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Silly - quite an interesting sea bird, which belongs to the category of petrel. These individuals received their rare and very unusual name for overly expressed trust in humans. These birds are completely unafraid when a person comes close to them. In the open water space, you can see how stupid follow the ships.
Characteristics of the species
Males reach lengths from 45 to 48 centimeters along the body, while they have a rather dense body. The wingspan of an imposing fool is about 110 centimeters. Despite such dimensions, the body weight of birds averages no more than 850 grams. If we compare males and females, then they practically do not differ in size.
The beak of fools has an average size and stands out only with a tip that resembles a hook. The wings are rather long and wide, have a pointed shape. The tail of the silly middle, at the end slightly rounded.Despite their low weight, these birds have strong paws, which are combined with sharp claws. The feathers on the body are very thick, the feather is quite rigid. The soft area is observed only in the abdomen.
Stupid today meet with two species of plumage. They may be dark or light. You can understand what the color will be at an early age, when the chicks are still covered with down.
As a rule, in chicks the first down has a certain color. White plumage can be noted on the head, as well as on the neck and in the abdominal zone. Right in the middle of the tummy is a grayish spot. The area of the back and wings is also gray. If the chick has a downy smoky gray, it means that he will have a dark color as an adult.
In the second version, the fluff on the head becomes darker, and eventually changes to a grayish tint, like on the back and other parts of the body. Juveniles have the same color as adult members of the species.
Individuals of adult age and a light shade have white feathers on the head and abdomen, grayishness is extremely rare. The back is represented by gray plumage with a brown tinge.It should be noted that the upper feathers have a dark gray color, while the lower feathers are slightly lighter. Around the eyes you can also see spots in the form of rings of a dark color. Behind the eyes are gray spots. Some individuals have a pure white color, which has only a grayish tint. There are also birds that are completely covered with mother-of-pearl-gray feathers.
Dark representatives of fools have a predominantly smoky gray color, only at the edges they have white feathers. The wings are covered mostly with dark feathers. The legs have a yellow tint, or sometimes there are paws of a pale green color. The iris is presented in brown color.
Beak changes its color depending on the time of year. In the warm season, in spring and summer, the beak becomes light green. Closer to the fall, it changes its color to a darker one. It is interesting to note that the more gray the plumage of a bird, the smaller the size of its beak.
What fools feed on?
The menu of the fool is made up of fish, mollusks, caviar, crayfish, and other invertebrates. The favorite food for these birds is Antarctic krill.If there is no opportunity to get such food, fools can use the insides of mollusks, carrion, as well as fish filth. During the breeding season, fools can even eat some plants.
For the prey, the fools go out to the sea, though they do it not on the fly, but going down to the surface of the sea. To catch a fish or something edible, birds literally dive under water, immersing their heads to the eyes. As soon as the fool gets prey, he instantly grabs her with his beak, after which he immediately swallows completely.
It should be noted that fools hunt not far from the coast, as much as they fly 200 kilometers. Most often, they are looking for food near the vessel of anglers.
The silly appetite is quite pronounced, at one time they are able to swallow up to half a pound of meat. Due to the fact that the process of digesting food from these birds is accelerated, after a couple of hours they can go hunting again.
Where do fools meet?
The territory of distribution of this species of birds are the northern parts of the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans.In addition, they can be found on the Aleutian Islands, in the Bering Strait area, as well as on the Commander and Kuril Islands. You can see birds during the breeding season on the shores of Greenland and North America.
At the time when birds migrate, they can also be found on the territory of the Japanese islands, in California and Spain. Sometimes nesting fools are located in the United States, Scandinavia, Russia, Germany, Canada and France.
Kind of silly
Today, there are two types of silly, which differ mainly in the territory where they are located. Foolish ordinary species can be found in the northern part of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Antarctic fools are distributed mainly off the coast of Antarctica.
How to multiply?
In nature, fools are found in entire colonies, which may include several hundred thousand birds. They prefer to settle on rocky shores. Here they look for places for nests in crevices, various holes in the rock. Having found such a hole, they equip it with dried grass.
In the first days of May, the female lays one egg in the nest, traditionally it has a white color and is sometimes covered with gray spots. Chick hatch in about 50-55 days. All this time, both the female and the male incubate the egg, doing this in turn.
Video: silly (Fulmarius glacialis)
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