About the smallest bird in Russia

Scientists put forward several versions about the very first bird on Earth. I'll stop at one. The very first bird on earth lived simultaneously with dinosaurs 110 million years ago. It looked modern and looked like a duck. Chinese scientists excavated the find 2000 km from Beijing. The first bird was the size of a modern pigeon, and its lifestyle resembled a loon or a grebe duck. Between the toes the bird had membranes similar to those of a duck. Scientists claim that the first bird was swimming.

The smallest bird in the world is the hummingbird. She lives in Cuba, Pinos Island. Weighs 1.6 g, its length is 5.7 cm.

But the smallest bird in our country, Russia, is the yellow-headed kinglet. Body weight 5-8 g, body length 8-12 cm. The bird lives in coniferous forests.

A distinctive feature of this bird is a bright golden-yellow stripe on the crown - the “crown”, thanks to which the bird acquired its name. The bird feeds on small insects and seeds, and in winter on eggs and insect larvae. Kinglets hatch chicks in May and July. Their nests resemble a ball, which birds make from moss, wool and the web of caterpillars.

Why is the king called the king?

There is such a legend. One day a competition was held among the birds: whoever flies the highest into the sky becomes the King Bird! And the eagle took off, and it rose higher than everyone else, above the clouds, straight to the Sun. And none of the birds dared to compete with the Bird King. But together with the eagle, hiding under its wing, the smallest bird flew into the sky. When the eagle reached its height, it turned around under the Sun and began to descend. A small bird flew out from under his wing and for an instant found itself taller than everyone else. The trick, of course, was noticed, but everyone was delighted by the bird’s courage and resourcefulness. They affectionately named the bird King.

Birds have feather, skin and nest parasites. To combat them, birds use different plants: wormwood, mint and even tomato tops. All these herbs have a strong smell. It is the strong smell that helps birds get rid of pests that interfere with hatching their chicks.

And once at the dacha I saw birds bathing in the ashes of a fire. My grandfather told me that this is how birds also get rid of parasites.