Different species of birds survive the unfavorable winter period in different ways. Some of them are adapted to harsh conditions and remain to winter in their native lands, others are forced to leave their nests and migrate to hot countries.
Where different types of birds winter
Not all species of birds fly away to winter in warm regions. By the nature of seasonal migrations, birds can be classified into three groups: sedentary, nomadic and migratory. The first, as the name implies, with the onset of cold weather, remain within the territory in which they have been living for many years. They have no need for flights, since seasonal changes do not affect their diet in any way: the feed necessary for these species of birds remains available even in winter.
Sedentary birds, remaining to winter in nesting places, inhabit mainly subtropical and tropical climatic zones. But there are many of them in the temperate and even northern zones. There is also a group of so-called semi-sedentary birds that migrate from time to time in case of lack of food.
Wandering birds move from place to place throughout their lives, settling only during the breeding season. In winter, they can be anywhere: it all depends on the availability of food. However, they never leave the limits of their climatic zone and do not migrate to hot regions. For example, bullfinches live in dense coniferous forests for most of the year, and in winter they huddle in flocks and go to settlements where they inhabit parks and squares.
Some nomadic birds prefer to nest in the mountains and descend into the valleys as winter approaches.
Where do migratory birds fly
With the onset of cold weather, migratory birds rush to warm regions, and wintering places can be at fairly decent distances from nesting places. Most bird watchers are unanimous in the opinion that the smaller the bird, the shorter distances it is able to overcome, despite the fact that the flight of small birds is forced to take place in several stages, with respites. The average flight speed of large birds reaches 80 km / h, small ones - only 30 km / h.
Small birds are able to fly without interruption for 70-90 hours. During this time, they cover a distance of up to 4000 km.
A special question is where exactly migratory birds fly away for the winter. Migrations are horizontally and vertically directed: in the first case, the birds simply migrate from one region to another, in the second, they fly to the mountains and return back at the end of the cold weather.
As for the geography of migrations, the north-south route is most typical for the birds of the northern hemisphere. However, contrary to popular belief, not all birds winter in southern latitudes. Thus, black-throated loons inhabiting Central and Western Siberia fly away to the shores of the Baltic Sea in winter. And oatmeal buntings from central Russia fly to China, bypassing Siberia and the Far East.
