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Bird hatchet belongs to the family of all-greens. It has a very unusual appearance. Representatives of this species live mainly in the Arctic Ocean. Sometimes this bird is called ipatka. They live on rocks and small islands located near Kamchatka and Sakhalin.
Description
These birds are medium in size. The body has a length of about 38 cm. They weigh 580-800 g. The plumage has a dark color. Only behind the eyes of the bird, the plumage is yellow, and the cheeks are painted in contrasting white. The base of the head is also white. There are membranes on the legs. The color of the legs is red. The young individuals have gray paws. A distinctive feature of the birds of this species is the original orange beak. He is big and powerful, narrow. It is thanks to him, the view got its name. The chicks have a white belly, and their back is grayish. They fly perfectly, but at the same time it is quite difficult for the bird to fly from the water. To do this, they accelerate for a long time. Hatchets can take off high.In addition, they are great diving and swimming. When running rely on your fingers.
Nutrition
Since the bird is relatively large, it needs an appropriate amount of food. The main diet is fish and various invertebrates. They get food they are very unusual. They dive and chase their victims underwater. Their wings are arranged so that they allow the bird to swim well. It feels even better in water than in flight. In the air, the bird must make much more effort to stay on top.
In turn, the hatchet often falls prey to other, larger predators. These are crows, white-headed eagles, and also some sovoobraznye.
Habitat
Representatives of the species inhabit the coasts of Asia and America. Their nesting sites are located in the northern Pacific. They nest to the very southern California. They can be easily seen while hunting, when birds hover above the surface of the water. Most of these birds live in the Sea of Okhotsk region. Only here there are about a few million. In addition, huge colonies of these birds live on the Yamsky and Kuril Islands.They nest in colonies, choosing for this ocean coast.
Kinds
The closest view is the Atlantic dead end. But these birds are smaller and lead a slightly different way of life. Representatives of these related species live in different localities. Near to see them in nature is impossible.
Sex differences
Hatchets belonging to both the male and the female, outwardly look exactly the same. This applies to both size and color of birds.
Breeding
Puberty occurs relatively late. Adults become only about 3-4 years old. The mating season begins in the middle of spring. At this time, the males begin to pay attention to the females. They begin to walk around them and swing their wings so that they can see their beauty. A pair of hatchets, once formed, usually does not disintegrate throughout the life of the birds.
They usually prefer to nest on the rocks. In this case, it builds only a male. The way of arranging the nest in this species is also unusual. They do not twist it from natural materials, like many other birds, but dig a hole in peat with the help of its large beak, and dig out the ground from the nest with paws.Since so many individuals usually nest in the same area, they do not build a new nest every year, but return to the old one.
Interesting Facts
- These birds are able to catch several small fishes in their large beak at the same time. One case was observed when the male carried 29 fishes to the nest for his offspring.
- In nature, there are very large colonies of these birds.Scientists have counted on the island of about 12 square kilometers about 100 thousand pairs. The island is located in the Bering Sea.
- People catch these birds. They eat their eggs and meat.
Video: hatchet (Fratercula cirrhata)
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