Birds and animals... It is they who appear before our inner gaze when we hear the words “nature”, “animals”. They are not beautiful butterflies, fabulously beautiful corals or sparkling tropical fish. We keep them as pets, friends and favorites of the whole family. There is no person who does not love animals and birds (although there are, of course, among them those whom one would not like to meet face to face in a wild forest). We endow them with human properties, we transfer their features and even names (“swallow”, “cat”, “bunny”, “swan”) to ourselves. Maybe because they have the same red hot blood as we ourselves? And this makes them clearer and dearer to us?

The history of civilization is in many ways the history of the coexistence of people and animals. Knowledge about animals was one of the first acquired by man on his way to understanding the world: life depended on them, they provided food and clothing. Animals, especially birds and beasts, have occupied a strong place in the spiritual life of people from the very beginning. Art originated from the image of animals: primitive people painted them on rocks, carved them out of stone, wood, and bone. The most ancient music was ritual songs that were sung before the hunt to ensure it was successful, and after it to appease the spirit of the killed animal. The most ancient theatrical performances were rituals that reproduced scenes of hunting, which means that animals were heroes here too; the dance conveyed their characteristic poses and habits.

Animals and birds, warm-blooded like humans, were revered by people in ancient times as their ancestors - totems. The eagle and swan, crane and eagle owl, wolf and wolverine, deer and bison, as well as representatives of many other types of fauna were totems among different peoples. It was forbidden to kill them unless it was a matter of sacrifice: people believed that fellow tribesmen after death take the form of these creatures. Animals frightened and delighted, evoked respect and a desire to imitate. They are fast and tireless in running, see in the dark, smell at great distances; Birds have an amazing ability to fly. People wanted to become like them. Children, wanting to endow them with valuable qualities, were given names in honor of animals: Swift-footed Deer, Vigilant Falcon, Wise Owl.

The desire to get closer to animals, to borrow a part of their adaptability to natural conditions, gave rise in mythology to images of man-birds (griffins), man-beasts (centaurs). Many ancient Egyptian gods had bird or animal heads. Appearing in antiquity, the “animal” ornament passed from era to era: animals were depicted on weapons, utensils, furniture, buildings, coats of arms and flags. Favorite objects were the tiger in the East, the lion in Africa and the Middle East, the jaguar in South America, the bear among Eurasian peoples and the eagle everywhere.

The arrival of birds in the spring served as a signal of the end of the difficult winter time. In Egypt, it marked the flooding of the Nile, giving fertility to the fields. In the designs of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, in addition to the well-known scarab, you can see a swallow, an owl, a lapwing, an ibis, a falcon, and a quail. Drawings and figurines of birds were found in the tombs of the pharaohs.

Man has taught many animals and birds to live next to him - first as sacred, and then as practically useful. In addition to meat and skins, they provided milk, wool, eggs; with their help, people plowed the land, transported cargo, guarded homes and supplies, hunted, delivered mail, participated in battles, searched for lost travelers... Some species became truly domestic, others actually remained wild, but their proximity to human habitation gave advantages to both to the parties. For example, back in Ancient Egypt, peasants built houses with cone-shaped roofs, in which they made many holes for pigeons. Pigeons flew out to feed in the fields, clearing them of weeds. People ate the chicks as food, and the droppings were used for fertilizer. This use of these birds turned out to be so profitable that it has survived to this day, moreover, it has penetrated into Spain and Italy. At the Hyundai automobile factories in South Korea, between the workshops there are enclosures with deer, pigeons, rabbits, peacocks, foxes and ponds with swimming swans. Campaign management in this way increases labor productivity.

A person who has declared himself the “crown of nature” still remains a part of the animal world, a representative of the class of mammals. The structure of the skeleton, the most important organ systems, the physiological characteristics and nature of the development of the embryo, even many features of innate behavior prove our kinship. Both animals and people feed their offspring with milk; Both they and we have hot red blood flowing in our veins. "We're the same blood!" - Mowgli said to the inhabitants of the jungle. We shouldn’t forget about this either.

The order Anseriformes is divided into 2 families: Palamedae (Anhimidae) and Anatidae (Anatidae). The first includes 3 species, the second 147 species.

Palamedea are large, heavy-bodied birds that differ from birds of another family in a number of anatomical features. They inhabit the coasts of shallow water bodies in South America. There are 2 genera in the family: Chauna with 2 species and Anhima with 1 species.

There are 3 subfamilies in the duck family: semi-footed geese (Anseranatinae) with 1 species from New Guinea and Australia; Anserinae with 30 widely distributed species of swans, geese, geese and wood ducks; Anatinae with 116 species of shelducks, dabbling ducks, steamer ducks, mergansers, diving ducks, musk ducks and ducks, characteristic of almost the entire globe.

On the territory of the former USSR, 59 species of Anseriformes are found, of which 17 belong to the subfamily Anseriformes and 42 to the subfamily Anatidae.

Antidae have been known from fossil remains since the beginning of the Paleogene period. In Europe and Asia in the Middle Oligocene, the genera Anas and Aythya, as well as large forms related to swans, were already discovered. In total, about 100 representatives of fossil anidae are known from the Old and New Worlds, as well as from Australia and New Zealand

The whooper swan (Cygnus Cygnus) is one of the largest birds of our fauna; its weight reaches 7 - 10 kg, occasionally 13 kg.

Like other types of swans, the whooper in general appearance is a beautiful, proud and majestic bird. Its body is elongated, its neck is very long, equal in length to the body. Head of medium size; beak, almost equal in length to the head, straight, evenly wide, rounded in front. The legs are short, dense, and carried far back. The plumage is very lush, thick, with a lot of fluff.

When swimming, the whooper deeply immerses the front part of the body in the water and slightly raises the back part. The neck is set vertically, the head is directed forward, and the beak is held horizontally. The wings are pressed tightly to the body, and the back in profile has a rounded outline. Like other swans, the movements of a swimming bird are leisurely. But, being pursued, it swims very quickly, and it is possible to catch up with it in a boat only with great difficulty. It takes off from the water with difficulty, runs for a long time, splashing the water with its paws, and only gradually gains speed and height. It flies with its neck stretched out, with rare but strong flapping of its wings, producing a characteristic sound. It walks reluctantly on land and rarely goes onto land. The voice is loud, trumpet-like, and can be heard over a very long distance.

The whooper is very cautious, almost always staying in wide areas of water away from the shores. At the same time, it is a strong and brave bird, selflessly protecting its chicks; the blow of its wing can break the arm of a child or teenager. The plumage color of the male and female is snow-white, the bridle and beak are yellow or yellow-orange, the legs are black. Young birds in their first plumage are smoky gray above, with a darker head. Legs are grayish-red. After the second autumn molt, the slightly smoky color of the head plumage is retained and is replaced by pure white only after the third autumn molt - in the third year of life.

Whooper breeds in the northern half of Eurasia from Iceland, Scotland and Scandinavia in the west to Kamchatka and Sakhalin in the east. To the north it penetrates to the northern borders of the forest and only in places to the north; to the south - to Scotland, Lake Ladoga, the Northern Caspian Sea, the Balkhash-Alakol Basin, northern Japan. Being ubiquitous in favorable places in the forest zone, further south it is found sporadically and nests only in isolated areas.

In the past, there were much more whooper swan. Its numbers have declined especially sharply over recent decades in the southern part of its range. Apparently, it has stopped nesting, in particular, in the Ussuri region. The reason for this phenomenon lies, on the one hand, in the destruction of favorable habitats under the influence of human economic activity, and on the other hand, in the intensive hunting of swans.

The favorite nesting places of the whooper are, if possible, large lakes, heavily overgrown with reeds and other aquatic and coastal vegetation near the shores. Sometimes it settles on sea coasts, if there are reed thickets alternating with open reaches, on overgrown dense forest lakes and oxbow lakes, on lakes among the shrubby tundra. Where the birds are not disturbed, they also nest on small ponds overgrown with banks, often near human habitation.

The whooper swan is a migratory bird, only in some places it remains to spend the winter in the nesting area. Partially winters on ice-free straits and polynyas off the coast of Scandinavia, on the White and Baltic Seas, and on ice-free reservoirs in a number of other regions of the temperate zone of Eurasia. The main wintering grounds are located in the northern part of the Mediterranean Sea, in Western Asia, in the Caspian Sea, in Central, South and Southeast Asia.

In early spring, when there is still snow, the reservoirs are covered with ice and the first puddles and edges of water appear near the shores, the arrival of whoopers begins. This is observed around mid-March in the southern regions, at the end of March - early May in the middle regions, and in the second half of May in the northern regions of the nesting area. The migration takes a long time and ends when spring is already in full swing. Birds fly to nesting sites in pairs, which are formed in wintering grounds for those starting breeding for the first time, and for older birds they remain for many years of life. Whoopers become sexually mature in the fourth year of life.

Soon after arrival, each pair occupies a certain fairly large area on which it builds a nest. The nesting pair does not tolerate the presence of other swans in their area, and on this basis there are sometimes fierce fights between the pairs. The birds collide with their chests, rise above the water and beat each other with their wings, accompanying their actions with loud screams.

1 - 2 weeks after arriving home, the female makes a rather bulky nest in the form of a large pile of vegetation with a tray on top. It is usually located among reeds, reeds, cattails, often in a dry place, sometimes in shallow water. In the latter case, the nest rests on the bottom or is semi-floating. The building materials are reeds, cattails, reeds, sedges, and sometimes tree twigs and branches. The tray is lined with softer and more delicate material - dry stems of herbaceous plants, moss, feathers and down, which the female plucks from her chest and belly during the egg-laying period. Nest dimensions: base diameter is usually 1 - 1.5 m, sometimes up to 2.5 and even 3 m, height up to 0.6 - 0.8 m; the tray is quite flat, no more than 20 cm deep with a diameter of 40 - 50 cm.

After completing the construction of the nest, the female begins laying eggs, which occurs in May-June in different parts of the range. A full clutch contains from 3 to 7 eggs, more often 4 to 6 eggs, painted shiny white or slightly yellow. Egg weight is 33 - 36 g. When the first clutch dies, the female makes a second, but always with fewer eggs.

One female incubates, but the male is always nearby and jealously guards the nesting site. In case of danger, the male gives a voice, and the female, covering the eggs with down and plant material, flies away after him. Returning to the nest, the female first turns the eggs over and then sits on them. Incubation lasts 35 - 40 days.

Pecking of chicks in the southern regions of the nesting area is observed around mid-May - June, in the northern regions at the end of June - in the first half of July. The newly dried chicks can already obtain food on their own. In case of danger, adults take the young ones into dense thickets, but they themselves fly away and do not return back soon. The brood stays together even after the young begin to fly, and often head south in full force.

The whooper swan has two moults: summer - complete and autumn - winter - partial. Summer molting begins with a change of flight feathers, which fall out immediately, and the bird loses the ability to fly. Following this, the molting of small feathers begins. New flight feathers grow within about a month, and only after this the birds’ ability to fly is restored. The molting of old birds occurs during the brood and, depending on the geographical area, falls in July - August.

About two weeks later, the typical autumn molt begins, covering small feathers and tail feathers. It lasts a long time and ends, apparently, by December.

Autumn departure from wintering begins with the onset of autumn colds and frosts and occurs in late September - early October in the north, in October-November in the more southern regions of the range. Adults feed on both plant and animal foods: they eat rhizomes and green parts of plants and various small aquatic invertebrates. Animal feed predominates in the diet of the young. They obtain food from the bottom by tipping into the water, like river ducks, and plunging their necks deep. They cannot feed in deep places.

In the past, predatory methods of hunting swan were practiced, in particular, driving moulting birds into nets, and catching them with nets in wintering grounds. This type of hunting has contributed significantly to the catastrophic decline in the swan population over the last century. Currently, such methods of hunting are prohibited in our country. However, predatory fishing with nets still flourishes in the country, sometimes covering up to 80 birds at once.

The mute swan is slightly larger than the whooper swan, its weight ranges from 8 to 13 kilograms. Unlike the whooper, when swimming it often bends its neck in the shape of the letter S, and holds its beak and head inclined towards the water. The neck of the mute is thicker, and therefore from a distance it appears shorter than that of the whooper. In addition, the contour of its back is angular, and not rounded, like that of a whooper. In flight, the mute mute does not make loud trumpeting sounds, and when flapping its wings, the characteristic creak of large wing flaps can be heard from afar. When irritated, it makes a characteristic hissing sound, from which it got its name. Up close, we can easily distinguish it by the large growth (bump) on the forehead.

The mute swan is widespread in isolated areas in central and southern Europe and Asia from Southern Sweden, Denmark and Poland in the west to the Mongolia, Primorsky Krai and China in the east. Throughout this territory, the mute mute is extremely rare; pairs often nest at great distances, and in many areas they are completely absent. In the USSR, it can be found somewhat more often only in the Ural basin and on some lakes in Kazakhstan.

Inhabits estuaries, lakes, and sometimes even swamps overgrown with aquatic vegetation, preferring remote bodies of water that are rarely visited by humans.

In terms of lifestyle and biology, it has many similarities with whoopers.

In the past, the mute swan was more widespread and its numbers were much higher. Currently, it does not have any hunting significance. The mute mute has a friendly character and lives easily in captivity and semi-captivity. In many areas of Europe it is kept in a semi-domestic state. This largest and most beautiful species of swans deserves worldwide protection, and, above all, a universal ban on hunting. The most appropriate way is to catch it alive and breed it for decorative purposes in the ponds of city parks, sanatoriums and holiday homes. It is also necessary to expand its breeding at home.

In general appearance and plumage, the small or tundra swan (C. Bewickii) is similar to the whooper swan, but differs in a slightly more sonorous voice and noticeably smaller size; its weight is approximately 5 - 6 kilograms.

The habitat of the small swan lies entirely within the former RSFSR, covering the tundra of Eurasia from the Kenya Peninsula to Chau Bay. Breeds sporadically to the eastern regions of the Chukotka Peninsula. To the north it is distributed to the sea coast, but in Taimyr only up to 74 degrees N. Sh. Found on the islands of Kolguev, Vaygach, and the southern island of Novaya Zemlya. To the south it is marked up to the northern border of the tundra.

Over the past 10 years, the area of ​​distribution has decreased slightly in the West and South. As a nesting site, the species disappeared from the Kola Peninsula, from a number of areas of the southern tundra of the European part of the former RSFSR, from the Tazovsky Peninsula and the southern parts of Yamal, from a number of areas of Taimyr.

During the nesting period, it prefers to inhabit swampy tundras, interspersed with numerous lakes, as well as the lower reaches of rivers with oxbow lakes and channels. In areas of high abundance, pairs locate nests at a distance of 500 - 700 meters, but more often several kilometers from one another. Molting sites are confined to nesting sites.

An increase in the number of birds is observed in the European tundras, while in the north of Western Siberia in the 70s. gg. their number has decreased significantly. In Taimyr, the number of swans has been declining since the 60s. years, and not only in deserted places.

The total number of small swan in the territory of the former RSFSR is approximately 18 - 23.5 thousand, including 3.2 - 3.7 thousand breeding pairs.

In the spring, it flies to the tundra early, in May - early July, when the snow begins to melt and gullies appear on the rivers. Like other swans, it appears in pairs at nesting sites. Mating games are unique and take place on land. At the same time, the male walks in front of the female, stretches his neck, sometimes raises his wings, making a special flapping sound with them, and screams loudly. After some time, the couple flies to another place, and the male performs this whole ritual again.

Immediately after arrival, the female begins to build a nest, choosing a small dry hill for this. A clutch of 1 - 5, usually 2 - 3 eggs, initially white, but soon covered with yellow-brown spots. Incubation lasts 29 - 30 days. In July, chicks appear, after which the swans move to the water and, together with their brood, stay in the lakes. At the age of 40 - 45 days, the young become flightable, which serves as an indicator of the greater precocity of the tundra swan than other species of swans. In early September, only flight broods are found throughout the Arctic.

Moss feathers change more quickly than in other swans during molting. As soon as the mossy swans grow back, the adult swans leave the nesting sites together with the young ones and begin their migration journey to the southern wintering grounds. The small swan spends a total of 120 -130 days in the tundra.

The little swan feeds mainly on plant foods, obtaining it not only in water, but also on land. The grass near the nest is usually completely plucked out. He eats small fish more readily than other swans.

The described species is listed as rare in the Red Books of the former USSR and RSFSR. The main reasons for the change in numbers are poaching, economic development of the tundra and increased disturbance.

The American swan (C. Columbianus) is very similar to the small swan, only larger in size and has a thin neck. Previously, it was widespread throughout the tundra and partly forest-tundra of North America from Alaska to Baffin Island, but is now extremely rare and sporadic, found in the most remote and inaccessible places. Winters along the Pacific coast of North America to California and the Atlantic coast to Florida.

In the USSR it flies to Anadyr, the Commander Islands and, according to unverified data, to Chukotka.

The plumage color of the black swan (C. Atratus) is black, only the large moss feathers are white. It is slightly smaller in size than the whooper swan. It has a very short tail, a thin long neck and a small head; beak without growth. The inner secondary moss and shoulder feathers are beautifully and luxuriantly curled. In terms of leashes, it has many similarities with the mute dog, but is louder than the latter.

The swimming swan is graceful, but its peculiar beauty is especially evident when it flies high in the air and its bright white flight feathers stand out clearly against its black plumage.

The black swan is widespread in Australia, where it was previously very numerous, but is now exterminated in many places. Lives in vast swamps and lakes overgrown with vegetation. A nest in the form of a large pile of marsh plants, located on small islands or on the water. The clutch consists of 5 - 7 dirty white eggs, somewhat smaller than those of the mute. One female incubates. The black swan is easily tamed and has become a common ornamental bird in European parks and gardens.

The black-necked swan (C. Melanocoryphus) received this name for the black coloration of the head and neck with the white color of the rest of the plumage and a red growth on the beak. It is approximately equal in size to a tundra swan. The way it bends its neck and floats on the water is most similar to a mute whale. Distributed in the southern parts of South America.

I wanted to start “All About Swans” with a vision through the eyes of a child. From childhood, the fairy tale by H. H. Andersen “The Ugly Duckling” instills in the soul of the little reader the hope that he, too, will one day turn from an ugly duckling into a beautiful swan: “It would be sad to describe all the misadventures of the duckling during this harsh winter. When the sun began to warm the earth again with its warm rays, he lay down in the swamp, among the reeds. The larks began to sing. Spring has come.

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