Belobrovik

Length 22 cm, weight rarely exceeds 60 g. The color is brownish-green (olive-brown) on the back and light with dark (olive-brown) spots on the bottom. The sides of the chest and the lower covering feathers of the wing are rusty-red. A whitish yellow eyebrow is above the eyes; hence the Russian name for this bird . The female looks paler than the male .

It lives in Northern Europe and Asia ; nests in the north of Europe and Asia and in the Himalayas , migrates to more southern regions in winter, to Africa .

Back in the 19th century, Belobrovik was extremely rare in Russia ; its reproduction was unexpected and stormy. A remarkable case is the sudden appearance in the park of the Forest Institute near St. Petersburg of a large number of these birds in 1901. They settled in this place immediately and never left the park. Later, when the park became not so quiet and deserted, the brow-bers began to settle here annually and take out the chicks.

Nowadays, this bird can be found in other places, in various cities of Russia and the former USSR.

Belobrovik is a bird not afraid of the cold. This species of blackbirds arrives early and late departs from the nesting site. In total, Belobrovik stays in these places for about six months. The beginning of the arrival of birds also depends on weather conditions and can vary from one to three weeks. As a rule, mass arrivals to nesting sites begin in April and end in early May.

In urban parks, beaver browns settle more densely, and in natural forests, where there is much more space, dispersed. This bird prefers birch small forests, in which there is a small admixture of spruce shoots. Belobrovik prefers bright places where there are many bushes and there are reservoirs, and avoids dark spruce or pine forests . On the Karelian Isthmus, it settles in rocky places, where only stunted vegetation grows. We can say that nibbler nesting is very diverse, the bird can adapt to any conditions, but nevertheless a dense, overgrown forest, taiga , for them is less preferable for nesting than young and light forests, or parks. In the earth in search of food they move mainly by step, but they can easily go on horse racing (in Russian villages thrushes were called “jump”).

Belobrovik boldly explores new territories, settling on the nesting site first with single individuals, then, forming small groups, and after that, only the "discoverers" should "approve" these places, birds of this species come here in large numbers, forming families for the withdrawal of chicks.

The diet of the browbrowers consists mainly of insects , earthworms , various butterflies and caterpillars . Earthworms, in the period of feeding the chicks, the beavers bring in their beaks not one at a time, but a whole bunch, which sinks into the nest, and then is distributed among the chicks. The method of food extraction in these birds is very similar to the method of song thrush and fieldfare .

Belobroviki begin to build nests in late April, about a week after the start of construction, the first egg is laid . If the bird settles in the finished nest, then the laying of eggs is accelerated. During the choice of a nest or its construction, the bird becomes very careful, she does everything so that the nest is invisible.

It is typical for browbrowers to place a nest close to the ground. If there is only reliable camouflage and support, birds are happy to nest there. They like the bases of various trees, or use small, half-rotten stumps. It is extremely rare to see a red-brow nest located on a hill, in hollows of trees, or on fences and fences. But, if the browers have a choice - to make nesting on a hill, or simply on the ground, overgrown with grass, then the second option for these birds will be preferred. The only exceptions are parks that are often visited by people. In this case, the browers make nests on trees, beyond the reach of visitors to the park.

The shape of the nest in the red brow may vary depending on the nesting site. If the base is strong, then the nest will be more massive and larger. And if the nest is built on thin branches of a bush, then it will be light and elegant. You can see a randomly made nest if it is located on the ground, and a primitive nest in the form of a pit, located deep in the rotten stump.

Belobroviks are rather unpretentious birds, but they need nest secrecy, therefore nests created artificially to attract these birds, if they are in a hidden place, are in demand and popular with many individuals.

Under favorable weather conditions, very often the red-browed ones have repeated clutches after the chicks of the first brood are already raised and fly off the nest. For example, in southern Karelia and in many European countries such as Germany , it has been observed that the number of re-breeding individuals changes every year. Twice the eggs are laid and no more than one third of the red-browed birds are hatching, and in the cold years there may not be a second brood at all.

The female lays from three to six eggs, very rarely more than seven or less than three. By the end of the season, the number of eggs in the nests is decreasing.

After the chicks leave the nest, and this happens 10-12 days after birth, they live right on the ground. They, even not knowing how to fly, are very mobile and move quite large distances from their homes. However, they do not lose each other, because they constantly hear each other's voice, and parents direct the actions of their children, showing where to go. As soon as the chick masters the ability to fly, its mobility increases even more, but they take off only if they are in danger.

Young males begin to sing at the age of 16-18 days, it is still difficult to call it singing, but all these creaks and squeaks are only the beginning.

Throughout the summer, the red-handed migrants migrate, moving from one place to another, migrate at the time of the chicks hatching, and by August-September they begin to develop into an autumn flight. Belobroviki actively fly at night, preparing for the flight. The call signals are massive and are heard in the dark over the forests, parks and over the city. Birds fly, as a rule, in small flocks or singly; thanks to each other's signals, they clearly identify feeding places and flock there in rather large flocks.

Autumn migration is widespread in late September - early October. Some individuals are late in flight and can be seen in forests and city parks even in early November. These late departures are associated with a good harvest of mountain ash , when the red-browers have enough food. There have been cases of wintering of these birds, in this case they try to stay closer to the human dwelling and to those places where there are many berries on the mountain ash.

For wintering, the red-browers fly away mainly to the south-west of Europe , to the west of France , to Portugal and Italy . Birds ringed in Russia were found in Belgium and even on the island of Corsica .

If the birds hatched in one area, this does not mean at all that they will winter together. As a rule, they fly over rather large distances, measured in several kilometers. The wintering area is very large and is not limited to any particular area.

Belobrovik’s song consists of three-syllable soft repeating whistles “qi-fli-hin, qi-fli-hin, qi-fli-hin” ending with a short trill. The call is a subtle squeak of "CCC".

In the case when the Browbrowers do not live in tight groups and cannot hear each other singing, the song sounds individually and each individual builds his own song. However, if a group of red-browed birds has a similar or identical chorus, this does not mean that this group includes birds related by kinship. Scientists have proven that young red-browed blackbirds rarely return to the places where they were born. The composition of birds is updated annually by young individuals arriving from other places. Young brow-browers quickly adopt the singing of old birds, and then, in turn, pass it on to the next generation. Thus, the "local song" has a sequel and is not lost for years.

Belobroviks sing near nests in breeding places, singing continues until mid-July, depending on the nesting area. Sometimes you can hear the birds singing in the fall, but this is extremely rare and not characteristic of this type of bird.

The view is divided into two subspecies :

• T. i. coburni
• T. i. iliacus

Molecular genetics

• The deposited nucleotide sequences in the database EntrezNucleotide , GenBank , NCBI , USA : 62 (as of February 18, 2015).
• Deposited protein sequences in the database EntrezProtein , GenBank, NCBI, USA: 58 (as of February 18, 2015).

• Blackbirds // Great Soviet Encyclopedia : [in 30 vols.] / Ch. ed. A.M. Prokhorov . - 3rd ed. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969-1978.
• Malchevsky A.S., Pukinsky Yu.B. Birds of the Leningrad Region and adjacent territories. - L .: Publishing House of Leningrad University, 1983. (See the description of Belobrovik.)
• Birds of the Soviet Union / Ed. G.P. Dementieva and N.A. Gladkov. - M. , 1954. - T. 6.

• Vertebrates of Russia: Belobrovik
• Blackbird thrush on the site “Zooclub.com.ua - Club of Elite Animals” Archived on May 26, 2007.
• Belobrovik Archived on September 27, 2007. in the Brema Encyclopedia Archived on June 6, 2007.
• Photos of the beaver on Lib.Ru website : “Active tourism”