Most animals breed during the warm season, when the sun warms the air enough and there is a lot of food around. However, some animals give birth to young only in winter, surprising not only the inhabitants, but also zoologists.
Klest is the most frost-hardy bird
This small bird, a relative of the bullfinch, is interesting for its beak. Its ends are crossed and protrude on the sides - with such a "tool" it is very easy to get seeds from coniferous cones, which are the main food of the crossbill. Unlike many other animals, crossbills begin to breed in February, when the frosts are at their worst. This is due to the fact that February is especially rich in the harvest of coniferous cones.
Females build insulated nests and warm the newborn babies with their thick down. In addition, chicks are quite resistant to frost - even when they are numb to a half-alive state, they quickly warm up in a warm environment and continue their normal life.
Crossbill chicks are born with a straight beak and for some time are not able to get food on their own.
Emperor penguin - accustomed to cold weather
Despite the fact that penguins live in cold Antarctica and, in general, are accustomed to freezing temperatures, most of their species nevertheless reproduce in spring and summer, when there is a slight warming. However, emperor penguins - the largest species - lay eggs in the fall, and chicks hatch during the height of the Antarctic winter. The average temperature of this period is 40-50 ° C of frost, and a gusty north wind is also approaching Antarctica.
The female penguin lays only one egg, which then lays on its paws and covers it with a thick fold of fat. The period of such a watch lasts about 2 months, during which time the females do not eat anything. Then they pass the egg to the males and go out on their own to hunt for fish, which lasts three months. By the time the female returns, the baby is already hatching.
The emperor penguin finds its chick by its voice and feeds only it.
White and brown bears - breeding in winter
Both of these bear species are characterized by the fact that the birth of their cubs occurs in winter. Females begin to dig dens in the fall, and then retire there for three to five months. Cubs are born in the middle of winter. At first, they are helpless, blind and deaf, but after 3 months the cubs are able to feed not only on milk, but also on the usual food of adults.
Bears reproduce slowly enough. Females begin to bear offspring on average from 6 years old, and childbirth occurs once every 2-4 years. At a time, no more than three cubs are born, which often die of hunger or as a result of fights with adult males. Therefore, brown and polar bears are listed in the Red Book.
