Common Beetle - description, habitat

Beetle belongs to the family of birds of prey, feeds on the larvae of bees, wasps, bumblebees, beetles and amphibians. To get food, the bird destroys the nests of insects. Beetle is active in the daytime, lives in Europe and western Asia. It is considered a rare bird.

Description of the beetle

Such a bird as a beetle has a rather large size, a beautiful long tail with dark stripes, narrow wings. The area around the eyes and the frontal part of the feathery are equipped with hard, short feathers; in appearance they even look like scales. They perform a protective function when a bird breaks hornet's nests. When the beetle flies, the wingspan reaches a meter.

The adult bird has a dark brown back color. The abdomen changes from a brown color to a light color, on which there is a dark brown transverse pattern or there may be longitudinal streaks. The wings are of a very beautiful color, striped below, and dark spots on the folds. On the tail feathers of the tail are three wide transverse stripes, two are located closer to the base, and one at the end.

Compared to the size of the body, the head is small. In males it has a lighter color and a black beak. Eyes with yellow or golden iris.

The hawk plumage is tough. There are black claws on the paws, sharp but slightly bent. Thanks to this, the beetle moves conveniently on the ground. This is important for him, since most of his hunting and prey is caught not on the ground. The bird flies low, performing all movements easily and maneuverably.

Nutrition Beetle

Due to the fact that the wasp beetles feed on the ground, they spend almost no time in the air. They can sit on a tree for a long time and look out for the place from which insects fly. After a long observation, the bird locates the nest, descends to the ground, and with the help of claws and beak begins to break the nest. In this way, the beetle extracts larvae.

There are nests that insects build on trees and branches, but this is not a hindrance for a predator, he also finds them and smashes them. I must say that the hawk eats insects that can fly near it. Before the insect is eaten, a beetle will tear out a sting from it.

Fact! The predator feeds its chicks with insect larvae, they have a lot of protein, which is good for kids.

In one day, an adult bird destroys up to five nests. This is necessary for its full nutrition. A chick needs to eat about a thousand larvae.

Features of the distribution of the honey beetle

You can meet a predator in the vastness of Europe and West Asia. With the advent of cold weather, the beetle flies away towards southern and central Africa, where it is warm and has a lot of food. At the time of migration, they nest in Italy, also near the Strait of Messina.

Beetle prefers to live in a forest of hardwood and pine trees. It lives in old eucalyptus forests, which alternate with glades. You can meet at the edge of the forest - first of all, precisely where there are no traces of human activities. The predator prefers places with a weak grassy cover. If it falls into the mountains, it can take off up to 1800 meters.

Varieties of beetle

A predator bird can be not only an ordinary beetle, but also a species of crested or eastern beetle.

The crested beetle is larger in size than the usual beetle.The body length can reach 59-66 cm and weigh 0.7-1.5 kg. In flight, the wingspan reaches 170 cm. At the nape of the eastern beetle, long feathers resemble a sharp crest, hence the name of the feathered.

The color of the back is brown or dark brown, the throat of a bird is white in color with a narrow black stripe. The rest of the body of the crested beetle is gray. The males have a red rainbow, and two stripes of dark color are present on the tail. Females are darker in color, their head is brown in color, their iris is yellow. But the tail is painted in stripes, there may be 4-6. Young birds have an appearance similar to females.

Such a subspecies of bee-eater lives in the southern regions of Siberia and the Far East. The bird chooses forests mixed with deciduous trees, where there is enough open space. It feeds in the same way as the usual species - hymenopteran insects.

The difference between a female beetle and a male

The bee-eater girl and the bee-eater boy differ among themselves by strips that are clearly visible on the tail, the male has less of them, and they also have different colors of the rainbow. Female beetles always have a darker color than males.

Life expectancy and breeding

The beetle is by nature a monogamous bird, and if it finds a female, it remains with it throughout life. After the birds return from wintering, three weeks later they begin their breeding season. You can understand this from their dances. During this period, the beetle rises and begins to flap its wings over its back, it is like clapping, and then flies to the ground to its female.

Builds its nest Usually it is located in the branches of a tree, approximately from the ground at a distance of 10-20 meters. There must be an open space near the forest. The process of building a nest happens late, for the material they use tree branches with young leaves. For the basis, pods and thin twigs are taken, and fresh leaves and grass are laid inside the nest. This helps the chicks hide from dangers. Nests are lined up with a diameter of up to 60 cm. With the beginning of the new season, birds do not change their nest, it serves as their home for several seasons.

The eggs of the beetle are brown, usually there are 2-3 of them; they are laid in the interval of two days. The incubation period has a duration of 34-38 days. On the eggs sits not only the female, but also the male. After the appearance of the chicks, the parents feed them 18 days.

Then the chicks are already considered independent, they learn to break the hornet’s nests themselves and eat the larvae. When their age reaches 40 days, they already try to fly, but mom and dad still feed them. When summer comes to an end, independent life begins at chicks.

A hawk can live up to 30 years. But recently, the number of populations has begun to decline. The bird is beautiful and the main role of man in her life is to ensure protection, not extermination.

From the bird you can hear such sounds as: cue-ee or ki-ki-ki.

Interesting facts about the beetle

1. Beetles spend the winter in those places, which in their locality are similar to the place of their nesting.
2. Every year, birds fly to winter in Africa. When the purpose of the journey is reached, the flocks begin to disintegrate.
3. During its observations of midges, the beetle sits motionless, ornithologists have timed 2 hours 47 minutes.
4. During the wintering period, the bird behaves secretly.
5. Growing chickworm chicks independently produce larvae, thereby showing their skills.
6. Beetles are guarded, as their number has greatly decreased. During the flight over southern Europe, they are shot by hunters most of all, becoming prey.

Video: common beetle (Pernis apivorus)