Turukhtan summary. Funny bird turukhtan. Taste and dishes from turukhtan

The Turukhtan bird is a very interesting individual in the avian world. This representative belongs to the snipe family, has a small size and a peculiar appearance, for which it received different names in different places. If you translate the name into Russian from Latin, you get something like "fight lover / bully." In the east, there is the word kurakhtan, under which all birds were united, which were somewhat similar to domestic chickens. In Russia and later it was called a small cockerel, mesenter, and millet. Harsh northerners called turukhtan names depending on their appearance - bear, deer, wolf. Males are easy to distinguish from females by size, and with the onset of the mating season, the flock of birds turns into a real booth, full of colorful colors, noise and action.

Description of turukhtan

At first glance, it may seem that this species is not very different from the rest of the family. Long legs, sharp beak and colors dominated by brown, white and black. But if you look closely, you can immediately determine that you met a turukhtan, and not another bird. The body is well-fed, but not knocked down, smoothly passes into a long neck, passing into a small head. The beak is not particularly long, has the shape of an arc, bent down. The legs are pancake, the tail is slightly rounded, and the wings are thinner and more wedge-shaped than in other species.

Males and females of this species have a number of significant differences, due to which many people believe that they are looking at completely different birds. To begin with, the female is much smaller than the stronger sex. The male grows up to 32 centimeters in length, and opens its wings to all 60 centimeters. Females reach their maximum of 25 centimeters, with a wingspan of 45 to 50 centimeters. The weight of a male can be: for a young individual - 150 grams, for an adult - 300 grams. For females, this is 75 - 155 grams. The differences don't end there. The beak and paws of an adult male are orange or reddish. In young animals and females, legs can be yellow - gray, greenish - gray, brown. The beak of females is gray, some have pink patches.

There are also size differences among males. There are individuals that do not grow to their maximum size, remaining larger than the female, but smaller than large males. They are called "feders".

Birds of both sexes are distinguished by the fact that they have an uneven, but clearly visible white stripe along the outer part of the wing plumage. The uppertail and tip of the tail are also white. Otherwise, their plumage is replete with brown, reddish, brown, black and white tones. The chest and back are lighter in color than the wings. The abdomen is closer to white.

Molting

During the year, individuals of different sexes shed their plumage several times. Males do it more often. At certain intervals, there is a complete or partial change of the pen. The beginning and the most interesting period can be considered April, when males acquire a mating outfit. Bare skin on the neck is overgrown with a wide, large pillow of feathers, and more "ears" appear on the head. Colors can be any: lilac, violet, red, white, black, green, orange - whatever! Plumage is often combined in several colors to form an incredible outfit. Warts swell around the eyes, most often of bright colors - orange, red, yellow. The colors of females at this time do not change, remaining gray - green, brown, brown. It is noted that they only become richer.

Many researchers, based on their observations of turukhtan during the mating season, argue that at this time, there are no males alike.

After the mating season, all this colorful tinsel and bright warts gradually disappear. By the middle of autumn, the plumage completely sheds, acquiring the usual tones for turukhtan. Summer molt in females lasts longer. Males dress up in winter dressing until December, while females have this dragging on almost until January. The first molt in the life of a turukhtan occurs in autumn, in warm September, and the next one comes in the spring, along with all adult representatives.

After winter, before the onset of the mating season, both sexes undergo a partial change of plumage. But if in the weaker sex it does not continue and they acquire a ready-made marriage attire, then the stronger sex acquires dark plumage, which will fall out along with the remnants of the winter range in a month and a half. In its place, a marvelous, unique outfit will grow to attract the second half.

Habitat and habitats

Turukhtan is very fond of settling in an area where there are water bodies, rivers, lakes, bays, swamps nearby. Females like to settle in a lowland, where it is constantly damp, in wet meadows, river tributaries, where there is a lot of vegetation, sedges, tall grass, and bushes. Males, in turn, spend time on drier pieces of land overgrown with grass and marsh moss. Such places help the birds, providing them with food from standing pools and shelter. For wintering, they inhabit flooded rice and winter fields, meadows not far from water bodies, places flooded with seasonal rains. Turukhtan does not like salty water, but in some winter beds, sea lagoons and quiet backwaters appear.

For turukhtan it is absolutely not important, the specific place of residence. Many birds, returning to their native lands, settle in the same places every year. Representatives of this type do not have such an attachment and can choose any place they like for housing.

As for the range, considering that turukhtan migrates at different times of the year, the range is very wide. Waiting out cold months in Africa, Australia, Western Europe, Asia. It is considered common to meet a bird in the northern latitudes of Eurasia. Here she settled from Scandinavia and the British Isles to Kolyma. Distributed from France, Great Britain to Chukotka, the Bering Sea. They inhabit the area up to the Arctic Ocean, living on the Arctic coast. Observers happened to meet this species in Alaska, North America, Canada, Iceland, Kazakhstan. The nesting of birds here is an unusual phenomenon, but freedom-loving representatives of birds can fly there too.

If we compare the abundance of the population in different parts of the planet, then Russia has the largest number of representatives of this species. In Russia, this number has exceeded 2 million individuals. Sweden is marked behind it, where more than 120 thousand individuals are recorded, in Finland this figure is from 80 thousand, in Norway more than 30 thousand.

What does the turukhtan bird eat

The turukhtan goes fishing in the dark or already at dusk. During the day, he is cautious. With the onset of darkness, he looks for food in shallow water, in the reservoir, which he lives in, in stagnant puddles, flooded areas. It also digs soft earth, silt, dirt with its beak.

Turukhtan has a different menu in winter and summer. IN summer period turukhtan prefers to hunt for animal food, and in the cold season looks for plant food.

Depending on living conditions, weather conditions, seasonality and even time of day, the diet changes between plant and animal foods. As for animal food, these are:

• Beetles.
• Flies, mosquitoes, centipedes.
• Water bugs.
• Chironomids and their larvae.
• Larvae of globules and caddisflies.
• Molluscs, crustaceans.

For a variety of the summer diet, they eat sedge, saxifrage, and their seeds. Find and eat underground highlander bulbs.

In winter, getting animal feed is problematic. The menu changes to plant components - seeds of herbs, flowers, sedges, aquatic plants. In some regions where turukhtan settles, fields sown with cereals are located nearby. Then turukhtan causes significant damage to the crop by eating grain. In a rainy season, there is an abundance of such food, but with the onset of drought, you have to look for seeds in cracks in the ground, tear up sand and gravel.

Wintering in Africa, on the sea coasts, turukhtan does not limit itself to animal food. He looks for spiders, midges, larvae, worms and other living creatures near warm sea waters, sometimes swims near the coast and collects food right on the water.

Reproduction and offspring

Turukhtan reaches puberty after two years of life. The mating is very violent. Demonstrations are not limited to flaunting colorful plumage. Males sort things out in fights. A suitable site is selected, the males pair up and fight. The winning pair is considered the strongest. Both the male and the female can choose a mate. Birds mate several times with different partners, for this, after the first mating, the female flies to another clearing, where she continues to look for the next partner. Before mating, the courtship process takes place, when the female rubs against the variegated "mane" of her chosen one. Sometimes there is such a situation that the male purposefully pursues the female, waits for her to stop for feeding or for rest, and forces her to mate.

There are always favorites and outsiders on the current. Most males fly to the same place every season, which allows competitors to evaluate each other and know in what form and what other birds are capable of.

Males do not take part in the process of incubation, building a nest, raising offspring. The female herself chooses a place not far from the current site, no more than half a kilometer, builds a nest for herself and makes a clutch. The clutch usually contains 4 to 5 eggs, which are hidden among reeds or dry grass. Incubation lasts up to three weeks, then the chicks hatch. In the first month, the chicks are weak, do not have good plumage. The mother helps them find food, cares, protects and warms them. About 4 weeks pass and the feathers that have matured are already suitable for flying, young birds begin to leave the nest in search of food, to explore the world around them.

Dangers and enemies

Life expectancy of Turukhtan is about 5 - 6 years. There are individuals that live longer, for example, the age of the longest-liver was 14 years. The lifespan is strongly influenced by a large number of natural enemies, hunters and lifestyle. Constant flights, a change of scenery, resettlement in new places, unknown dangers, all this is subject to a self-willed bird, which after migration can be anywhere.

In habitats, the most dangerous enemies remain predator birds: common raven, gray raven, gulls, skua. Terrestrial lovers of poultry meat - fox, arctic fox, wild cats, ermines. The hunting of these predators is especially successful at the moments of mating flirting, on the scattered current sites, which constitute a large extent. Birds get carried away, forget about everything and lose their vigilance. Sneaking up and grabbing them is not difficult.

Population and status of the species

Turukhtan is very common, schools number dozens of individuals, they live not far from each other. Sometimes the flocks are very large, even up to a hundred individuals. According to researchers, almost 5 million individuals of this species now live in the world. The mating takes place over large areas, then the bird occupies many clearings and clear space, flies from place to place. The belligerent nature sometimes leads to such an effect that several pairs of males start a fight, and more and more new individuals join them. And now a real massacre is already underway, to which the female half is not averse to joining. Everything is noisy and spectacular, but this is just a show. No one was injured or injured. At the end, the birds quietly disperse or sit side by side, putting their feathers in order.

There are farms that specially breed this bird. But such an occupation is not very profitable, since it requires a lot of attention, finance and labor. It will not work to close a bird in a cage. Her character and life arrangement are not suitable for bondage. Constant migrations, flights among lekhora, a changeable choice of place to live according to seasons, an irregular partner, make this representative an unsuitable object for breeding. Keeping in nurseries leads to a disease such as torticollis, which is associated with a deterioration in the condition of the skeleton and muscle tissue, and is the cause of death.

Taste and dishes from turukhtan

Turukhtan is quite large, therefore it is of considerable interest to hunters. Its meat is not very fatty, so for cooking it is better to leave the skin on the carcass in order to preserve its softness and juiciness. During cooking, it is better to constantly water it with your own juice or add a small piece of bacon, then the dish will not burn, dry out, and will have a wonderful aroma.

Having shot a turukhtan while hunting, it can be easily cooked in wild conditions... The carcass can be plucked or coated with clay, then after cooking all the feathers will easily come off. The disadvantage of this method is the inability to process the meat in advance with spices and salt. You can also bake in a hastily assembled stone oven, in a dug hole or on a wooden spit over a fire. In the home kitchen, it lends itself well to frying, stewing, baking, on its basis delicious broths are obtained. Like the meat of any forest bird, turukhtan goes well with forest products - mushrooms, berries, herbs, nuts.

Here's one awesome way to cook a bird by the fire while out in the wild. You first need to pluck the carcass. Leave the skin so that the meat does not dry out. Before processing with spices, you need to wrap it up and then pull it on top. Find a place near the stone, and look for even more flat stones. Dig a small depression at the base, line it with stones, light a fire there. While the branches are burning out, look for berries in the area, they should be, since the birds eat them. Crush the puree from the berries. First grease the carcass with salt, then the resulting berry puree. Cover it with a hide. Remove the burnt-out hall from the improvised oven, and in its place with a net, lay the branches, not too thin. Put the carcass on them and cover the stove with branches or cuts of tree bark to keep warm and not get debris. The dish will cook within an hour, as the poultry meat is very soft and tender. The aroma and taste will be simply indescribable!

Turukhtan (lat. Philomachus pugnax) - migrant from the snipe family, slightly larger than a pigeon. In summer, it nests on grass meadows and bogs in the northern part of Europe and Asia, preferring places rich in animal food: aquatic and terrestrial insects, as well as their larvae.

For wintering, it flies far south, settling on the sea coasts and in hot African countries. Here the turukhtans' diet consists of plant foods: seeds of aquatic plants, grasses and sedges. Unfortunately, they harm the local agriculture pecking out planted rice, wheat and millet.

The shape of the slender body of these small waders is somewhat reminiscent of a gravy boat. They have a small head with a rather narrow and downward curving beak, an elongated neck and long, thin legs. Young individuals have brown, dark or greenish-gray paws, while older ones have orange or even red paws.

Even a not very experienced wildlife lover can easily distinguish a male turukhtan from a female. Firstly, males are much larger and look heavier than their partners. Their body length ranges from 28 to 33 cm and weighs about 250 grams. Females weigh no more than 150 grams, and their size usually does not exceed 27 cm. Secondly, during mating, males acquire gorgeous plumage: a beautiful fluffy collar and funny "ears" on the sides of the head.

During this period, it is impossible to find two identical males, so rich is the imagination of mother nature. In addition, their head is adorned with bright red beaks and colored leathery folds around the eyes. It is believed that such a variety is necessary so that not too talkative birds can recognize each other.

Turukhtans begin to mow in the spring, even during the flight. As a rule, birds prefer to stay in the same places as last year. The mating tournaments of turukhtans are an unforgettable sight. They fight heartily, fluffing up their collars and erect feathers. Beak-rapiers and legs beat the opponent, skillfully repulsing his attacks with wings. Noise, din, fuss and feathers fly in all directions.

If there are too many duelists, they can lose sight of each other during the fight. And then it is not at all clear who is fighting against whom. A real "heap-small" is formed, in which females can also participate. It's hard to believe, but such fierce battles end completely bloodless, because the turukhtans do not even touch each other with their formidable weapons. Moreover, after these tournaments, they absolutely calmly go about their business.

Turukhtans do not form permanent pairs. After mating, the female builds a nest herself and lays four yellowish eggs with brown or brown spots in it. Incubation begins in early June and lasts about 23 days. These small birds carefully protect their children.

Seeing a man, the female tries to take him as far away from the nesting site as possible, again and again soaring into the air and landing on the ground. Turukhtan chicks from the first days are already quite independent, but they prefer to stay close to their mother. They grow on the wing at about 25-28 days of life.

Turukhtans also have natural enemies - these are birds of prey, foxes and polar foxes. In addition, they are classified as commercial game. In the Middle Ages, they were caught with the help of snares, which is easy to do on the currents. Later they began to hunt with firearms. Yet they are not threatened with extinction.

From the window of the hotel where I was staying, the Pina River is clearly visible, and beyond it the lonely willow trees. Looking at the river, I remember the familiar swampy ones. I saw something similar in Colchis.

Out on the embankment, I went to boat station from where the old boatman took me to the meadow shore. At the place where Pina merges its waters with Pripyat, a beautiful sandbank has formed.

The city of Pinsk and my acquaintance with an old teacher

On the same boat, I returned to the city of Pinsk. And just when the boatman and I were getting ready to set sail, a vigorous and strong-looking old man with a gray twisted mustache approached us with a slender gait and asked us to transport him across the river.

Please, said the boatman. Sit down.

The old man deftly jumped into the boat and positioned himself opposite me. He wore a simple, neatly tailored jacket and high boots. In his hands he carefully held two small, long-legged birds.

What do you have? - I asked. The old man smiled a little embarrassedly, but his bright eyes flashed in a youthful way:

So, you know, stupidity. Battalions. Male and female.

I knew that the Turukhtans are called “battalions” in the western regions of Belarus, but I decided to ask again.

How? Battalions? I thought it was — turukhtans.

Yes, turukhtans, - the old agreed. - In Pinsk they are called battalions.

Where did you get them from? I asked again.

I caught it in the swamp, - the old answered. - I have a cow grazing on the other side. And there were a lot of battalions. I caught these two with a hair loop.

What will you do with them?

- But nothing. Let them grow. I will cut their wings, they will live in my house.

They are wild birds.

Get used to it. Not the first time. I catch turukhtans and keep them in a hut, one might say, since childhood. I have a whole menagerie at home. And what a funny bird Turukhtan is, you can't even imagine!

The boat moored to the shore. Interested in the old man's words, I asked permission to go to his house. The old man walked so fast that I could barely keep up with him. He lived on Goncharnaya Street in a clean and bright hut with a garden and a vegetable garden. The hostess of the house came out to meet us - a stout, stout woman. Seeing the turukhtans in her husband's hands, she disappeared into the hut and a minute later reappeared on the porch with large scissors. With a habitual movement, she carefully cut the tips of the wings of the birds, and the old man let the turukhtans on the floor in the hut.

The male roused himself, smoothed his feathers and suddenly rushed in pursuit of a fly. Having swallowed the prey, he walked importantly and confidently across the floor, looking in a businesslike way in all corners. Turukhtan looked as if nothing had happened to him and as if he had lived in this hut a long time ago. The female behaved more modestly, showing no signs of anxiety or concern.

The owner laughed. Turukhtan is a real really funny sandpiper, he said.

He gets used to people very quickly and does not get bored in captivity. Today he catches flies in the hut, and in a few days he will take bread from my hands.

We got to talking. Pyotr Mikhailovich, that was the name of my new acquaintance, for many years in high school taught geography and biology. Now he is a pensioner. His children have long grown up and have departed in all directions. And he lives out a century in his house, having a small farm - a garden, a vegetable garden and a cow. Several fruit-bearing grape bushes grow in the garden.

The old teacher has been interested in turukhtans for a long time.

On the other side of the river, - Pyotr Mikhailovich told me, - Turukhtans arrive from the south at the very beginning of May. They appear in large flocks, and the males immediately begin fighting-duels, like with black grouse. And what funny poses they take at the same time!

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In turukhtans, the color of the paws and beak depends on the sex and age of the bird. The color palette is striking in its variety - from black-brown and gray to green, orange, pink and even yellow.
Habitat. Breeds in northern Europe and Asia, winters in Africa and southern Asia.

Habitat.
The nesting area of ​​turukhtans is very wide and varied. Birds living in the northern tundra and forest-tundra, as a rule, occupy humid lowland areas, most willingly choosing vast swamps with windows of clear water, shallow bodies of water and lakes with flat, grassy islands. Horsetails, sedges, cinquefoil and other northern grasses typical of this area form dense thickets, providing females with safe havens for incubating eggs and feeding chicks. In the midst of tall grasses, turukhtans trample paths, along which they make rounds every day in search of food. In Western Europe, turukhtans nest in heather wastelands or willow bogs. As there are fewer and fewer of these nooks and crannies, birds settle in damp pastures or polders. In wintering places, they most often occupy vast swamps in the floodplains of rivers and lakes, rice fields, and sometimes dry meadows.

View: Turukhtan - Philomachus pugnax.
Family: Snipe.
Order: Plovers.
Class: Birds.
Subtype: Vertebrates.

Did you know?

• Regardless of the thermal air currents over land, turukhtans during seasonal flights cross the sea away from the bypass migration routes running along the coast. Many of them cover about 30 thousand km per year.
• Birds nesting in Asia most often winter in Africa. Only a small part of the population remains for the winter in South Asia.
• Having no swimming membrane between the toes, the turukhtans, nevertheless, know how to dive under water for food.
• Turukhtans carefully take care of their plumage and spend a lot of time cleaning their feathers every day. For long-haul birds, this is very important.

Lifestyle.
Thousands of flocks of turukhtans annually make long-distance flights to wintering grounds, vigorously flapping rather long pointed wings. Some of the turukhtans nesting in northern Europe winters in the Mediterranean basin. The diet of these birds is very diverse. In nesting places, they feed on all kinds of invertebrates: beetles, flies, mayflies, grasshoppers, earwigs, ants, bees and their larvae. In addition to insects, the turukhtans' menu includes small freshwater crustaceans, molluscs, spiders, earthworms, frog caviar and small fish. In search of living creatures, the bird plunges its head into the water and examines the bottom silt with its beak. At the end of summer, turukhtans are willingly supported by seeds of plants, and in wintering places they feast on grains of rice and millet. Birds overwintering on the muddy banks of rivers and lakes in South Africa eat about the same as in nesting places.

Reproduction.
From year to year, males flock to the same cattle, having by that time acquired a luxurious groom's dress - long "ears", multi-colored leathery warts around the eyes and a magnificent collar, by the color of which one can judge the position of its owner in the flock. In the so-called arenas, you can see two types of males: "satellites" with white collars and "independent", proudly sporting black or variegated collars. All "independent" males have the right to march and conduct tournament battles for females, but only some of them own their own residences on the marsh and fiercely defend their areas from rivals. At the height of the mating season, males feed only at night, devoting all daylight hours to valiant games on the lists. At dawn, females gather to the arena, and the current gentlemen start a selfless dance: they jump, mince in small steps, spin in place, open and fold their collars. At times, opponents run into each other, pounding the enemy with their paws and wings, but such fights do without noticeable damage. Having chosen the betrothed, the female approaches him and, as a sign of permission, lies down on the ground. The cavalier, without hesitation, climbs onto her back and, grabbing the feathers on her friend's head with his beak, proceeds to mating. Having picked up a place for a nest, the partner lays 2-4 pale green or olive eggs with brown specks in 3 days and constantly incubates the clutch. After 20-23 days, all chicks hatch from the eggs at the same time. Within a day, they can catch insects themselves, and at first the family keeps near the nest, often returning to it to rest. After 10 days, young turukhtans finally leave their home. The mother feeds them for another 15 days, after which she leaves them to their own care. After 25-28 days, the chicks are on the wing, and after molting they are ready for a seasonal flight to the south.

Security.
In Western Europe, the number of turukhtans is becoming less and less every year, since the drainage of wet meadows and swamps has led to a reduction in areas suitable for nesting. In many countries, turukhtan is an object of hunting, and in Africa, many hunters-sportsmen shoot them. At the same time, in countries such as Ireland, Great Britain, Germany, Luxembourg, Holland and Denmark, turukhtans are protected by law.

Turukhtan - Philomachus pugnax
Length: 25-30 cm.
Weight: 120-200 g.
Wingspan: 45-60 cm.
Number of eggs in a clutch: 2-4.
Incubation period: 20-23 days.
Food: insects, molluscs, crustaceans, small fish.
Life span: 10 years.

Structure.
"Ears". On the sides of the head, the males grow tufts of elongated feathers, similar to the boucle of a wig. They are an element of the wedding dress.
Beak. A relatively short and thin beak is slightly bent downward.
Plumage. The plumage is dark, but each feather is surrounded by a thin light border, which makes it look like scales alongside the turukhtan.
Collar. A fluffy collar is an element of the breeding outfit and grows only in males. Inflating collars, males start tournament fights and flaunt in front of females.
Legs. The long legs of the turukhtan are well adapted to walking on soft and wet ground. When walking, the bird rests on three front fingers, stepping as if on tiptoe.

Related species.
Turukhtan belongs to the numerous snipe family, uniting 85 different types... Often similar; in size, the species differ from each other only in the length of the beak. Almost all turukhtans nest in the temperate and circumpolar zone of the Northern Hemisphere.