Something interesting about the animal saj. Tibetan sajja. Rare birds of the world. Conservation status of Tibetan sajs

Squad - Pigeonidae

Family - Sandgrouse

Genus/Species - Pterocles, Syrrhaptes. Saja, hazel grouse, hoof, bulduruk

Basic data:

DIMENSIONS

Length: 25-40 cm.

Wingspan: 48-70 cm.

Weight: 250-310 g.

REPRODUCTION

Puberty: since the year

Nesting period: from April to July.

Number of eggs: 2-3.

Incubation: 21-31 days.

The chicks take wing: at the age of 3-5 weeks.

LIFESTYLE

Habits: saji (see photo of the bird) live in flocks of more than 1,000 birds.

Food: mainly seeds, sometimes berries and insects.

Sounds: melodious whistling and hoarse screaming.

RELATED SPECIES

2 genera include 16 species and the common sajja, or hoof.

All sixteen species of saj are content with the modest food they find in the area of ​​their residence. These birds nest on the ground in open areas because they are not afraid of predators, which avoid these inhospitable regions with rather unfavorable climatic conditions.

FOOD

Saji feed mainly on the seeds of steppe herbaceous plants. Sometimes, if they are lucky, they feast on berries. The red-breasted sandgrouse, which lives in East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, feeds on ants. Most species of sandgrouse feed at the same time, usually in the morning and evening.

During dry seasons, birds can go without water for up to five days. If there is a body of water near their place of residence, sajis travel to a watering place as a whole flock, which numbers from 20 to 1,000 birds. Having reached the reservoir, the flock lands at a certain distance from the shore and carefully inspects it, and at the slightest sign of danger it immediately takes off. If everything is calm, the birds run along the ground to the water and drink plenty. Saji return to the place where they spend the night alone or as a whole flock, waiting until all its members have drunk.

Some species of sandgrouse feed in large flocks. Hordes of white-breasted sandgrouse, found on the western Mediterranean coast, North Africa and Central Asia, raid grain fields. The hoof or common sajja feeds on green shoots, inflorescences, and seeds of steppe plants. The soles of its feet have thick leathery pads that protect the bird from burns.

LIFESTYLE

Saji live in Africa, Asia and some areas of Southern Europe. Many of these birds live in places with unfavorable climatic conditions.

The Tibetan, or mountain, sajja lives in a cold climate zone, at the border of eternal snow, in the mountains at an altitude of 3,000 to 6,000 m above sea level, and the white-breasted sandgrouse lives in drained swamps. All sajs are distinguished by their endurance, undemanding food habits and are easily adaptable, so they survive in conditions that are unacceptable for other animals. Ruffed grouse fly quite quickly.

These birds feed and sleep in large flocks. Most species are active during the day, but the Liechtenstein sandgrouse, which lives in East Africa, sleeps during the brutal midday heat. Before going to bed, sajis bury themselves halfway into the cool soil. Saji are very cautious birds. They cling to the ground and, thanks to their protective coloring, become completely invisible.

REPRODUCTION

The courtship and nesting period of sandgrouse lasts from mid-April to the end of July. During mating, males run on straight legs, alternately folding and unfurling their tail feathers, and jumping up to 2 m.

During the mating ritual, males also fly screaming after females or walk around them like a pigeon. All sandgrouse nest on the ground. They look for appropriate recesses for this, which they surround with stones. The nests of these birds are located openly, only in some cases they are hidden under a wormwood bush or cereals. For 21-31 days, both birds incubate the clutch. During the day, the male brings food to the female. The chicks are born covered in down and almost immediately begin to look for food. Parents not only feed the chicks with water from their beaks, but also bring water in the plumage of their abdomen.

• All species of sandgrouse are capable of reaching speeds of at least 60 km/h.
• In Egypt, large flocks of crowned sandgrouse gather on the roads, pecking at the grain pouring out of the carts.
• Although sajjis are similar to galliformes, they have more similarities with the commonweeds.

CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF GROUPS

Adult birds: Thanks to the protective coloring of the plumage (from light beige to dark brown), the birds are almost invisible. Males with dense abdominal plumage are able to carry large amounts of water for their chicks.

Carrying: consists of 2-3, occasionally 4 reddish-brown spotted eggs, which are incubated by a female and a male.

- Habitat of sandgrouse

WHERE DOES IT LIVE?

Sandgrouse are common in southern France and Spain, Asia with southern borders in India and northern Mongolia and the Gobi Desert, throughout much of Africa, including the island of Madagascar.

PROTECTION AND PRESERVATION

Since sandgrouses live in extremely unfavorable areas, they are rarely encountered by humans. Nowadays, most species are not in danger of extinction.

Saja. Syrrhaptes paradoxus.mpg. Video (00:00:15)

Syrrhaptes paradoxus (Sajja)
Kazakhstan, Pavlodar region, Zhamantuz lake
May 22, 2010, O. Lyakhov (www.priirtyshje.kz)

Sajja, or hoof of Syrrhaptes paradoxus. Order Columbiformes - Pigeon-shaped. Family Pteroclidae - Sandgrouse.

In the fauna of Russia there is only one species of this genus. Within Russia, in addition to Altai, it is found only south of Tannu-Ola in Tyva and, possibly, in Buryatia south of the Aginskaya steppe.

Brief description of appearance. Saji's figure is perfectly streamlined. In adult birds, the wings and tail are very long, very pointed, almost thread-like, especially in males. The shortened toes on the paws are fused into a common sole, feathered on top. The upperparts are buffy with a dark transverse pattern on the back. Males have a buffy-red forehead, sides of the head and neck in front, a pale gray crop, a yellowish chest, delimited from the crop by a “band” of narrow intermittent black stripes on a white background. The belly has a large black spot on its front half, the rest of it is light, yellowish. The ends of the wings are gray. Females have dark streaks on the back of the head, necks and sides of the crop; the throat is pale yellow, bordered by a narrow dark stripe. There is no “banding” between the goiter and the chest. Otherwise they are colored similarly to males. Juveniles are more motley without elongated tail feathers. The weight of the bird is about 300 g.

Spreading. Sporadically nests in, more often found in its southern and eastern outskirts, in the western and northern - to, but rarely. Probably nesting in the Bertek depression, where there are suitable stations and saji were observed in the summer. Flights into the valley, on Ishtyk-Kol, to the northern shores are known, and were encountered in.

Habitats. It nests on salt marshes, fine-grabbled, dense loess-like and sandy areas, covered with sparse herbaceous vegetation and tufts of chia. Avoids bare coarse gravel areas.

Number and trend of its change. Currently rare. The number is subject to large fluctuations from year to year, but is clearly declining. In 1958-60. in the spring, flocks of several dozen were observed near the village of Mukhor-Tarkhata. Currently, flocks everywhere do not exceed 5-8 individuals.

Limiting factors. Grazing of livestock and reclamation work on nesting sites.

Features of biology. It is poorly studied in the republic. It does not hibernate, but appears very early in the spring. There is a known encounter of 6 individuals on March 17th. In 1958, flocks of saji were observed from the end of March. Nesting is very extended in time: on June 18, unbroken flocks and mating courtship of males in pairs were observed, but on June 6, a downy chick was encountered, and on June 21 and July 3, already flying chicks were caught at the age of about one and a half months after their hatching from eggs, and Almost the same age was obtained on August 28. And chicks with underdeveloped flight feathers were caught even in early September. The species is characterized by irregular mass flights far beyond the breeding territory. Sajis feed on plant foods, need water, and therefore make daily flights to bodies of water. Despite their amazing ability for fast flight, they often make up a significant part of the saker falcon’s diet.

ORDINARY SAJA(hoof; Syrrhaptes paradoxus), a bird of the sandgrouse family. Body weight 200–300 g. The general appearance of this bird is typical of all sandgrouses, but the body is more elongated, with an ideal streamlined shape. It is especially easy to distinguish the hoof by the structure of the legs. The wide toes with thick pads on the sole are feathered and fused to the nail phalanges, forming something like a hare's paw. The color of the male above is ocher-sand with a blackish streaky pattern, the chest is yellowish with narrow dark transverse stripes, the belly is black. There is a yellow ring around the neck. The female is more modestly colored. On the ground, the sajya moves in small steps, while holding its body almost horizontally; runs pretty fast when needed. It takes off with the flapping of its wings, more or less vertically, and only then moves forward. It flies easily and quickly, and can reach speeds much higher than other sandgrouses.

Distributed in desert and semi-desert zones from the lower reaches of the Volga through Kazakhstan, Mongolia and South-Eastern Transbaikalia to the west of Manchuria. Within the nesting area, it lives in deserts and semi-deserts with dense soils (clayey, loess, saline, gravelly) and with wormwood and cereal vegetation. Avoids sandy areas, but sometimes nests on the outskirts of well-fixed sands. It feeds on green shoots, inflorescences, but more often on small seeds of steppe and desert plants collected on the ground. Apparently, the above-mentioned structure of the paws, which protect the bird from burns when running on hot soil, is connected with this. Sadzha is a sedentary nomadic bird; it moves from the northern parts of its range to the south, often outside the nesting area. One of the most interesting biological features of the sajji is its non-periodic mass flights far beyond the boundaries of the nesting area, both in the western and eastern directions. When moving in a western direction, it sometimes reaches Western Europe, and in the eastern direction - Northern China and Manchuria. These flights usually occur in the spring, in April - May. Finding themselves far beyond the borders of their homeland, saji sometimes stayed here until the following spring, and individual pairs tried to nest. However, the Saji could not acclimatize anywhere and eventually died everywhere. The reasons for the non-periodic mass migrations of the Saj are still not fully understood. It is believed that they follow a period of successful breeding of birds for several years and then the onset of starvation. At the northern borders of the range in spring, hooves appear early, in the first half of March, but pairing, mating games and egg laying occur much later, approximately in mid-April.

During mating, the male stays close to the female, runs around her like a pigeon, but does not flare his neck or bow. Sometimes he takes off and makes a circle around the female. The displaying bird drives away other males. After mating, the female lays eggs in the nest. The nest is a shallow hole with scanty litter of dry stems or without it at all. Sometimes it is covered with a bush of wormwood or cereals, but more often it is located openly. The clutch consists, as a rule, of 3, rarely 2, clay-gray eggs with sparse dark spots. Both members of the pair take part in incubation, starting after the first egg is laid. During the day, the birds sit on the nest intermittently; flying to a watering hole, they sometimes spend an hour or more there, bathing in dust and simply resting. Incubation lasts about a month. When there is danger, adults try to take the culprits away from the nest.

The hatched chicks soon leave the nest with their parents and at first stay in the immediate vicinity. After breeding is completed, sajis gradually unite into flocks, which reach enormous sizes in the fall. Gradually from the northern parts of the nesting area they move south. However, the departure in most cases goes unnoticed, and only in some places a pronounced flight is observed. The latter occurs in different parts of the range from late September to early November. Saji sheds once a year, completely. For most birds it begins in late May - early June and ends in October. The number of saj is declining in many places.

Appearance . The tail is very long, almost thread-like, the outer flight feathers are also thread-like. The top is sandy-ochre with a black pattern, the forehead and throat are red, the chest is gray-yellow with a black and white “band”, the belly is black, the feathering of the paws is white. The female’s crop is yellowish with black spots, there is no “band”, the throat is bordered by a narrow black stripe. In young birds the tail is not elongated; the crop has a transverse pattern.

Lifestyle . Saja is an inhabitant of deserts and semi-deserts.

A sedentary and nomadic bird, sometimes making mass flights far beyond the breeding area (up to Southern Europe and Scandinavia, in Russia - to Arkhangelsk). Common.

It nests in areas with dense soils, in clayey, loess, saline and gravelly deserts and semi-deserts, both on the plain and in the mountains. Sajja always lives in flocks and often forms colonies at the nesting site. The nest is a small hole, open or built under a wormwood bush. The clutch from mid-April and later consists of 3 yellowish-ocher eggs with faint pale brown spots. The shell, unlike the hazel grouse, is without shine.

Habits and behavior are similar to those of hazel grouse, but the flight is even more beautiful and fast, and she herself seems slimmer.

Saja feeds on seeds of various plants, less often on buds and shoots. Object of sport hunting.

Similar species. In flight, it is distinguished by an elongated tail and wings, from

Description

The bird prefers to settle in clayey and gravelly deserts and semi-deserts overgrown with wormwood. When choosing a nesting site, nearby water sources are of particular importance. The vertical boundary of the habitat reaches 2.5 thousand meters above sea level.

Sajja overwinters within its habitat and, as a rule, does not migrate. In the cold season, it concentrates in the habitats of ungulates, which loosen the snow and make it easier for birds to find food.

Habitats

The distribution area of ​​the bird starts from the northern Caspi, the bird is present in Kazakhstan, in the south of Altai and Tuva, in Transbaikalia and Mongolia. In the European part of the Russian Federation, many representatives of this species of birds settle in the Caspian region. In most areas, the number of sajji does not fluctuate, but in some areas it may decline.

From time to time, quite a large number of birds fly away from their usual nesting sites and migrate to other areas, including those with uncharacteristic landscapes. For example, bird arrivals have been recorded in the Leningrad and Arkhangelsk regions, in Primorye and the Amur region. Such sporadic migrations are largely due to a lack of food supply.

Body structure

The dimensions of an average saji reach 45 cm with a bird weighing up to 300 grams. The wingspan of the described animal reaches 70 cm. The flight is very light, fast, accompanied by frequent flapping and changes of direction.

The tail is long with even more elongated thread-like feathers. The hind toe is completely absent, the front toes are fused to the claws and have a hard sole. The paw is feathered down to the claws and looks like a hare's.

The color is reddish or sandy, with variegated inclusions. The bottom of the abdomen is black, the paws are white. The plumage of young birds is more faded than that of adults. Sexual dimorphism is not developed.

Features of behavior

The mating period of the described representative of the animal world begins in mid-spring and lasts until July. When attracting a female, males run quickly on straight legs, folding and fluffing their feathers. In this form, they are capable of making two-meter jumps up.

Sajis nest on the ground. To do this, they look for suitable depressions, after which they surround them with small stones for protection. Nests are located openly in the steppe; sometimes the bird camouflages them under bushes or in thickets of cereals.

The incubation period takes up to a month. The female does the incubation, while the male brings her food. After hatching, the young are fed by their parents. Only after a certain time do the chicks become completely independent.

Commercial significance

Saja is a very interesting and beautiful bird, but it does not have any special commercial value. In areas where the number of this bird is high, it is the object of amateur and sport hunting. The meat does not have any special taste.

Currently in Russia there are no restrictions on the shooting of birds in the autumn season. The saje has not been assigned conservation status; this species is not in danger of extinction.