[ad_1]
Raimundas Povilonis, from Panevėžys, who visited this pond for the first time this week, could not admire seeing around six dozen swans and large flocks of other waterbirds in one place. “I have seen so many swans so close and traveling in Europe. I was impressed and I tell everyone: don’t miss that sight,” said R. Povilonis.
The ornate inhabitants of the lake were not afraid of man. When they saw the newcomer, they flocked to the shore. It is true that it seems that the beauties were not willing to know each other pleasantly. When one hissed and spread its wings and began to land, R. Povilonis hurried on and continued to watch the swans standing at least 10 meters from shore.
The swans that occupied the pool are the pride of Liberians.
“A lake full of swans. There are many of them every year, but this year, exceptionally. The lake is white, where you look, full of swans. It is beautiful to see, “- admires Aurelija Bankauskienė, the head of the local community center” Liberiškis “.
Although there are several farms on the shore of the pond, according to locals, these waterbirds avoid people and don’t go to yards, even trying not to get close to them. There are also no complaints from the surrounding farmers about the crop. According to Naujamiestis elder Jonas Sankaitis, swans have been located in this artificial pond for several years.
“The pond is shallow. Apparently they have a lot of food there, that’s why they stay here ”, thinks the old man.
Photo by R. Povilonis
Solitary swans
Ornithologist Marius Karlonas has not been to the Liberiškis pond, but speculates that the insatiable mute swan and swan songbirds live in it during the summer.
“Hatching swans engage in a pair of water in a pair. They don’t let others in. Even two couples find it difficult to live together in a group, and if their group is even more so, “says the ornithologist.
However, not all people find second sides and places to cross in spring. According to Karlon, the solitary swans settle where the food is safe and close.
And in May, there will be a migration of mute swans and songbirds born in the north.
“They are flying through Lithuania. Especially in late March, in April, we see migratory swans everywhere, in the fields, in bodies of water. Usually they are not local, but they just land here to rest and feed,” he says. the ornithologist.
Winter did not fly
Karlon agrees that there are more swans than ever before this year. According to him, several birds did not even fly during the winter. In Lithuania, not only swans, but also geese, some woodpeckers, and even crows allowed winter. Swans, like geese, are close migrants. They usually fly in the winter to central or western Europe: Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, France, just 1,000 kilometers from the Lithuanian border.
“The weather conditions are almost the same as in Lithuania this winter. The swans no longer had to fly far, because they saw that they could also eat here,” says the ornithologist.
According to him, swans are increasing in Lithuania due to their global protection. In the past, swan songbirds were a very rare species and migrated only north in the tundra.
“After gradually protecting migratory habitats in the north, the migration route and wintering locations in Western Europe, these birds began to increase, the population began to descend from the tundra southward and almost reached Germany,” he says. Karlon.
In the Baltic countries, these amazing waterfowl started migrating 20 years ago or more. Currently, the swan songbird has already been removed from the Lithuanian Red Data Book.
Photo by R. Povilonis
Just like the ignorant
It is not difficult to distinguish swan singers from fools. According to M. Karlonas, singers are more likely to land in fields, and silent ones, in bodies of water. The silhouette of these birds is also different. According to the ornithologist, a swan singer’s neck is straight as a chord, it looks very high, not curved like a silly swan. The mute swan’s beak is red, dark orange with a black tubercle on the forehead and a black stripe running towards the eyes. The beak of a swan songbird is yellow with a black tip.
The ornithologist says that swans will not remain silent about their history. There are no savages in Europe. According to M. Karlon, in the Middle Ages deafness was eradicated in nature and cultivated only in mansions for beauty or meat. It is believed that when some of these birds escaped or were even specifically released, the swan’s silence began to spread across Europe again.
Interestingly, these birds are not afraid of humans.
“His genetics has changed a little bit. For a long time, the foolish people of swans were kept on farms near people, even now there are signs in their genes that they are not completely wild, “said the ornithologist.
And the swan songbirds avoid people. They don’t like a person’s neighborhood, and when they see a person up close they get up or hide.
According to the ornithologist, both species of swans are quite aggressive birds and, generally, if they are already settling, they do not allow other water birds to enter the same body.
“Swan couples generally eagerly take a body of water just for themselves. With their behavior, it is a really interesting bird species,” says M. Karlonas.
[ad_2]
