Black Woodpecker - one of the orderlies of the forest

Yellow is a bird of the woodpeckers family, a black woodpecker. It is one of the largest representatives of its kind. The bird has a coal-black color, and if it were not for the bright red in the males top of the head, and for the females - the nape, then it would be quite difficult to distinguish it from the crow. The black woodpecker has one characteristic habit: he likes to accompany a person walking along his territory for some time. At the same time he flies forward and watches, looking out from behind the tree. In the old days, superstitious people thought that it was the evil spirit that pursued them, and they killed a curious bird.

Black woodpecker (photo of a bird can be seen in the article) mainly leads a solitary life. The exception is the marriage period, which begins when the snow lies in the forest. From the beginning of March, males try to attract the attention of females, they shout loudly and knock on trees. Throughout the forest, at a great distance, there is a guttural "fryu-fre-fri," which can pass into a mewing mournful cry - "koe".

After mating, the female and male begin to settle in deeper areas of the forest. To build a nest, they hollow out a hollow in the tree. In most cases, the male is working on the new housing, while his half is watching him from the neighboring branches. A nest is built on smooth-bodied tall trees. Most often, a black woodpecker chooses fir, pine or aspen for this. The hollow is hollowed out at a height of not less than 4 meters, it has an inlet about 10x17 cm, and a depth of 40 to 60 cm. It can take up to 4 weeks to build it. This same bird nest is used in the following years, although if it is not occupied by other inhabitants.

The bottom of the nest is not lining anything except the bark of trees. At the end of April, the female lays 4 to 5 eggs, and after two weeks of incubation the chicks begin to hatch. In the nest, they spend the first 4 weeks of their lives. At this time, their parents are involved. They continue to do this for a while, when the chicks are already flying out of the nest.

In August, young birds completely leave not only the nest, but also the territory of the parents. They are looking for new places or those that are left without a master. As soon as the chicks flew away, adult birds begin to avoid each other. They sleep in a hollow, but each has its own "bedroom." And if you consider that a black woodpecker considers its territory as a site of several square kilometers, then there is no dispute over food.

The basis of ration in the yellow are insects and their larvae. Black woodpecker destroys bark beetles, beetles, zlatok, ants, larvae of horns and so on. In one day, he can eat up to 600 larvae, which is of great benefit to affected plants. It often happens that the bird completely knocks the bark out of the tree or, making something particularly tasty, makes rectangular holes in the trunk.

The black woodpecker is a sedentary bird, in the winter from his "home" he does not fly away and feels there as well as in the summer. For habitat, prefers thick coniferous forests more often, but also occurs in deciduous forests. Yellow is common throughout the forest belt of Russia, it is found in Siberia, and in Kazakhstan, and in the Caucasus, and in all forests of the European part of our country. Black woodpecker is a permanent friend of trees, it must be protected, and today it is under the protection of our state.