#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. The Nornickel company postponed the demolition of the unexploited building of the pumping station of the Nadezhda Metallurgical Plant (NMZ) because of the nest of upland buzzard birds, which bred new offspring.
The object was supposed to be demolished in June, but after talking with bird watchers, they decided to postpone the work until August-September. Vitaly Kitov, a leading specialist of the Territorial Management and Improvement Department, spoke about this.
“The specialists of the department went to the site to inspect it. We realized that the object had owners – they designated themselves with a bright cry. We saw an unusual beautiful bird and turned to bird watchers to find out what kind of species it is, when they complete their summer stay in Taimyr and leave our region. Based on the information received, the demolition of the building was postponed until August-September”, said Vitaly Kitov.
Rough-legged buzzards are typical predators. They are considered the most northern representatives of the genus (there are only four of them in Russia). As a rule, they nest on steep slopes.
A good nest is not the most important thing for these birds, food – tundra rodents – is much more important. They can eat 30 small mice per day. The number of feathered offspring depends on the food supply. Five eggs were found in the nest of the Norilsk buzzards, which means a rich year.
“The rough-legged buzzard is a traditional species for our area. In the nest, we saw about five chicks. It suggests that the year was fruitful and they had a good food base. They should get up on the wing approximately until mid-August. They will become completely adults when they leave the nest, by the end of summer”, explained Larisa Stryuchkova, a leading specialist of the Joint Directorate of Taimyr Nature Reserves.
The upland buzzard, like other birds of prey, begins hatching from the first laid egg. As a result, chicks hatch not all at once, but in turn. In the first months of life, the warmth and care of their parents is important for them, and moving the nest to another place entails the death of the chicks.
Small songbirds – wagtails – settled next to the birds of prey on the territory of the NMP pumping station unexploited building.
“Here we’ve discovered a rather interesting phenomenon, when small birds settle next to birds of prey under their protection”, added Larisa Stryuchkova.
Earlier we wrote about the northern birds from Red Books.
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Text: Ekaterina Elkanova, Photo: Nikolay Shchipko and open sources
