What birds come to us first in spring, Messengers of spring

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Every educated person knows that birds are warm-blooded creatures. Their average body temperature is 41 degrees Celsius. Theoretically, they can remain active at any time of the year. However, in cold weather, they need more food, so many are literally forced to leave their homes with the arrival of frost and go to warm lands for wintering. The first birds arriving in spring, as it were, become the guarantors of the fact that winter is over, and heat is inevitable.

In general, the number of migratory birds depends on how strongly their feeding conditions differ in summer and winter. About half of the cities and forests of birds migrate, and the inhabitants of the marshes, fields and reservoirs leave their homes in much larger quantities. This is understandable, because if in the winter in the populated areas there are chances to find grain and the remains of bread, then insects cannot be found.

If we talk about which birds come first in the spring, it is impossible not to mention rooks, ducks, starlings and zelenushek. They are considered the forerunners of the retreat of the winter cold and the arrival of the long-awaited spring.

Section 2. Rooks have arrived!

This species can be very easily confused with crows. By the way, many of us do this, especially if the birds are high in the trees. But to remember the difference is quite simple: the crows always stay to winter, but the rooks fly away. That is, it turns out that in winter our cities inhabit only the first, but the latter appear later.

By the way, if it’s about which birds come first in the spring, they would have called rooks without any hesitation from representatives of the older generation, for example, our grandmothers and grandfathers. Their return has always been regarded as the arrival of spring and heat. It was for such good news that they had the reputation of pets, they were always tried to feed them and were especially happy to meet in their gardens and gardens.

Knowing which birds arrive first is not enough. It is advisable to get acquainted with some of their features.

For example, have you ever heard of the so-called "white beak" of rooks? The source of this name comes from those ancient times when the plowmen, and then the tractor drivers, began to loosen the soil with the arrival of spring. Rook was their irremovable companion, because, like the workers themselves, he was engaged in painstaking work, snatching various insects from the earth - bugs, larvae, spiders and bugs. That is why, erasing due to constant tinkering, a “white beak” formed on the rook.

Rooks, like all birds of the raven family, are very clever and quick-witted. Thanks to their attentiveness, they learned how to produce butter and milk left in packages, as well as soften hard bread in puddles.

Section 3. Which birds come first in the spring? Ducks, of course!

These representatives of birds, as, however, and geese, we are waiting with great impatience. And in the early spring on the streets every now and then you can meet people trying to look at someone high in the clouds. “Look, the ducks are coming back,” they will note. “Winter is over, therefore.”

If we talk about which birds come first in the spring, and cite the example of ducks, it is impossible not to delve into their physiology in particular. Why aren't they afraid of the cold? The thing is that the ducks in the paws have no blood vessels and nerves. It is this that allows them to feel absolutely comfortable, to swim in the water frozen in the winter and without problems to walk on snow and ice. By the way, thanks to the same membranes on the legs, ducks are able to move fairly quickly.

But that's not all. Duck feathers have a waterproof, oily coating that allows them to go dry in the literal sense of the word. Not every one of us knows that duck quacking echoes under appropriate conditions. This feature, few can boast.

By the way, depending on the gender, male ducks are called drakes, female ducks are called ducks, and their small offspring are called ducklings.

Section 4. Is your birdhouse ready?

The fact that the birds arrive in the spring first, schoolchildren of the lower grades very often learn not from the lessons of natural history, but from labor education classes. Why? Yes, because it is there that teachers try not only to acquaint babies with the outside world, but, as a rule, they are invited to take an active part in it, for example, by building a feeding trough or building a real birdhouse.

By the way, oddly enough, but not so much is known about these feathered ordinary citizens. For example, most do not even realize that the starling male has an interesting ability during the mating period: it loses almost all its feathering from the head. Of course, then the feathers grow back.

The starling differs from the female in shiny, iridescent black feathers. But in the female they are more brown and look much more modest. In the wild, the starlings can repeat the sounds of other talking relatives, but in captivity, they are able to imitate human speech!

Section 5. Modesty is always in the price. Greenfinch

We have already told quite a lot about which birds come first in the spring, but it is impossible not to mention this bird. By the way, the greenfinch has a different name, the most common among people - forest canary.

You can meet a bird anywhere: in parks, in gardens, or just on city streets. They usually nest their nests on fruit trees, but they do not disdain even the usual ones, however, preferring those that grow on the edges.

The greenfinch only looks weak and defenseless from the side, but in fact, with its beak, it is able to split even the rather hard shell of a nut. And this birdie drinks in a very peculiar way: it collects a small amount of water into its beak, and then throws back its head so that the water flows further down the throat.