This bird is cautious and secretive. Lives in Eurasia, South Africa. In nature, there are 130 species of cuckoos. She has adapted well to life in forests, forest-steppe, taiga and coastal thickets of reservoirs. The cuckoo is a migratory bird, it migrates to tropical Africa for the winter.
Food
It feeds on various insects, which it eats almost all day in large quantities. They are of great benefit by eating furry caterpillars covered with poison. Other birds ignore such a treat.
Appearance
Males differ from females only in color. They are predominantly gray in color, with a darker back and wings, and orange legs. Longitudinal alternating black and white stripes on chest and belly. Females are more of a brown-red color, stripes almost all over the body, so it looks ruffled.
Body length up to 40 cm, weight 100 - 130 grams. The tail has a rounded shape, rather long - 18 cm. The length of the wing is 20 cm, and the wingspan is 60 cm. The eyes are large, the beak is slightly curved and quite strong. The fingers are tenacious, two facing forward and two back. Thanks to this, it deftly moves along the branches of trees.
Lifestyle
The bird is interesting because it does not build nests, does not incubate eggs and does not feed its offspring. In nature, there is no longer a single bird that does not raise its chicks. Only she manages to put her egg in someone else's nest. Usually they use the services of redstarts, warblers, and hickeys.
And the action begins with the return of the cuckoos after the winter to their summer possessions. Males arrive first at the end of April and occupy large territories. After a few days (5 - 10) females appear. The male begins to sing songs and invite girlfriends to him.
His song is quite famous "ku-ku, ku-ku". The female does not know how to sing like that, she makes another sonorous trill: “kli-kli”. Several females, having arrived on the territory of the male, remain to live. He, of course, is not lost and mates with each in turn. If a stranger appears in his possessions, claiming at least one of the females, a fight breaks out.
The future "mother" has other worries, she needs to find a suitable nest to lay her egg. She watches for hours not far from her chosen nest of absence of the owners. In total, it will take 10 seconds to do your dirty work: lay an egg in someone else's nest, or plant it. Adoptive parents are usually the same species that once raised her. If there are a lot of eggs in the clutch, the cuckoo can drop them or carry them away, and then eat them. Sometimes birds notice that something is wrong in the nest and leave it.
Noticing the catch, they can throw off someone else's planted egg. Well, if they didn’t suspect anything, then they hatch both their chicks and a stranger. Over the summer, during the mating season (from May to July), the cuckoo can lay up to 20 small eggs weighing 3 grams. But, as a rule, there are only 5 to 7 successfully planted treasures. Strikingly, the color and size of the robber's egg is very similar to those eggs where she is going to throw her own. They can be gray, green, blue, with or without specks. Excellent disguise.
After 13 days, a naked and blind cuckoo chick is born. He opens his orange mouth wide and demands food. He is usually the first chick to hatch. The cuckoo is not happy with his half-brothers and sisters. He, like his mother, is cunning and treacherous: he pushes the little ones out of the nest. He has an instinct to throw out of the nest for the first four days of life.
Then he no longer pushes anyone out, he only takes away food and offends little chicks that are not native to him. The main one is me, food for me, warmth for me, attention for me. It also happens that he remains alone in the nest, and poor parents feed someone else's insatiable chick. Given tasty, nutritious food, the baby chick grows quickly and is soon much larger than its parents.
20 days after birth, he will leave, he still doesn’t really know how to fly, but he learned to jump and flutter. For a few more days, the cunning foundling will receive complementary foods from foster parents, and then fly away from them. In August, cuckoos go to warm Africa for the winter. The younger generation is the last to leave. Not all cuckoos lay their eggs in other people's nests. There are species that take care of their offspring themselves.
The cuckoo is one of the hidden birds that are not only shy, but also love to hide. Therefore, it is quite difficult to see them. The way of life that they lead is also interesting, and the food of cuckoos deserves special attention. Further in the article, we will tell you in more detail about this bird.
Appearance of the cuckoo
common cuckoo weighs about 100 grams, and the length of her body is 40 centimeters. Male and female differ in plumage color. So, the back of the male is dark gray, and the rest of the body has a light gray and white plumage with stripes. The beak of such an individual is black and slightly curved, and its legs are short.
Females, on the other hand, have brownish plumage, but the rest are rusty-red and with white or black stripes. In young individuals, it is impossible to determine the sex by plumage, since they are either gray or red, but they always have dark stripes throughout the body.
Distribution of the common cuckoo
Cuckoo fairly widespread. It usually nests in the following areas:
- Europe.
- Africa.
- Asia.
- Arctic Circle.
Cuckoo is a migratory bird, therefore, it can be found in the taiga, and in the steppe, and in reservoirs, and in parks, and in gardens, and along the outskirts of cities and towns, and in the mountains, and along the outskirts of deserts, and even high above sea level. During the flight, they move in a northeasterly direction and cover a path equal to 80 kilometers in a day.
In Russia, these birds, as a rule, appear at the end of May - July. They settle almost everywhere, except for the northern tundra. The favorite places of the common cuckoo are forests and parks, forest edges and glades, coastal thickets and low bushes.
Reproduction of the common cuckoo
Cuckoos trying to throw their eggs in such nests, where they would correspond to those eggs that were laid by the owners of the nest themselves. Compliance is usually determined by both color and size. At first, she observes a little how the nest is being built, choosing in advance those to whom she can lay her eggs. When egg-laying begins at the owners of the nest, the bird flies up to the nest, takes out one egg with its bent beak, eating it or taking it with it, and lays its own. This procedure of tossing your egg in the common cuckoo lasts no more than 10 seconds.
It is worth noting that in one summer, the female can produce up to 20 eggs, but from them she manages to throw only 5 eggs. If she does not find a nest, then she leaves her egg right on the ground or in some abandoned nest. If necessary, the female is able to hold an egg for several days, which is already ready for demolition.
Rare feathered nest owners notice the substitution of eggs. But the embryo in the cuckoo egg develops very quickly and already on the 13th day they are ready to hatch from the shell. They hatch naked and blind. At first, little cuckoos are very similar to the chicks of their foster parents, sometimes even the voice becomes similar to the sounds made by foster parents. The hatched cuckoo has a sensitive back and a small depression in the coccyx area. If one of the chicks touches him, then with this recess he can throw the egg or the chick itself out of the nest.
The cuckoo is very demanding: he opens his orange mouth often and wide, demanding food. Due to the constant demand for food, the cuckoo nest owners do not even have time to see the fall of the chick and help him, and sometimes they simply ignore this fall. The cuckoo is growing very fast. It is known that already on the 22nd day he not only exceeds the size of his adoptive parents, but also at this time he leaves the nest. But the owners of the nest rush after him, feeding him with insects for several more weeks.
Common cuckoo lifestyle
males cuckoos immediately occupy a fairly large area, attracting females with its loud and ambiguous cry. Thanks to this cuckooing, this bird got its name. Females are not so melodic and prefer to be silent more, but sometimes in flight they can also make a ringing trill, attracting males for mating.
The male flies around his domain to mate with the females in turn. Females are distributed in a specific area, where they are trying to find foster parents for their future offspring in advance. In summer, these birds, as a rule, are alone: they do not build nests, do not incubate eggs, and the mating season is already ending at this time.
To date over 120 species of birds are known in the nests of which the cuckoo has ever thrown its eggs. But usually they try to select sparrow songbirds. Therefore, cuckoo eggs are so easy to throw into the nests, because they match in size and color. It is known that if a female cuckoo has grown in the nest, then next summer she will return to the area where her foster parents' nest was, remembering the appearance of those who raised them. Young growth begins to breed later than the old bird. By the way, the life expectancy of a cuckoo in the wild does not exceed 5-10 years.
Food of the common cuckoo
It is known that cuckoo, like her cubs, is very voracious. But what does she eat? It is worth noting that cuckoos are the kind of bird that is not picky about food. The main food for this bird is insects and their larvae. She especially loves furry caterpillars, eats them in large numbers. But many birds avoid eating such hairy caterpillars. Among the insects that the cuckoo eats, there may be beetles, butterflies, filly, rider. They also eat bird eggs, and sometimes they can eat berries.
The nutrition of cuckoos is significantly different from what other insectivorous birds eat. In order to more fully imagine the diet of this bird, a whole study was conducted in Russia, where everything that this bird ate per day was tracked. The result of this study showed that the common cuckoo in central Russia can eat the following food in one day:
Another study was conducted where the cuckoo was fed only caterpillars. It turned out that in one day she is able to eat more than 1900 of them.
Of course, the cuckoo is strongly stands out from the rest of the bird world, because the very way of her life is unusual. But, despite all the difficulties, the population of this bird is quite stable and the number of cuckoos today is not decreasing at all. It is worth noting that the cuckoo is still a useful bird, since it easily finds those places where insects breed or live and contribute to suppressing this very dangerous center of their distribution.
The most favorite in painting among artists and viewers is the genre of landscape. The creators of works of art convey their own mood through their work. Paintings about winter by Russian artists reflect all the beauty and fabulous serenity of our nature at this amazing time of the year.
Landscape by Nikifor Krylov
Decorated with a work depicting a rural landscape, which is called "Russian Winter". Its author, Nikifor Krylov, comes from the city of Kalyazin, which is located on the Volga. In his picture, the talented artist depicted the outskirts of the village, behind which a forest of wondrous beauty flaunts. The foreground is represented by slowly walking women, towards whom a peasant is walking, leading his horse. The feeling of spaciousness and lightness is emphasized by serene winter clouds floating across the sky.
Painting by I. Shishkin
The well-known Russian landscape painter, when creating his works, preferred the summer theme. However, he strove for diversity in his work, painting paintings depicting other seasons as well. One of these creations is the canvas "Winter". The picture is impressive because it reveals the winter stupor. The central image is a pine forest covered with deep fluffy snow. The silence of a frosty day is conveyed by the grandeur of a clear sky and mighty centuries-old pines covered with a fluffy white blanket. Due to the bluish coloring, the work reveals the languid beauty of the sleeping forest. I. Shishkin proves that paintings about winter by Russian artists can inspire and amaze the imagination with their colors and shades, gradually revealing the meaning to the viewer.
B. Kustodiev's work
The winter landscapes of Russian artists amaze with their splendor. The most beloved folk holiday in Russia - Maslenitsa - is depicted in the painting of the same name by B. Kustodiev. The work conveys the mood of a mischievous and cheerful farewell to winter and a meeting of spring. Pancakes and festivities are the main attributes of Maslenitsa. It is hard to believe that this cheerful picture was created when he was seriously ill and confined to a wheelchair.
March winter day in the painting by K. Yuon
Winter in the paintings of Russian artists seems mysterious and wary. Opposite in mood is the picture of K. Yuon "March Sun". Clear piercing blue sky, sparkling snow, bright spots convey the freshness of a frosty day. The temperamental artist depicted two riders who are moving on their horses along a narrow path. They are overtaken by a beautiful horse, next to which a dog runs leisurely. Triumphant joyful colors gave the picture fame and love of the audience.
Night in the image of A. Kuidzhi
Paintings about winter by Russian artists convey a sense of a fantastic atmosphere. As if proving this, A. Kuidzhi's work "Moonlight Spots in the Forest. Winter" depicts the space of a small forest clearing surrounded by trees and bushes in the snow. Moonlight illuminates motionless objects, turning the entire clearing into a mysterious space. The light areas were frozen in a daze. From different sides, thick shadows creep up on them in dark spots, which smoothly pass into the tops of the trees.
Thus, the paintings about the winter of Russian artists are filled with a contrast of mystery and harmony. They convey to the viewer not only all the splendor and beauty of Russian nature, but also the deep meaning, mood, and creator. Winter in the painting of Russian artists is presented in all its grandeur. All this together contribute to the creation of a special atmosphere in the mind of the viewer, allows you to feel like a participant in a revived landscape, "touch" its details.
P eared white flakes. A cozy creak underfoot. Sparkling snow reflects the sunbeam. The perfect winter is the grace of nature. And if you don’t become generous, then art will not let you down. Russian artists have been painting winter for centuries. Without knowing it - for the future. We examine winter landscapes with Natalia Letnikova.
The mood of winter gives a little childish. Being in the village of Ladeyki near Krasnoyarsk, Vasily Surikov decided to convey all the Siberian prowess, which shows through even in winter fun. “I wrote what I saw many times myself.” The painter looked for images every market day. The organization of nature - a snow town and a mounted Cossack on the "assault" - is the merit of the artist's brother. Alexander Surikov himself took a place in the picture in the "auditorium" - on a sleigh covered with a bright carpet.
Capture of the snow town. 1891. State Russian Museum
Landscapes of the marine painter. A real rarity. Aivazovsky wrote about six thousand paintings during his creative life. And almost every job - the sea. But the painter of the Main Naval Staff used silver in the palette, drawing not the crests of a wave ... but a snow-covered forest. The source of inspiration is not only southern Feodosia, but also northern St. Petersburg, where the gifted young man Hovhannes Ayvazyan grew up into the artist Ivan Aivazovsky.
Winter landscape. 1876. Private collection
"In the wild north..." Poetic lines by Mikhail Lermontov and the title of the painting by Ivan Shishkin. Half a century since the death of the poet… Russian artists painted pictures based on his poems. Shishkin chose the theme of loneliness and saw his pine tree in the town of Kemi in distant Finland, where the painter's daughter had moved. Night, twilight, silence, solitude - not a sentence, but a wonderful winter dream. "... In the region where the sun rises, / Alone and sad on a combustible cliff / A beautiful palm tree grows."
"In the wild north..." 1891. Kyiv Museum of Russian Art
Fairy tale, opera, picture. And it's all about her. The Snow Maiden was invented by the playwright Alexander Ostrovsky, the composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov endowed the coloratura soprano and brought to the edge of the forest by the artist Viktor Vasnetsov. A touching girl, whose prototype was Sashenka, the daughter of Savva Mamontov, takes a step into the big world. Snow-white edge and gray haze in the distance. Anxiety in the girl's eyes and ... the feeling of a fairy tale, even with a sad ending.
Pieter Brueghel is considered the last Netherlandish Renaissance painter. He had to travel a lot in Europe. Rome awakened a special feeling of delight in him.
Pieter Brueghel never painted to order - he was a freelance artist. The master of the brush liked to depict people of the lower classes in his paintings, for which he was nicknamed "Peasant".
One of his most famous paintings is "Hunters in the Snow" from the "Twelve Months" cycle. Only five paintings from this cycle have survived (it is assumed that there were originally six). "Hunters in the snow" correspond to December and January. This winter drawing shows people with their way of life, which represent a generalized image of the whole world.
Hunters in the snow
Claude Monet "Magpie"
Before that, the winter landscape genre was introduced by Gustave Coubret. In his picture there were people, horses, dogs, and only then . Claude Monet moved away from this and depicted only one, barely noticeable magpie. The painter called it "a lonely note." This showed the lightness and beauty of the winter landscape. Playing with light and shadow helps the artist create a special sensual atmosphere on a cold day.
Interestingly, the jury of the Paris Salon (one of the most prestigious art exhibitions in France) rejected this painting. And this is understandable, because she was very bold, the novelty of Monet's manner made the picture not like the classic images of a winter day of that time.
Magpie
Vincent Van Gogh "Landscape with Snow"
Vincent van Gogh decided to become a painter at the age of twenty-seven. When Vincent came to Paris to visit his brother Theo, he quickly became disillusioned with the capital's art society. He left the winter capital and moved to sunny Arles.
At that time, the weather here was unusual for those places. Getting off the train, the painter felt himself in the realm of snow, he was not accustomed to heavy snowfalls and huge snowdrifts. True, a thaw soon set in and most of the snow melted. The artist hastened to capture what was left of the snow on the fields.
Landscape with snow
Paul Gauguin "Breton Village in the Snow"
Paul Gauguin is a famous French artist. During his lifetime, his paintings were not in demand, so Gauguin was very poor. Glory to him, as well as to his friend Van Gogh, came only a few years after his death.
Recently, Paul Gauguin's painting "When is the wedding?" was sold for $300 million. Now it's the most expensive painting ever sold! The masterpiece was bought by the organization Qatar Museums, the seller is the famous Swiss collector Rudolf Stechelin.
When Paul Gauguin moved to the northwest of France, he set about painting Breton Village in the Snow. It was found on an unsigned and dated easel in the workshop of Paul Gauguin at the time of his death on May 8, 1903.
The artist created the heavy contours of snow-covered thatched roofs , the spire of a church, and the trees that suddenly appear in this desert landscape. The high skyline, the distant smoking chimneys, all evoke a sense of drama and frost in a barren winter.
Breton village in the snow
Hendrik Averkamp "Winter Landscape with Skaters"
Hendrik Averkamp is a Dutch painter. He was the first who began to work in the style of realistic landscape painting: the nature in his paintings was as it really is.
Averkamp was born deaf and mute. Early work - exclusively urban winter landscapes. It was they who made the artist widely known.
Since Averkamp could not feel this world with the help of hearing, his eyesight perfectly captured the sense of color, the ability to notice the smallest elements in multi-figured compositions became more acute. No one could compare with him in the transmission of changing lighting.
A famous painting by Hendrik Averkamp is “Winter Landscape with Skaters”. Notice the door trap and bird stick in the lower left corner of the painting – this is a direct reference to Pieter Brueghel’s painting “Winter Landscape with Bird Trap” (here it is in the lower right corner ).
Winter landscape with skaters
Winter landscape with bird trap
Winter landscapes by contemporary artists
Robert Duncan is a contemporary American artist born in Utah. There were 10 children in his family. Robert started drawing at the age of 5.
He liked to visit his grandparents at the ranch in the summer. It was the grandmother who, when the boy was 11 years old, gave him a set of paints and paid for 3 oil painting lessons.
Duncan's winter paintings exude warmth and homeliness, despite the fact that they are still "winter"!
Kevin Walsh is an artist whose paintings we have to assemble from a thousand pieces. Why? Because his work can be found on puzzles, postcards and even on clothes as prints.
Kevin Walsh's work is noted for its attention to technical and historical detail. The highlight of his work is a special sensitivity to scale, palette and color reproduction. Here is a selection of his works on the winter theme.
Richard de Wolfe is a professional Canadian artist and blogger. He is a self-taught artist. The first exhibition of works by Richard de Wolfe was presented when he was 18 years old. Here are some of his works.
Judy Gibson is a contemporary American artist. In her paintings - spontaneity and warmth. Her winter drawings show a forest house where she invites your fantasy. You need to imagine how cozy it is, sitting by the fireplace with a cup of hot .
Stuart Sherwood is a self-taught artist. He painted portraits of many famous people: Pope John Paul II, John F. Kennedy and others. He is the only one to have received the prestigious Canadian award four times. It is said that he even painted pictures for the President of France.
Wouldn't you like to draw winter?
