With the development of environmental protection in China, it is obvious that many animals have returned to their homes in recent years, and more and more birds can be seen in cities.
People and birds live in harmony in the city.
They don't have the same habits as urban animals, so why are there so many birds that have always been afraid of humans?
A large part of it is due to the forced selection of birds due to human activitiesThe turtle dove is one such urban birdAlthough wild turtle doves mostly live in the woods, urbanization has forced many birds to migrate to citiesIt's also obvious that their nests are often hard to spot.
How did the wild turtle dove come about? What are your habits? What does a real turtledove nest look like? How do they live in human society?
In the following article, we will mainly answer these questions based on the living habits and biological characteristics of birds, and finally answer the question of why we rarely see the nests of turtle doves when wild turtle doves are everywhere in China.
Turtledoves can be found in almost every province and city in China.
Turtle doves are actually a colloquial term for the dove family, which is located under the order Pigeon and belongs to the genus Paradove.
Although most turtle doves look like pigeons and are referred to as wild pigeons in local slang, be careful not to confuse them with pigeons, as there is a difference between the two.
Pigeons can reach 100 percent in size and appearance.
Eighty, ninety similarity.
Even if we don't look at their specific biological attributes, we can distinguish them from pigeons in terms of their beak and feather appearance.
Overall, turtledoves are slightly smaller than pigeons, with grey-brown feathers on their backs and tails, black on the outside of their feathers, dark brown beaks, and almost cooing, making them particularly easy to confuse with pigeons.
One of the most common turtle doves in our country isBead-necked turtle doveThe most striking feature of this turtle dove is the black and white spots on the back of the neck, in addition to the 47 genera and 3 subfamilies of the dove family.
The pearl-necked turtle dove is basically monoecious.
In terms of biological division, turtle doves are actually a large family, like most birdsTurtle doves are also omnivorous birds, for the choice of food, it is almost impossible to refuse.
Their main diet is fruits, grains, and seeds of other plants, as well as some insects
Turtle doves are very adaptable to the environment and are not very picky eaters.
However, their activities are more concentrated in foraging, and their predatory activity is relatively small, so turtle doves generally look for food on the groundIt is a typical terrestrial bird
Unlike other birds, turtle doves will have a fixed breeding season, as long as the temperature is right, turtle doves can breed all year round, especially the turtle doves distributed in temperate regions, there will be a peak breeding period in March and August, and it will begin to decline after entering autumn.
If the turtle dove is to be strictly sourced, the origin of the wild turtle dove can be open woodland and agricultural land throughout southern Asia.
As far as China is concerned, the turtle dove is mainly found in the southern region, such as Guangzhou, and later introduced to Los Angeles in the United States, including Australia, Indonesia and New Zealand, and has become a resident bird.
Turtle doves are found in most areas.
Moreover, the size of the turtle dove varies with the distribution of geographical locationIt is characterized by a gradual reduction in size from north to south
It is such a very common bird in life, why is it difficult for us to see their nests?
Turtle doves are not like pigeons,It is not a social birdTurtle doves do not congregate in piles most of the time, except for foraging activities, especially during the breeding period.
The territoriality of turtle doves will become very strong, and the nests of the same species are generally far apart, and it is rare for two nests to be very close to each other.
If the turtledove's nest is found on the same tree, there will be a fight between the turtledoves, so in this respect, this is a point where the turtledove's nest is less seen.
A tree can't fit two turtledove nests.
On the other hand,The nesting behavior of turtle doves depends on human activity and shrub height
Turtle doves generally choose their nests in arbors with high canopy density and tree height, and they need to ensure that their nests have sufficient concealment to ensure that the breeding process of their offspring will not be disturbed too much.
In terms of human activities, although we can often see turtle doves foraging in urban life, this does not mean that they can establish a good relationship with humans, such as birds, such as swallows, can get along well with humans.
Everyone can sing the song about the little swallow.
For turtle doves during their breeding season, any disturbance can be a problem for their nesting, not to mention human activity in the city.
So we rarely see turtledove nests, if in the wildThis is actually relatively rare
When it comes to the nest of turtle doves, if this point is far behind other birds, turtle doves are far behind, why do you say that?
In terms of mating and reproduction, the nesting of turtle doves is actually a manifestation of courtship
Build a "home" and then courtship.
In the case of the pearl-necked turtle dove, the male usually chooses its nest by walking and flying back and forth on the side branches of the tree, and will also peck at the twigs and leaves, and if they decide to build a nest, they will call the female.
Turtle doves often use local materials for nesting, or look for branches or dead leaves in nearby grass for construction.
But turtledoves don't care whether their nest is built well or not, as long as there is a nest, the turtledove will breed here
The turtledove's nest is relatively simple and elegant.
In addition,Turtle doves will also use old nests when they build nests
Many turtle doves choose nests built by other birds for breeding, as these birds' nests are usually better built than the turtle doves themselves.
This phenomenon is especially pronounced during the peak period of population reproduction.
According to the relevant research of the Chinese Academy of Agriculture and ForestryFor the turtle doves in April and August, the same nest in the same tree will be used many times
Even if the old nest is damaged, the turtle dove will not repair it, and the turtle dove that is incubated with other nests will have a higher reproductive success rate than other birds.
diligent and thrifty".
Therefore, from the perspective of the nest selection and nesting behavior of turtle dove, this behavior of using other bird nests for breeding is turtle doveProvides a better concealment
Therefore, it is very difficult for us to see a real turtledove nest. So what does a real turtledove nest look like?
Turtle dove nesting is not a separate act, both males and females carry out nesting activities, with males doing the main nesting material selection and females making secondary supplements.
Despite the fact that they are very busy building their nests, in fact, the structure of the turtle dove nest is very simple, and it is rough, generally in the shape of a shallow disc, and generally only 60 100 branches are used for nesting.
Humble lair.
In addition, the nests of turtle doves are mainly concentrated in the trees with a height of 8 15 meters, and the nest location and nesting materials will change due to the different trees and heights.
If other bird nests are selected for breeding and hatching, the main thing isIt is dominated by the nests of magpies and red-tailed shrikes
The magpie's nest is prosperous and not afraid of wind and rain.
Although they don't care about whether their nest looks good or not, this choice greatly reduces their reproductive investment and allows them to focus more on breeding and incubation, and the turtle dove is very common in both the city and the wild due to its high egg production and hatching rate.
In recent years, with the improvement of China's environment and the gradual deepening of urbanization, the activities of turtledoves have also begun to be interspersed with human social life.
Many people have chosen their balcony as a nesting spot for turtledoves, and if you are lucky enough to encounter such a situation, you can see what the most realistic turtledove nest looks like.
A turtledove nesting on a human balcony.
However, we still need to take some precautions against such nesting behavior, as the nesting behavior of wild turtle doves and other birds on windowsills or balconies often brings some parasitic infections.
The most common is a type calledParasites of avian mitesThis insect generally parasitizes the body of birds and feeds on the blood of birds.
Once the birds leave their nests, these avian mites may invade the environment through balcony facilities and bite humans.
Although avian mites do not parasitize in the body, their bites can cause allergic reactions, so adequate precautions and cleaning must be taken.
Poultry mites are very small and generally cannot be seen by the naked eye, so we must pay attention to hygiene and cleanliness.
It can be seen that today's life has begun to gradually move closer to wild animals, and due to the expansion of humans, animals have to choose to live with humans.
Turtledoves are just one example, there are many similar scenes, and in the future, such a life may become more and more obvious, and we may be able to think about how to get along with animals better.