A cute little owl, ordinary splyuska, got such a funny and affectionate name not for love of sleep. Her loud cry “I sleep,” from which it is very difficult to fall asleep, is heard not only at night, but also at sunrise, which is why the people scoop gave the nickname “dawn”. This bird easily tolerates the presence of a person and, being for some reason in a city apartment, it becomes manual. But providing her with proper care and nutrition is not an easy task.
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Description of common scoop
The plumage of the scoop makes it invisible among the branches. Sensing danger, the bird presses feathers to the body, closes its eyes and freezes motionless, becoming like a tree branch. She shows activity at night, earning herself food. During mating in the spring, you can hear the owl's “song” even during the day in cloudy, warm weather.
Splyushka comes from the Owls family, the genus Scoops.
Features of appearance:
- This is a small bird measuring from 16 to 20 cm and weighing 70–130 g.
- The wingspan is half a meter.
- The iris of large sad eyes is yellow or orange.
- The feathers are brownish-gray with light spots on the shoulders, dark, colorful strokes and an openwork pattern in gray or brown tones.
Like other representatives of the scoop, splyuska has 2 color options - red and gray colors. In this case, the predominant color does not depend on the age, habitat or gender of the individual.
Spitus Spread
The scoop lives in Asia Minor, in the south of the European continent and in North Africa. The habitat is chosen by groves and forests, orchards, city parks, pine woodlands, plantations of olive and citrus trees.For a nest, observation during hunting and daytime rest, the bird needs trees.
The common scoop overwinters in the African savannah, appearing in Russia only in the middle of spring. Again flies south at the end of summer or in September. Populations living in the Mediterranean and warm Asian countries do not leave their native places in winter.
Nutrition, lifestyle
Like all owls, splyushki prefer animal feed. In the afternoon they sleep in the branches of trees, and at dusk they go fishing. The behavior of birds on the hunt is very peculiar: they attack the chosen prey from a tree branch, as if from an ambush. Before this, they actively turn their heads in all directions, as if considering a future lunch. Sometimes, having noticed a flock of nocturnal insects, they begin to chase them silently and silently and snap on the fly.
The diet scoop consists mainly of insects - butterflies, beetles, spiders. They also hunt small vertebrates - frogs, mice, lizards, birds. They can pull an earthworm or a large larva out of the ground. At home, sweet, ripe fruits, grapes, and pieces of vegetables are eaten as dessert. But the basis of a healthy diet should be cockroaches, mice and worms from the pet store.
Splyushki caught prey are kept in one paw, cleverly holding their fingers. They can “feel” the victim with sensitive hairs located next to the beak, covering large yellow eyes for protection. Then they begin to “cut” the prey - wings are torn off of flying insects, the birds are plucked and torn to pieces, cockroaches are swallowed whole.
Reproduction and longevity
In nature, scoops lead a solitary lifestyle, forming pairs only for the time of nesting. According to ornithologists, these birds are monogamous, they choose one life partner with whom they build a nest annually. The life span of an individual in the wild is about 6 years; at home, with proper care, it can live 2 times longer.
Spyushka hatch chicks in clefts of rocks, hollows, burrows of kingfishers or nests of small birds of prey. Masonry hatches of 2-6 eggs occur in May, June or July. About 25 days the incubation time lasts and 4 weeks - feeding offspring. Chicks are born in fluff, but blind. At first, only the male is engaged in feeding offspring. The chicks are very voracious, and he has to fly with food every 11 minutes. Young scoops fly out of the nest at about a month old.
Features of singing scoops
The males during the breeding season very loudly, making lingering monophonic sounds, reminiscent of the word "sleep". Females are more silent, so they can be kept at home. Often you can hear the mocking of two males echoing each other in different keys. Sometimes it is possible to make out the harmonious singing of the formed pair. The voice of the little girl sometimes resembles an intermittent tongue twister, in which you can make out the sound of "tyu".
In captivity, males also willingly talk, scaring their neighbors at night, but the female lays eggs very rarely. When this happens, begins to incubate from the first egg and sits very tightly, does not go away, even if you touch it with your hand.
Tips for Keeping Your Home
There are no breeders who officially breed breeding dogs in Russia, so only a wildlife can get into the house of a scoop. Experts advise not to pick up randomly found owls, if their life is not in danger, they are healthy. At home, it is quite difficult to provide birds with good care, and most of the selected scoops die a painful death. If the chick is sitting on the ground, you can plant it on a nearby tree so that it does not become prey for a cat or dog. At night, the owl will definitely find the owl's mother and feed it.
If you can’t leave the chick on the street - he is wounded, exhausted or is in a busy urban area, you will have to take him home.You can’t keep a scoop in a cage, for it you need an aviary 1.5 meters wide, length and height. The night bird should fly at a time convenient for it, and receive proper nutrition. Eats a little bit of cockroaches, bugs, worms, small mice, cut into pieces. You can’t feed her chicken hearts and fillet, she will die. Some scoops willingly eat raw vegetables and fruits, but this is not the main diet, but rather a treat. It is advisable to visit a veterinarian with a bird and take tests to make sure its health.
Interesting facts about the bird
Bunches of feathers stick out on the sides of the scoop, like ears that make them look like eagle owls. These feathers are in no way associated with real auditory openings. In times of danger, feather “ears” assume a vertical position, giving the bird a wary look.
Spyushki, who settle in cities, can be attacked by a raven during the day. One frightened scoop is sometimes attacked by a flock of 10 large black birds that kill it to death. You can not pass by, noticing something was wrong, you need to beat off the bird, and bring it home. If she has not received damage, you can let her go free after dark.
But it’s undesirable to approach the nest of splyushki. The male will desperately protect eggs and offspring at any time of the day. It can even attack a person, suddenly clinging to the body with sharp claws. The bird has a wonderful ear, large eyes, which although they cannot look in different directions, but this is compensated by the maximum mobility of the head. She can rotate 270 °.
Small eared scoops are quite common in nature, they are not threatened with extinction. The population may decline due to pesticide field treatment. In indoor conditions it is quite difficult to keep birds because of the peculiarities of nutrition and the loud voice of males.
