Seagull bird: what do seagulls eat, where do they hibernate. Seagull bird description, lifestyle, reproduction

Various gulls and terns, taken as chicks and fed in captivity, are well tamed, but do not easily endure the loss of freedom. They often get sick and die. These are birds, which, without a doubt, are best kept in the wild or in a large outdoor aviary. The smaller the chick taken, the more tame it will be when it grows up. Completely tame, relating to people with complete confidence, birds are in those cases when not a chick is taken from the nest, but a pecked egg. An amazing thing: a chick that has hatched in a nest and has not yet dried out gets used to it much less than one taken in an egg. The latter must be chosen hatched, just before pecking or at the time of it. It is necessary to take an egg in the morning of a hot day so that development can continue without further incubation. However, our young naturalists successfully warmed the taken eggs in their bosoms. If there is an incubator, at least homemade, heated by a kerosene lamp, eggs can be taken at earlier stages of development.

Food for chicks of different species of gulls may be the same. The smallest chicks are given pieces of meat and fish, flour and earthworms, bread soaked in milk. Grown up chicks, like corvids, are very illegible in food.

The first herring gull I met was reared on the White Sea, in the Kandalaksha Nature Reserve. Here, this species is a generally recognized destroyer of the nests of the eider, a bird protected in the reserve. Therefore, a struggle is being fought with seagulls: their nests are being destroyed, their chicks are being destroyed. Here we adopted one such tiny downy chick. He lived freely, walking with eiderdowns, which were raised in captivity. Later, he began to retire and always sat on the stones near the seashore. We had a lot of fish - every day someone caught cod. All the insides, and often the heads, went to Pinchik.

A small downy chick persistently followed people and shouted, asking for food. When he grew up and began to fly a little, there was no way to escape from his harassment. Seeing a man, the chick flew right at him, sat opposite and yelled. Gradually, Pinchik began to hunt for his own food in our bay: he walked along the littoral at low tide, looking for something and finding it. The time has come when the bird completely switched to self-service and flew away from the usual stone for several hours. Our gull could no longer be distinguished from other young, similarly brown birds flying over the seashore. However, it was worth shouting “Pinchik”, and she immediately revealed herself: she would tremble a little in flight or even turn off the straight path, look carefully if the person had any treats in their hands.

It just so happened in subsequent years that all our pupils-gulls were called Pinchiks. Unforgettable Pinchik was brought up with us on the Caspian Sea, in the Astrakhan Reserve. It was a gull, a southern subspecies of the herring gull. She was taken as a pecked chick and fed mainly on fish, partly on the meat of various birds, most often terns.

The grown-up laughter easily swallowed whole young river terns. Coping with prey much larger in diameter than their own heads is an amazing ability for gulls. We were surprised at this even on the White Sea, watching how our northern Pinchik swallowed huge cod heads whole. In the Crimea, we witnessed that the main food of the gulls and their chicks, which barely reached half the size of an adult bird, were ground squirrels. Seagulls brought them to the nest in the crop and burped them. The chick managed, albeit slowly, in several stages, to swallow the animal. In the same way, our Pinchik tried to swallow pieces of bird meat and fish heads of clearly inappropriate sizes. With some he fought for a long time: several times he began to swallow and burp. Convinced that it was impossible to swallow the prey, the chick threw it. He never tried, as birds of prey and owls do, to tear off a smaller piece from her with his beak.

Pinchik confidently walked around the village of the reserve. He had his favorite places, which he visited constantly. By dinner, the chick, of course, turned out to be near the dining room

Here he always got a tidbit from Aunt Mani - a permanent chef. Pinchik became friends with a gloomy dog ​​who lived under the pile building of the dining room. This dog suffered from quiet insanity, so to speak about a dog. Previously, he was a normal, cheerful animal, but he survived the "St. Bartholomew's Night", when dogs were destroyed in order to combat rabies. Miraculously, the dog survived, but became afraid of people. For several years, almost without showing himself during the day, he sat under the dining room, where he once hid from persecution. The dog trusted only Aunt Mana, who fed her. Linchik boldly fed from the dog's bowl.

It was to this gloomy, black and shaggy creature that our Pinchik flew in, boldly sat down near his bowl and chose from it all the edible that was left there. The dog crawled out from under the house and approached the seagull. She bounced and took off. Then the bird got used to the dog so much that it allowed it to come close. It seemed to me, however, that the desire to make friends was much greater in a lonely sick dog than in a frivolous gull.

Pinchik lived according to the daily routine, which was convenient for him, and not for us, he flew where and when he wanted.

We had to paint Pinchik with blue ink from a fountain pen. This is how the “blue” gull appeared in the vicinity of the Damchiksky section of the reserve. She was often in the company of her wild relatives, but now even from a distance she could be distinguished from them. Pinchik's walks became longer and longer. There were days when we did not see him from morning to evening. However, at night he invariably flew to our house and settled under the windows right on the ground. The experiments with Pinchik were completed (the amount of fish consumed by the seagull was determined). Yes, and it became unreliable to lead them: Pinchik was obviously feeding on the side. Now we were no longer afraid for our seagull and left it, leaving the reserve.

The common, or black-headed, gull is widespread throughout the country. This is a bird of inland fresh water, which more often than others falls into the hands of people. In the Moscow region there is the famous, now reserved, Lake Kiyovo, where several thousand gulls nest. This is the largest colony of river gulls, at least in the European part of the country.

It was from Kyiv that seagulls came to us for education and subsequent work. Several tiny yellow, spotted balls were brought to the Bolshevo Biological Station - just hatched gulls. There were chicks and more; some even with feathers poking through the down. Only those who were taken by the tiniest ones, not yet dried up, became truly tame.

The chicks were fed mainly raw meat. However, for a change, they gave them fish, insects, shellfish (without a shell, of course). The birds were growing well, but many had swelling on their knuckles, a sign that the chicks were deficient in vitamins.

In the enclosure where the seagulls lived, there was a large pool with sloping banks, and the birds willingly swam and bathed in it. From the aviary, a small gate led to freedom. During the day, it opened, and the seagulls freely went out for a walk. When the birds began to fly, their first long journey was to the river. Since then, they have only come home for dinner and overnight. Unfortunately, fewer and fewer birds returned to us. On the river, we sometimes heard shots and suspected that they were hitting our tame gulls: they fearlessly flew next to people and were not at all afraid of them. And so, when only three birds remained, we had to lock them in the aviary so as not to lose these last ones.

When all the experiments were completed, we again tried to release the chicks for a walk. They flew to the river and did not return.

Only next spring, in April, did we meet our seagulls again. On the day of the arrival of these birds from the south, we saw a flock of ten gulls above our biological station. Three birds separated from the flock and began to descend in wide circles. They descended below the trees, below the house, made two circles over the enclosure and flew away. Could there be any doubt that our pupils flew to us!

Adult gulls in captivity can eat a lot: meat, raw and boiled, fish, cereals, various waste from the table. They swallow mice with pleasure, do not refuse earthworms, and they love flour ones very much. Of course, you can keep these voracious birds only in the wild or in a street aviary.

It is not difficult to feed various terns with fish (river, polar, small) or meat (black, light-winged, barnacle). All of them are well tamed, especially if taken by small, downy chicks.

In terns, as in gulls, the ability to swallow huge pieces of prey is striking. Arctic terns, far from reaching the size of adults, easily swallow bank voles - animals much larger than the house mouse.

Of the listed terns, the most common is black. "It is found even in the smallest reservoirs, up to ponds. Taken chicks need to be fed quite often, every hour or two (later two or three times a day). In addition to meat, they need to be given different insects , preferably aquatic: dragonfly larvae, water lovers, swimmers, as well as whole small fish or, worse, large fish in pieces.

During one of the expeditions, we had to feed various marsh terns and at the same time travel around the fish farms on the coast of the Sea of ​​Azov. We always took the chicks with us. One day we had to wait a long time for a boat. The chicks were stuffy in their little box, and we decided to let them out for a walk. They were very necessary for work, and, not wanting to risk the terns, we tied a strong, stern thread to the foot of each of them; holding the other end of it in his hand, let the birds fly. When one of the terns took off, she pulled hard on the thread and pulled it out of her hands. The bird began to rise, moving further and further into the sea. Tired of flying, she finally landed on the water, but so far from the shore that she could hardly be seen. It took a long time to follow the bird. It's good that the Akhtar Bay is shallow and in the place where our tern was, the water barely reached the waist. The chick himself, apparently, was frightened of his unexpected walk. He swam towards the man and resignedly let himself be taken in hand.

It was one of the most tame terns I have ever seen.

There are a huge number of amazing bird species that have unique features and characteristics. Among them is the famous seagull bird - one of the most famous sea birds from the family of the same name and the order Charadriiformes. Waders, skuas, terns and water cutters are considered to be ancient ancestors of gulls. Currently, ornithologists distinguish more than 60 varieties of the species with rare properties and characteristic appearance.

Seagull bird: what do seagulls eat, where do they spend the winter

A significant part of them consists of medium-sized birds. The largest species includes sea ​​gull weighing two kilograms and a body length of up to 80 centimeters. In turn, the smallest representative called little gull weighs only 100 grams, and is no larger than a dove in size.

What does a seagull look like

Almost all types of teas have the same type of appearance. The plumage of these cute birds is smooth and dense, with wings and a tail of medium length. For this reason, gulls are excellent fliers, able to travel great distances over water without much fatigue. In addition, birds perform complex tricks and maneuvers during the flight. The presence of a thin, evenly pointed beak allows you to catch any prey, even if it is very slippery or viscous. Some individuals have a massive beak with a sharp tip at the end, which also makes them unsurpassed miners.

All species have webbed feet that allow the bird to swim freely on the water. At the same time, duck clumsiness, slowness and unbalanced coordination of movements, as is the case with other wild waterfowl, are absent. The seagull runs fast on land and swims just as fast in the water.

The color of the plumage varies from white to black, while the ratio of one of the two shades is different. The most common coloration is represented by a light body, black wings and a dark head. In rare cases, it is possible to meet a plain seagull. These individuals include representatives of the following species:

• White seagull;
• polar;
• gray;
• dark.

A very rare species is pink seagull, which has an unusual pale pink plumage that can turn any photo into a real miracle. The color of the beak and paws is most often black, red or yellow. Anatomical differences between males and females are insignificant, but seasonal characteristics are very pronounced. For example, in spring, a molt begins at a seagull, and a winter color without bright colors becomes more beautiful. Juveniles differ from adults in their characteristic brownish-variegated plumage.

Area. Where seagulls hibernate

Seagulls are found almost everywhere. There is no such continent or ocean, wherever these birds have taken root. True, some species prefer exclusively tropical regions, some prefer the temperate zone, and there are also polar species. Anyway, the main condition for choosing a habitat is the presence of a reservoir. But here there are some nuances:

• some gulls love the ocean expanses and the endless coasts of large and deep seas;
• others are found in rivers and lakes;
• still others live in desert oases;

Species that live near the sea coastline tend to be sedentary, while those living on inland lakes and rivers often make seasonal migrations.

Like other water birds, seagulls prefer a flocking lifestyle. They form obligate or facultative colonies. If we are talking about the first type, then more than several thousand individuals can live in one colony, which settle at a short distance from each other. Facultative colonies consist of one or several dozen gulls, and the nests are set at a distance of several meters from each other. For this reason seagulls have a distinct signaling system.

Each species has a wide variety of sounds that are used as a warning of impending danger, the appearance of food, the readiness to mate, and so on. The cries of representatives of the species are very loud and shrill. They can be heard from several hundred meters away.

Individuals living in inland continental waters with moderate climatic conditions are sent for wintering to warm sea regions.

What do seagulls eat

Many people associate peace and beauty with a seagull, imagining a romantic image of a bird soaring over the sea waves. But in reality, such calm behavior occurs only with an abundance of food supply. Otherwise, the cute bird turns into a daring, greedy and aggressive hunter who will enter the battle for a tidbit of food without much thought. Birds manage to take someone else's food and even attack small chicks. If danger arises in front of the flock, its members quickly gather together to give a worthy rebuff to the predator, no matter if it is a fox, a raven or a person.

The main part of the diet of seagulls is occupied by:

1. small squids;
2. Remains of prey of large marine predators;
3. small fish;

When looking for food, the birds circle above the water for a long time, fly long distances from the coast and track down strange behavior in the upper layers of the water. Seagulls are often found near whales, dolphins, and other predatory fish, as they chase schools of small fish and provide birds with an excellent field to search for easily accessible prey that rises to the surface, hoping for rescue. However, there are hungry seagulls waiting for her.

Birds are able to partially submerge in water, but they do not know how to make a deep dive. Nevertheless, birds do not refuse coastal hunting. Very often in the coastal area they look for the remains of the corpses of seals and fur seals, crabs, starfish, mollusks and other representatives of the aquatic fauna. Gulls do not disdain hunting eggs and chicks of other birds. Steppe and polar species prefer:

• insects;
• mice and voles;
• berries and some plants;

Today, the food base of many species of gulls has greatly expanded due to proximity to traces of human activity. Seagulls move en masse to the vicinity of beaches, ports and city dumps. They learned to eat food waste and other food.

bird breeding

For all species, the breeding season occurs once a year. Birds stand out for their excellent fidelity to one partner with whom they spend their whole lives. But in the event of the death of the female, the male is looking for a new one. During the mating ritual, the birds perform complex body movements, which involve nodding their heads, opening plumage on their stomachs, meowing cries, etc.

In addition, before mating, the male picks up a small fish and presents it to his lover in his beak. This cements their union.

The nesting season, depending on the habitat, begins in April-June. Seagull nests are located either on sand or grass, or on narrow ledges. Arctic gulls line their nests with grass, dry algae, and reeds, which may appear to be poor bedding. Representatives of marine species manage with fragments of shells, chips.

One female lays 1-3 colorful eggs, which she incubates for 20-30 days. All this time, a caring male brings her food.

Chicks are born at intervals of 1-2 days. However, unlike other bird species, seagull cubs are born sighted and well developed. Their body is covered with down, but the ability to move independently is not yet available. In the nest, the chicks can sit out no more than 2-6 days, after which they begin to move around the colony, getting to know other individuals. If the food base is poor, adult gulls give the last piece to the older chick, because of which the younger chick dies.

When danger is detected, the cubs hide strongly, and the thick down is an excellent camouflage against the background of sand and small pebbles. Sexual maturity occurs at the age of 1-3 years, while the average duration reaches 15-20 years. Representatives of the herring gull can live even longer. By the way, the oldest bird from the family of gulls was a silver individual, which reached the age of 49 years.

What are the dangers for birds?

Despite their frisky behavior, the ability to fly quickly and an excellent predator warning system, gulls are exposed to many dangers, including large birds of prey and land animals. Among the most important enemies of the seagull:

• kites;
• falcons;
• foxes;
• arctic foxes;
• the Bears;

For centuries, seagulls lived quietly with each other and did not pose a threat to the ecosystem. But the marked decline in global fish resources over the past few decades has led many to consider the bird as harmful. Someone says that the activity of gulls negatively affects fish stocks, which is why they begin to be killed en masse.

But in fact, the situation looks a little different. People who lead a consumer lifestyle and want to take everything that can be imagined from nature tritely exterminate birds because of greed and the desire to enrich themselves by any means.

Actually, seagulls are of great benefit to the coast, because they eat animal waste and food leftovers, being the best orderlies. It is important to note that some species of gulls are on the verge of extinction and need enhanced protection measures. Among them are the following types:

If you do not take radical measures and do not treat the protection of these species with all responsibility, in a few years they will simply disappear from the face of the earth. Many species of gulls are still widely distributed in different regions of the world, but human activities, environmental changes and other factors greatly influence their numbers. Every year it imperceptibly decreases. Therefore, in order to protect birds from death, it is better not to disturb their natural life cycle.

Representatives of the suborder of gulls often get into the apartments of bird lovers or corners of wildlife - Larry. Most often it is lake, gray and herring gulls, river tern, and in the northern regions - skuas.

Black-headed or common gull (Lams ridibundus) belongs to the gull family Laridae. It is known to all nature lovers, nests in colonies on inland waters, occasionally on sea coasts from England to Kamchatka, preferring the temperate climate zone. The black-headed gull is a migratory bird, wintering in the Mediterranean and South Asia.

It has a pronounced seasonal color dimorphism. In summer, the head of the birds is dark brown, almost black, and in winter it is white. Males and females are practically indistinguishable in color. The beak and paws are dark red. The wings are gray with black tips and a white stripe along the front edge. Males do not differ from females in coloration. Seagull nests are built from grass and arranged on quagmire, reed creases or bumps. Sometimes they nest in mixed colonies with other species of gulls and terns. The clutch consists of 3 greenish-brown or bluish eggs covered with dark brown spots. Incubation lasts 24 - 26 days. The chicks hatch fully developed, but remain in the nest for a long time. In case of danger, they can go into the water and swim. On the water, fluffy little gull chicks look like light boats. Young gulls begin to fly at the age of 40 days.

The composition of natural food includes terrestrial and aquatic invertebrates, fish, occasionally small rodents and birds, as well as grains of cultivated cereals,

In zoos, in addition to the lake, they contain herring, gray gulls, clover, black-headed gulls, variegated and other terns.

Vladimir Ostapenko. "Birds in your house".

The Lazarev family temporarily lives in a modest one-room apartment in the Oktyabrsky District of Murmansk. As they say, in tight quarters, but not offended. A whole zoo perfectly coexists with two people here: a lop-eared rabbit, a Chilean squirrel, a mestizo of the Central Asian Shepherd Dog (Alabai) and ... three gulls. Compassionate Murmansk residents keep winged pets not for the sake of showing off to friends. If not for the Lazarevs, then death would have awaited the seabirds.

Come on, fly!

We picked up the bone this spring with a broken wing. Senya - he is still a chick with us - was found at about the same time near the monument to the 6th Komsomolskaya Battery on General Zhurba Street. He also had a broken wing. And Rosa was recently brought to me by my sister. Someone shot a seagull with pneumatics, the bullet got stuck in the bones, it fell and badly skinned its paws, - Elena Lazareva tells about her feathered pets with human names.

And those, in turn, look at her from behind the glass as if they understand - they are talking about them. Senya and Kostya live on the balcony. And at night they sleep in cardboard boxes in the kitchen. Senya separately, but Kostya and Rosa together. By the way, the girl is separated from them during the day - her wing still hurts after the operation. But, despite the pain, she looks at us, unexpected guests, with curiosity.

At first, the Lazarevs did not plan to keep seagulls in the apartment.

When we brought birds to veterinary clinics, they only looked askance at us, they say, why did you come to us with seagulls? And the answer was the same everywhere: “We don’t have an ornithologist, we can’t help in any way.” We are still looking for a bird specialist in Murmansk, but you won't believe how hard it is to find one. They wanted the birds to come out and set free. But, alas, there is almost no chance that they will fly. We took Kostya to the stadium, forced him to run, pushed him to fly. But he couldn't. The rose will definitely not fly. We place bets on Senya. I want to appeal to northerners through your newspaper: don't be cruel, don't shoot at animals. They did nothing wrong to you, and you doom them to torment! Elena says.

There is no doctor for this patient.

Providing medical care to sick birds in Murmansk proved to be difficult. But patience and care have taken their toll. Seagulls eat excellently, they have ceased to be afraid of people. They never became tame - they do not like being stroked or picked up, they immediately try to break free. But they are great at taking care of people. And to look after them, I must say, is still not easy.

I bathe them twice a day. Still, sea birds, - the mistress of the house smiles. - They also eat twice. We buy them fresh capelin - the most budget option. Each bird eats about 8 fish per day. But they can also eat what we cook for ourselves, pasta, for example.

By nature, all birds are completely different. Rosa is shy and quiet, the owners do not hear a sound from her. Kostya, like a real old-timer, sits confidently and proudly on the balcony. It was only at first that he “cried” a lot when he saw his relatives outside the window, but he kept trying to fly to them. But now I got used to it and understood the charm of home life. But Senya is a bully and a bully.

It pecks, of course, it can bite a lot. He commands other birds and fights with Kostya. Maybe she will shed her hair and settle down, - Elena thinks. But such a daring Senya still loves to sit by the window and look at the blue sky.

Elena and her husband are not afraid that they can get infected from birds. They say that they often pick up animals on the street, nurse them. And, fortunately, they did not pick up any infection from them. In Murmansk, the birds do not have long to live - soon they will be taken to a private house in the south of the country so that they can run freely on the green grass.

EXPERT COMMENT

It is better to keep decorative birds at home

If the Lazarev family keeps seagulls out of compassion for animals, then some northerners make them pets out of an incomprehensible desire to stand out. This is comparable to the rich who have crocodiles, wild boars or skunks as animals in their apartments.

Is this correct, we asked Deputy Director for Science of the Kandalaksha Nature Reserve Alexander Koryakin.

The level of aggression of a bird depends on how long it lives in the city. By the way, seagulls are smart, although many people think otherwise. No, you can’t teach them to speak, but the teams are completely. And living with a person, birds study his habits and predict behavior.

In addition, it is better not to tame wild birds, because, having become accustomed to constant feeding from humans, they lose their skills in obtaining food in nature. And the chicks simply do not develop such skills. If a person keeps a seagull at home, especially from a chick age, and then releases it into the wild, then most likely it will die, our expert notes. - If you find a chick on the street, then do not pick it up! Only if the bird is injured. But even then it is better to take it to ornithologists, and not keep it in an apartment. If the bird is wounded too hard, then it is more humane to finish it off. I repeat, it is better to keep decorative birds in the apartment, not wild ones.

BY THE WAY

I feel sorry for the bird

If you find a sick feathered one and your conscience does not allow you to leave it, seek help from the specialists of the following institutions:

Dear readers!

Do you have an unusual pet at home or does your pet know how to do something unique? Then feel free to write to us at: [email protected]. And we will make sure that the whole region and even the country knows about your artist.

The lop-eared rabbit and the mestizo alabai calmly get along with sea birds. Photo: Elena KOVALENKO

Today Victoria Yarlykova, a resident of Vladimir, told us that a European gull lives in her house. As the girl said, she found the bird the day before yesterday on the lawn near the Pedagogical Institute. The feathered one could not take off, and Victoria decided to catch it in order to save it from death.

- Seagull ran on the grass with wings outstretched to the side- said Victoria. - When I got closer, I realized that the bird was injured and could not fly. I carefully covered the bird with my jacket and carried it home. When she arrived, she let the new tenant go for a walk around the loggia, and she herself went on the Internet. Unfortunately, there is very little information about keeping these birds there. When you enter the word seagull, information about cars appears instead of a bird.

character wild and freedom-loving inhabitant of the river expanses is peculiar. As the girl admits, the bird now and then tries to peck or pinch people. Therefore, the wayward guest was called Kusaka. The only thing that appeases the seagull is the delicious portions of fish.

- bites, if I may put it that way, it is strong enough- the girl laughs. - A very brave bird, ready to rush into battle at any moment. But gradually we get used to each other. I feed her pieces of fresh fish. Sometimes you have to catch a shrew and put food in your beak literally by force. Hope the wing heals soon.

By assumption savior of Kusaka, her ward's wing is not broken, which leaves chances for a successful outcome. Victoria is going to take the bird to the vet this afternoon, who will give the final verdict.

- Think, my guest just hurt herself on the wires,- the interlocutor shared her opinion. - Kusaka is noticeably better, in my opinion there are no serious injuries. If so, then let her go free. Of course, it may be possible to attach Kusaka to the animal rescue center ... But if they refuse to accept her there, and she cannot fly, I will leave her with me. The most important thing is to persuade my mother to leave her with us.

By the way, to make the habitation of fellow Jonathan Livingston in her apartment more tolerable, the girl gave her not only a loggia. Victoria netted part of the room, put away her belongings and built a makeshift pool. And as it turned out, all this was not in vain ...

- The other day, a friend found a gull chick,- Vika added to her story. - And I took my seagull to her for the night. When we planted them together on the balcony, at first we were afraid that the big one would peck the little one. But, it turned out the opposite, the little one pecked at the big one ... And the next day they were already sleeping almost together. So, now we have two beautiful seagulls.

How realistic will keep a seagull at home? For such a comment, we turned to Denis Dudenkov, a senior researcher at the Museum of Nature. According to the expert, keeping such a bird is quite troublesome and costly. He also helped determine the exact type of bird.

- This is an ordinary gray gull, - commented Denis Dudenkov. - A fairly common sight in our city lately. Now, seagulls do not hesitate to fly to garbage dumps and landfills in search of affordable food. Consequently, they are increasingly becoming "victims" of the unfavorable factors of the city. As for the maintenance of the house, I think she will still be better off at large. The bird is very demanding, and most importantly "dirty". If you do not prepare normal conditions, soon the apartment will turn into a real chicken coop.

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By the way:

Wingspan This species of gulls reaches 120 centimeters. The weight of the bird can reach up to 550 grams. Life expectancy is 25 years. The bird reaches a size of up to 50 centimeters. They migrate to North Africa for the winter. They feed on fish, frogs, worms, insects, parts of plants and waste.

Earlier we wrote: A townswoman saves a crow, which