Mandarin ducks: A short description for children-how it looks, where it lives, what eats, weight, size, wingspan, photo of a female and a male. Why is the Mandarin duck entered in the Red Book?

Duck-Mandarin-is considered one of the most attractive birds in nature. Until now, it is a symbol of the culture of the East, and its image can be seen on all kinds of items of everyday life and art, duck drawings are applied to dining rooms, vases, decorative panels and paintings.

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A mandarinka duck is a bird from a duck and family ducks. In this article we will consider it in more detail.

Why was the mandarin duck so called?

The duck-Mandarinka got its name thanks to bright multicolor plumage. In China, tangerines were called wealthy noble rulers who dressed up in catchy clothes. Such a bright color has plumage in males.
Previously, the Mandarinka duck had another name: “Mandarinskaya” or “Chinese” duck. There is also an opinion that the duck received its name due to the fact that it was decorating ponds in the Imperial Palace and courtyards of advisers of East Asia.
Definitely the name of the mandarin duck comes from its beauty and involvement in greatness And it is in no way connected with the same name of the citrus fruit.

Why is the Mandarin duck entered in the Red Book?

You cannot hunt for this type of ducks - it is protected by law and entered in the Red Book. In the fall of the year, the male duck ducks his bright plumage and becomes like an ordinary duck - this is the most dangerous period for duck mandarin, Since she can become a victim of a hunter.
Therefore, in the habitats of these ducks, the hunting season begins at the end of September: when most of the ducks of tangerines - leaves its nests and flies into the warm lands.
The tangerine takes root well and multiplies in captivity. People often start it as a decorative bird for their artificial reservoirs.
The bird is perfectly tamed and is a frequent inhabitant of park ponds. She non -conflict And he gets along well with other varieties of waterfowl.
Accommodation of ducks-mandarins in protected areas with proper conditions, Allows you to protect the population of these rare birds.

How many ducks-mandarins are left on Earth?

Despite its popularity, duck-mandarinka is a rare species of birds.
Its number around the world is not high and reaches only - 25 thousand birds.
About 15 thousand individuals live in Russia.
Their rest is distributed in the countries of East Asia.

Mandarinka-utter: female and male, photo

Duck-Mandarinka-male

The male and the female duck-mandarins have different plumages. In the male, in the mating season, the color becomes a beautiful and bright color. This distinguishes it from all the birds of the duck family.
On the head of the Selezny there is large crest, and on the neck is remarkable orange bacenbard. The same orange fan is located at the end of the poultry wing. When the wings are folded, the last feather protrudes from the wing in the form of a kind of fan.
If you look closely, these fans on both sides form a shape reminiscent of the saddle on the back of the bird. The color of the Seleznya Mandarinka consists of purple, white, brown, orange-red and green feathers. Some of the feathers have smooth color transitions.
Paws of duck-mandarinki Seleznya They have a yellow tint, and the beak is red. This characterically distinguishes him from the female during the discharge of plumage. I must say that the molting process in the male occurs twice a year.
In addition to traditional coloring, there are white ducks of tangerines. You can find out by a characteristic saddle from the plumage on the back. Among the villages of white color, a characteristic feature is cream spots in plumage.

Duck mandarinka, female

The color of the female is not as motley as selezny. The female duck mandarinka has a thinner outline of the silhouette.
The crest on her head is not as impressive as the male. The plumage on the head gray. On the back of the female is located A feather of brown-olive shade with ripples.
In the lower part of the body on the abdomen, white plumage.
Such a discreet outfit helps the bird at the time of the hatching of eggs with chicks, it becomes almost invisible to predators.

Duck-Mandarinka: Where does it live and what is interesting?

Initially, the Mandarinka duck populated southern regions of East Asia, And then its population spread throughout Korea, China, Japan and partially Russia. Mandarins living in the northern areas by the end of September are performing a flight to the southern regions Japan and China.
And only at the very beginning of March, when the snow has not yet completely melted, ducks return to their native nests. This type of duck is interesting in that able to live high on a tree. In some cases, the tangerines nested at an altitude of about 6 m above the ground.
Such a way of life allowed the birds to tame their chicks to height, from almost the first days of life - the chicks can jump from the nest without injuring themselves.

Habitat of ducks-mandarinka in Russia

Mandarins living in Russia choose for nesting Primorsky and Khabarovsk Territory.
Their settlement can also be found in areas Sakhalin and Amur Region. The northern territories are preferred by a mandarin duck, leading a migratory lifestyle.

Where is the mandarin duck. what do the chicks look like?

The nesting period of tangerines It begins in April and ends in June. The ducks are inhibited in coniferous or deciduous forests, on tall trees, not far from water. As a rule, the territory for their hollows is a quiet and cozy place overgrown with shrubs or littered with branches.
Perfect fit, A tall tree with hanging branches above the water. When implementing a seasonal flight, the mandarin can settle along rivers and ponds with dense thickets in the coastal zone. Often it is found in the talkers of mountain rivers.

During one masonry, the female duck-mandarinka lays up to 14 eggs And he trifles them for a month. All this period, the female does not leave the masonry. The male task is to provide food for the female during the standing period.
When the chicks are born, both parents begin the process of care and feeding offspring that lasts from 35 to 45 days. I must say that the ducks of the Mandarinka are beautiful parents, they do not leave their offspring and help each other in the educational process.
At the forty day of life, chicks make their first attempts at flight. At this time, the chicks do not yet have sufficient plumage and they are helped not only by wings, but also the membranes on the paws to plan a flight. Thus, the female tames them to swimming and self -extraction of food.
However, it is not always possible to maintain offspring - the chicks of ducks-mandarins Sometimes they become victims of attacks from wild animals. In the natural habitat, the enemies of the tangerines are proteins - breakers of nests, raccoon dogs, birds of predators, fox and raccoon.

What size and weight is duck-mandarin, what is the wingspan?

A mandarinka duck is an excellent swimmer, the bird dives perfectly. However, she dives extremely rarely only if the danger threatens her. In addition, its flight is fast, light and maneuverable, from the place the duck takes off in the vertical position of the body.
Mandarinka moves well both in water and on land. The small size of the body of the bird allows you to fly among forest thickets and trees. And the small weight makes it possible to freely jump over the branches of the tree.
A bright duck weighs no more than 800 g, and the size of its body reaches 50 cm. At the same time, its wing wing is 60 cm. The female and the drain of this threshold of ducks have almost the same body weight and size.

How many years does a mandarinka duck live?

The average life expectancy of these decorative birds in the natural habitat, does not exceed 6 years. This period is due to the fact that this type of ducks is not rarely becoming an elderly predatory animals.
In captivity, the Mandarin duck is able to live for about 12 years. But for this, she needs to ensure all the conditions of comfortable residence, and especially a favorable wintering. Often used Special wooden houses with a straw flooring and heating water in a pond or a special aviary for bathing.

What does the mandarin duck eat?

The nutrition of tangerines in their habitats is rich in a variety of plant and protein foods. These birds love to eat acorns, but also varnish with berries, grains and seeds of wild and cultivated plants. They like to profit from fish and seafood: crayfish, mollusks.
Worms, frogs, bugs and other insects - are also for tangerines the desired food. Sometimes ducks-mandarins fly to sowing and winter fields for finding food-rice cereals and buckwheat, attract duck with their shoots.
In reserves or private reservoirs, a decorative bird is fed with food like that that she receives in the wild habitat: corn, barley, rice, wheat - in a solid and boiled form, acorns, grated vegetables, salads from dandelion and other greenery, bran, duckweed. During nesting, the diet is expanded adding fish fillet and ground meat.

Mandarinka duck: interesting facts for children

In nature, it is extremely rare, there is a variety of albinos tangerines: with a completely white color of the plumage.
The voice that these birds emit is actually different from duck grunts. This is a sound that is more like a whistling squeak.
A small set of chromosomes of tangerines does not allow her to cross with other varieties of the duck genus.
When the mandarin spleen is sinking, its plumage acquires a grayish tint and resembles externally - a wild duck. It is difficult for the hunter to distinguish him. Therefore, the spleen becomes a frequent prey of the hunter.
A decrease in the population of these rare ducks associated with the destruction of forests, cutting off trees reduces nesting capabilities.
In China, there is a tradition to give tangerines to the newlyweds for marriage, symbolizing certain wishes. It is believed that rare birds will bring a young family Fidelity of spouses and prosperity in marriage. In fact, this sign does not correspond to reality, the devotion of the male and the female tangerines is not so long - they change the couple annually.
After a change in the plumage, the mounds of the mandarine, it is possible to distinguish the mandarin from the female only thanks to his red beak.
Mandarin ducks They do not like to nest in the same place: every year they choose for themselves a new barrel up to 6-15 meters high. They love to equip hollows on oak trees.

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