Hunting for goose, duck and woodcock in spring: migration routes and important features

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Many wild birds (including ducks, geese, cranes) are migratory. They spend the warm season in the north, and with the onset of cold weather they move to the southern regions. Many people learned about where geese and ducks winter in school. The wintering place is not chosen by birds by chance. They know their destination very well, gather in flocks, and the flight is completed in the shortest possible time and with minimal losses.

A flock of geese flies for the winter

Why do geese fly north in spring?

They fly north in order to breed. Finding food in the south might be even easier for many migrants than in the north. Simply because there is more food there.

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Flight Features

Preparations for departure begin in the spring. At the end of June - mid-July, adult birds molt. They climb deep into the reeds, where they try to be less noticeable to predators. At the end of August, the molting ends, and the wings of the young animals become stronger, which serves as the first signal for the upcoming migration.

Geese ready to travel form flocks of tens to hundreds of individuals. Departure time depends on the place where the birds spent the summer. Thus, geese fly away from the northern regions of Russia in mid-September, but inhabitants of mid-latitudes may delay their flight until October and even November. Birds rarely stay for the winter; this behavior is considered abnormal and is associated with climate change.

Birds fly in a line or wedge, rise to considerable heights and can cover enormous distances. The flight takes place during the daytime. Wild geese spend the night on the surface of the reservoir, resting and replenishing their strength with food. During the rest period, small flocks unite, but after its completion they break up and fly separately.

During the flight, weak birds may die, but the percentage of those who reached the final goal is still quite large.

Strong geese have a better chance of surviving the flight to warmer climates

Reasonable Details

Geese typically fly in a wedge or line, depending on the breed. This is not at all accidental. Research conducted by scientists has made it clear that the flapping of a goose's wings helps its comrades flying nearby gain the required altitude. With this method of wave turbulence and formation, the entire flock flies much faster. In human society, this approach can be compared to the fact that a team striving for a common goal also achieves it faster and more efficiently. By the way, the aviation inventions of airplanes by the Wright brothers were made precisely as a result of observing how geese flew in flocks.

A single gander experiences strong resistance from the air mass, making it harder for him to fly. The lifting power of the flock once again proves how well it is to stick together.

The rationality of the structure of the flock also lies in the fact that the tired leader immediately moves to complete the school, yielding command to another goose, or more precisely to the goose, because most often the female leads the flock. The burden of labor is distributed evenly.

The geese encourage the leader with their screams, not allowing them to slow down. If for some reason one of the flock members is unable to continue the journey, two more geese remain with him for support. As soon as the comrade gets stronger, they will continue the journey with another flock, or, having gained strength, they will catch up with their own. If a sick goose dies, its companions remain with it until the end, setting off only when support is no longer required.

If people could treat each other so intelligently and adopt the characteristics of goose flight, perhaps this would facilitate human efforts and provide greater results.

Why do you need flights?

Scientists, trying to establish why geese fly away for the winter, agreed that the reasons are as follows:

1. Lack of food: due to the onset of cold weather, plant food necessary for natural survival disappears.
2. Freezing of water bodies: geese are waterfowl, although they spend less time in the water compared to ducks or swans, for example. However, the constant absence of a reservoir for wild birds of this breed will be unacceptable.

In support of these arguments, one can cite the opposite example associated with the Nile goose, which lives in a warm climate with a sufficient amount of plant food. This species does not need to migrate, because it is provided with everything it needs all year round.

Data

It is obvious that geese cover very long distances when they fly. This is confirmed by a recorded fact: a flight covering a distance of up to ten thousand kilometers.

To understand at what altitude they usually fly, we need to look at the facts again. The record height was recorded at more than eleven thousand meters during the flight of bar-headed geese across the Himalayas. Geese, when they fly, are usually accustomed to a height of eight meters, since at such a distance from the earth's surface the density of the atmosphere is less and the oxygen in it is rarefied. The peculiarity of migratory birds is precisely to obtain the energy necessary for flight from rarefied atmospheric air. The weather also affects the flight altitude. It has been noticed that during bad weather, flocks of geese fly much lower than when it is clear.

How fast do these beautiful birds move? It is known that geese usually fly at very high speeds - up to eighty kilometers per hour.

These birds sometimes spend up to ninety hours without rest. For example, white geese, when migrating, fly, covering a distance of about three thousand kilometers in sixty hours, that is, in a day they can cover a distance of about five hundred kilometers. It’s hard to even imagine what unique properties of the body they must have!

Domestic relatives

There are different opinions about whether domestic geese fly or not. Some people believe that this breed is specially raised and fattened so that it cannot fly at all. Others argue that it’s just a matter of lack of training for flying. Both sides are partially right, since due to changes in lifestyle, the new generation is gradually erasing, even at the genetic level, those abilities that they do not use. Domestic geese receive more food; their bodies are not as volatile due to the weight of their bodies.

Nevertheless, domestic geese, although not so high and far, still fly, and can even fly away from home, as in the fairy tale about Nils’s journey with the geese. Therefore, poultry farmers usually trim the feathers of their pets, which are responsible for keeping the bird in the air at a certain height.

Advice: you should trim the feathers only of adult geese that have previously experienced molting three times.

Flight limitations

Speaking about how wild geese fly, it is impossible not to mention that even this natural ability has some limitations:

• Despite the fact that birds spend most of their time on land, they also feel great in water, but it is difficult for them to take off from its surface, since they need a short run before flying.
• The ability to fly is lost when the feathers begin to molt, which lasts about six weeks. During this period, on average, 20 days the geese do not fly at all and try to hide in quiet, remote places. This period happens twice a year.
• During the day, geese prefer to rest; the best time to fly is at night.
• Males fly less during the period when they need to protect females hatching goslings.

Habitat

Even before the onset of cold weather, birds gather in flocks and prepare for a long flight. Watching flocks of geese in flight, comparing their species, where they live in the summer and where they fly to spend the winter, one can trace the following trend:

Where do ducks and geese from Russia winter?

Transcaucasia, the southern tip of the Caspian Sea, the coast of the Azov, Baltic and Mediterranean seas, Asia Minor, Iran, India, the lower reaches of the Danube and even Great Britain are places where geese fly from different parts of Russia. The choice of location depends on:

• the degree of its remoteness from the main habitat region;
• presence of a warm climate;
• abundance of water and food sources.

Thus, some ducks spend the winter in Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan. Large concentrations of waterfowl are observed from year to year on the famous Lake Issyk-Kul, as well as in the Black Sea basin.

When going for the winter, birds choose a place that is most similar to where they spent the summer. The opinion that all representatives of the bird family fly exclusively to southern countries is erroneous. The choice of route is determined by living conditions and the availability of food supply. So, if, flying over a body of water not covered with ice, the birds find it suitable for wintering, then nothing will prevent them from descending and spending the cold season here. This behavior explains the unexpected appearance of ducks in regions with a fairly harsh climate.

Where do swans fly to winter?

Depending on their nesting area, swans fly south or stay for the winter. Migratory populations include populations nesting in the countries of Northern Europe and the Baltic, in Russia, and in the central regions of China. For the winter, birds fly to the shores of the Black and Caspian Seas, to the south of Turkey and Greece, to the islands of the Pacific Ocean.

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Goose

The wild goose is a subspecies of the wild goose that belongs to the category of waterfowl. Geese are very similar in appearance to geese, but are smaller in size. Their beak is shorter, short legs are predominantly black. The feathers are predominantly dark in color: brown or black. Birds cannot cackle. Their cry is similar to the barking of a dog. The number of their species is also numerous.

There are several subspecies of geese, which will be discussed below.

Canadian

This is the most famous goose, breeding in Canada and Alaska, it is called the North American goose. The size and plumage are different for each of the twelve subspecies, which live in different habitats. The maximum number of birds lives in the Arctic to the northern borders of the United States.

This species of goose, sometimes called the American goose

Geese are found in small numbers in the north of Great Britain and Scandinavia. The color is grayish-brown, the chest is snow-white, the neck and head are dark. This species is distinguished by white spots on the cheeks and a milky stripe on the tail. It is often kept in captivity.

What migratory birds fly in a wedge formation?

Wedge formation is used by cranes, geese and many other bird species to ease tedious long-distance flights. When the leader of a flock of birds flaps his wing downwards, an upward jet forms behind him.

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Summary

Geese are nomadic birds. A sharp drop in air temperature is a serious reason for moving them to regions with a milder climate. Powerful wings and a durable body allow them to make long, sometimes non-stop flights.

Mandatory conditions for a wintering site are the presence of a body of water (rivers, lakes or seas) that is rich in food and does not freeze for the winter. In search of wintering grounds, birds overcome endless steppes and oceans.

Preparation for departure begins after the completion of molting and the chicks fledging. The first duck wedges appear over the lake or river surface in September-October. When saying goodbye to the lands that shelter them, the birds make loud sounds, so even people uninitiated in the secrets of their wintering grounds know that they are flying away.

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