotaceae, Chrysobalanaceae, Burzeraceae, Simirubaceae and one palm. The data relating to reptiles is more reliable. Diaspores spread by reptiles have a color (usually orange-red) and a smell. In the Galapagos Islands, turtles play a role in the distribution of the fruits of some cacti, and in temperate flora, strawberry fruits are thought to have originally been dispersed by turtles.
The spread of diaspores through reptiles is called saurochory (from the Greek sauros - lizard). But birds play an incomparably important role in the distribution of seeds and fruits. This phenomenon is called ornitochory (from the Greek ornis - bird). Diaspores distributed by birds are characterized by the following features: they have an edible part that is attractive to birds (sarcotesta of many seeds, juicy mesocarp of drupes, etc.), various adaptations that prevent the eating of immature seeds and fruits (lack of bright color in the immature state, sour or bitter taste , hard consistency), hard endocarp that protects the contents of the seed from digestion, signaling coloration of mature diaspores, absence of odor (although the presence of odor in itself does not repel birds). Various mammals also play a significant role in the distribution of seeds and fruits, especially in tropical countries. As in the case of ornitochory, seeds and fruits distributed by mammals are characterized by an edible part, a protective device and signaling coloration, but, unlike birds, an attractive smell plays an important role for mammals (unlike birds, most mammals have a better developed sense of smell than vision). The dispersal of diaspores by animals can occur in three different ways. Probably the oldest of them was endozoochory (from the Greek endon - inside), which is characterized by the fact that the seeds or fruits are eaten entirely, and the seeds, their contents or the endocarp with the seeds enclosed inside pass through the digestive tract and are thrown out intact along with excrement. But often animals do not eat diasporas immediately, but drag them into nests or store them somewhere in reserve. In this case, some of the seeds and fruits are lost along the way or remain unused for some reason. This pulling apart of diaspores by animals is called synzoochory (from the Greek syn - together). Finally, in many cases, animals can passively transfer seeds and fruits that accidentally adhere or cling to the surface of their body. This type of zoochory is called epizoochory (from the Greek epi - on, above, above).
Endozoochory. Endozoochorous diaspores include seeds with a juicy and colored sarcotesta or with a well-developed aryllus, numerous juicy fruits (drupes, berries, etc.), as well as juicy infructescences, such as the infructescences of ficus species, for example, the infructescences of figs. The main agents of endozoochory are birds and mammals, but other animals, in particular turtles, can also be such agents. The role of birds in this is extremely important. Many fruits that are unpleasant to us or even poisonous are quite attractive to birds. True, in most birds food is digested very quickly and defecation usually occurs no later than 3 hours after eating (only in one case noted in the literature was it observed after 7 1/2 hours). In addition, birds make long flights with an empty or almost empty stomach. However, observations show that there are also many exceptions. Thus, in the stomach of a pigeon killed near New York, green grains of rice were found, which could have grown no closer than 700 or 800 miles away. As noted American botanist Sherwin Carlquist points out in his book Island Life (1965), this fact contradicts the assumption that birds always fly with an empty stomach. According to Carlquist, there is a possibility that while most seeds eaten pass through the digestive tract quickly, some remain in the digestive tract for a longer time. Further, if birds fly with an almost empty stomach, it is likely that the less food there is, the longer it is stored. It is also necessary to take into account the very high flight speed of many birds (especially high with a tailwind), which allows them to fly hundreds of kilometers in a short time. A number of purely botanical facts prove that birds, in particular pigeons, played a large role in the spread of certain plant species over long distances.
The endozoochorous role of rodents and various predatory mammals that readily eat juicy fruits is well known. In the bear's droppings, abundant shoots of rowan and some other plants with juicy fruits were found. In tropical countries, bats, monkeys and many other mammals play an important role in the endozoochorous distribution of diaspores. At the same time, bats, like birds, can spread diaspores over very long distances. The role of bats in the distribution of diaspores of palm trees, Annonaceae, Mulberry, Chrysobalanaceae, Sapotaceae, and Anacardiaceae is especially significant.
Sinzoochory. The main agents of active removal of diaspores are birds, rodents and ants. Rodents and birds take away the fruits of mainly woody plants (trees and shrubs), although they can carry any fruit, including juicy ones. Synzoochorous fruits themselves are dry fruits or fruits with a mesocarp that dries at maturity and opens, like walnuts and almonds, as well as seeds with a dry and very durable skin. They are rich in nutrients, which serves as bait for animals, and their hard coverings (pericarp, endocarp or seed coat) ensure their safety in nests and storerooms. Of the numerous birds participating in synzoochory, it is enough to name the moth and jay. The latter plays a big role in the spread of oak. Rodents include squirrels and chipmunks, as well as various mice.
The synzoochoric role of ants is especially great (myrmecochory). Many ants carry a wide variety of plant material into their nests, including diaspores, sort it, lay aside edible parts and, after fermentation, eat them. Such ants contribute little to the distribution of seeds and fruits. Other ants collect only specialized myrmecochorous diaspores, usually with strong and smooth integuments, but at the same time equipped with special appendages of parenchyma cells rich in oils. These appendages, called elaiosomes (from the Greek elaion - oil and soma - body) or oil bodies, are most often found on seeds, as in the species of winter grass, celandine, chickweed, chickweed, primrose, violet, milkweed, and scilla bifolia. and species of snowdrop (Galanthus), or on the fruits, as in the species of coppice (Hepatica), anemone, buttercup, forget-me-not, clear-headed, cornflower and related genera, etc. But sometimes they can form in other places, for example at the base of the spikelet, as in species of pearl barley (Melica). Therefore, it is clear that the morphological nature of elaiosomes is very diverse (they have different origins), but in all cases they serve as bait for ants.
Myrmecochorous plants of the temperate zone of the northern hemisphere are usually herbs, mostly with weak, drooping or even recumbent stems, which facilitates access for ants to seeds and fruits. In addition, fruits and seeds usually ripen in late spring and early summer, when ants are especially active in foraging. As R.E. Levina (1967) points out, the lower tiers of broad-leaved forests are richest in myrmecochores. Thus, according to her data, of the characteristic species of the grass cover of spruce-green moss forests, myrmecochores make up 12% (out of 34 species), and in oak forests - 46% (out of 24 species). Among the myrmecochores of the forest - different types violets, wildflowers, hoofweeds, anemones, corydalis, lungworts, oxalis, scillas, etc. Myrmecochorous species are also found in meadows and steppes, but there are fewer of them here than in forests.
Myrmecochores are also common in the semi-desert zone. Myrmecochory in the psammophytic formations of the Ararat Basin is of great interest. Psammophilous vegetation dominated by Achillea temiifolia is characterized by a large number of anthills. In some places, the anthills collectively occupy a very large area, exceeding in size the surrounding areas of the Achillea formation. The homes of ants (in this case, the harvester ant - Messor barbarus) are made underground and do not have a mound on the soil surface. The surface of the anthill has a round shape (sometimes several meters in diameter) and is distinguished by characteristic vegetation, individual microgroups of which are located in several concentric rings. Some plants growing on anthills are true myrmecochores. Particularly striking is the very beautiful Marshall's spurge (Euphorbia marschalliana), on the seeds of which you can see special appendages that attract ants. The same appendages are present on the achenes of the asteraceous oligochaete (Oligochoeta divaricata). Elaiosomes are clearly visible in the seeds of the Ziziphora tenuior, as well as some other plants. By dragging the seeds and fruits of these myrmecochores into their nests, the ants drop some of them on the surface of the dwelling and thereby contribute to their growth here. But nevertheless, xerophytic formations are much inferior to broad-leaved forests in terms of the number of myrmecochores.
Among the myrmecochorous plants of the northern hemisphere there are also a few woody forms - shrubs or small trees. These are species of dendromecon (Dendromecon, poppy family), crossosoma (Crossosoma, crossosome family), croton (Croton, euphorbia family), ulex (Ulex, legume family), broom (Cytisus, legume family), polygala , family istodaceae) and rosemary (Rosmarinus, family Lamiaceae) - plants of the Mediterranean maquis and garrigue, Californian chaparral and North American deserts. It is quite obvious that the seeds and fruits of these woody plants are less accessible to ants than the diaspores of low, squat grasses. Therefore, they are characterized by the so-called diplochory (from the Greek diplos - double), that is, a double method of distribution: if myrmecochory fails, then there are other ways of spreading diasporas. In addition, the elaiosomes of these plants are quite hard.
As studies by the Norwegian botanist Rolf Berg (1975) showed, the largest number of myrmecochores is concentrated in Australia (there are about 1,500 species in Australia, while only about 300 species are known in all other countries). Australian myrmecochores differ in many ways from the myrmecochores of the northern hemisphere. These are usually woody plants (shrubs), mostly with hard, strong elaiosomes, growing, as a rule, in dry habitats. They lack many additional myrmecochorous adaptations so characteristic of northern myrmecochores, and at the same time diplochory is very common. In the vast majority of Australian myrmecochores, the functioning diaspora is the seed. The size of the seeds varies from very small, as in some members of the buckthorn family, to very large, as in some legumes (Hovea rosmarinifolia and Hardenbergia spp.) and euphorbias (Ricinocarpos and Homalanthus). Most of the seeds have a hard shell with a smooth, dark-colored surface. Elaiosomes are almost always white or light-colored appendages on the diaspora. In most cases, elaiosomes are relatively dry and hard and, when dried, usually retain their shape and size, which is especially pronounced in Euphorbiaceae and legumes. However, in opercularia (Opercularia, madder family) and caesia (Caesia, lily family) and, to a lesser extent, in Hibbertia (Dilleniaceae family), elaiosomes quickly and completely fall off when drying out.
One of the reasons for the widespread distribution of myrmecochory in Australia is the exceptional richness of the ant fauna. But there were probably other, purely historical reasons. One way or another, such richness and diversity of myrmecochory gives grounds for R. Berg to conclude that the southern hemisphere must have had its own center of origin of myrmecochory, and a much more important center than in the northern hemisphere.
Compared to ornitochory, and even more so saurochory, myrmecochory is historically a relatively newer phenomenon. In contrast to ornitochory, in myrmecochory diaspores spread over short distances. According to the observations of the Swedish botanist R. Sernander (1906, 1927), who first began a broad study of myrmecochory, ants usually carry diaspores within 10 m and only in relatively rare cases can they be carried to a distance of several tens of meters (sometimes up to 70 m). But this circumstance is more than compensated by the huge number of diasporas that take away countless hordes of ants. According to the calculations of the same R. Sernander, in the forests of Sweden one colony of the red forest ant can carry over 36,000 diaspores in one season. According to the observations of R. E. Levina, forest myrmecochores carry away over 80%, and sometimes more than 90%, of fallen diaspores. These and other observations show that myrmecochory ensures the massive distribution of diaspores and thereby very effectively contributes to the dispersal of the species.
Myrmecochory in its various forms is of great biological interest and is still very poorly understood. This is one of those questions of biology where wide opportunities open up for independent research by novice naturalists.
Epizoochory. Diaspores of many species are equipped with various kinds of attachments or secrete adhesive substances and, thanks to this, can attach to various parts of the animal’s body and thus sometimes spread over quite long distances. Species of the tropical and subtropical genus Pisonia, belonging to the Nyctaginaceae family, are characterized by very sticky fruits that can even stick to the feathers of birds. Thanks to this, Pisonia species spread widely across the Pacific islands. Pisonia fruits are so sticky that they can sometimes cover the bodies of birds and even reptiles so thickly that they will die. In temperate flora, sticky diaspores are known in European plumbago (Plumbago europaea, plumbago family), northern lineage (Linnaea borealis), sage species, and some Asteraceae.
Much more common are tenacious diasporas equipped with various types of attachments. These are whole fruits or individual fruitlets (mericarps), fruits surrounded by perianth or extrafloral parts, or even whole infructescences. But surprisingly, there are no seeds with trailers. Tenacious diaspores are known in a wide variety of families.
Most often, tenacious diaspores cling to the body of passing animals and thereby break away from the mother plant. Classic examples are the fruits of various umbelliferae and borage, the fruits of cocklebur, string and burdock, which belong to the Asteraceae family. Such fruits can spread over very long distances. The largest role in the spread of clinging diasporas is played by mammals and humans.
However, diaspores that do not have any devices for attachment to the animal’s body can also be transmitted by the epizoochoric route. It is well known that many seeds and fruits can spread along with silt adhering to the body of an animal, lumps of damp soil, etc. This method can play a very important role in the dissemination of seeds and fruits of many plants, especially swamp and coastal plants, which often adhere to the body of waterfowl and swamp birds.
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