Pigeon purring sound. A brief excursion into the anatomy of pigeons

We invite you to learn about the external framing of birds and their distinctive characteristics. You will learn how their brain works, what sounds they make and what speed of flight they are capable of developing.

Pigeons differ among themselves in the length of the body, wingspan, the specifics of plumage and some other features. But the structure of the skeleton and the external description have much in common. Basically, the pigeon has a length of 30-35 cm, and weighs about 270-380 grams. The coloration is varied, as well as the structure of the pen.

It is worth noting that the coloring of birds is based on three main pigments:

• ash brown;
• black;
• brown.

Coloration depends on both the pigment and its location in the feather. However, not only these factors affect what kind of color you get in the end. In this process, the pattern gene plays a special role. Also, the color is formed due to the sex chromosomes.

In nature, birds are often found in which the color is variegated. Pigeons living in the tropics are distinguished by their bright plumage. For birds living in a different climatic zone, a gray or brown color is inherent. Moreover, the coloration of young individuals practically does not differ from adults.

Skeleton

How much does a pigeon skeleton weigh? It makes up about 9% of the total weight of the bird. The bones are quite strong, do not contain bone marrow.

And given how many bones the skeleton contains, we can conclude about its strength:

• body bones;
• cervical and tail vertebrae;
• wing bones;
• pelvic bones.

The pigeon looks graceful due to the perfectly formed breast bone. It contains the pectoral muscles that help the bird fly well.

The fact that the pigeon neck has vertebrae deserves special attention. There are 44 of them, so the neck of birds is extremely mobile, as a result of which they can dramatically change the direction and speed of flight.

The tail part of the bird's spine is shortened. Wide pelvic bones act as the basis to which the legs are attached. Dove wings have shoulder, radius and ulna bones.

Head and torso

The pigeon's head looks small relative to its body. The beak is the upper and lower beak and has significant distinctive features depending on the breed.

At the base of the upper section of the beak there is a cere in the form of an outgrowth, in which the nasal passages are located. Round eyes are concentrated on the sides of the head, ears are hidden a little lower and closer to the back of the head under the feathers. They do not have auricles. However, there are skin folds, thanks to which the ears perform their function and the pigeons have a fine hearing for different sounds. The body of the dove is dense, slightly streamlined.

Wings

Dove wings have shoulder bones, forearms and hands. The wings of a dove are endowed with flight feathers of three orders. The longest are flight feathers.

How is the flight?

The wings of a dove aid in flight. The tail serves as a rudder that corrects side to side movements. The strongest air resistance is overcome by the wings of a dove, or rather, their ends. When the body overheats, shortness of breath may occur. In such a situation, the bird opens its beak, while the wings of the dove are laid aside.

To keep a bird in the air, you need to make the movement that the bird creates by flapping its wings. As the flight speed increases, the wing beat frequency will decrease. If you are interested in how much the flight speed of a dove can be, then its performance can be quite decent - up to 20 m per second. Here are the sounds they make when they take off.

Internal structure

Pigeons have no bladder and no teeth at all. The spleen, stomach and liver have small volumes in relation to the total body weight.

Digestive system

The digestive system of a pigeon is characterized by the fact that its esophagus is able to increase significantly. No matter how much food is in it, the bird will not experience discomfort. At the end of the esophagus is a goiter in which the bird can make temporary supplies.

The stomach of a pigeon is composed of two sections:

• glandular, from which gastric juice is secreted;
• muscle, in which food is digested.

The pigeon's digestive system works quite quickly and digestion takes 2-3 hours.

circulatory system

The circulatory system has a 4-chambered heart and 2 circles of blood circulation. The circulatory system is capable of operating at maximum power and the heart can beat up to 550 beats per minute during a rapid take-off.

Nervous system

Scientists have found that the brain of pigeons is very similar to how the brain is structured in mammals. This explains the ability of birds to perform complex mental tasks. The pigeon's brain is well developed. The nervous system of birds is designed in such a way that their brain is able to remember the commands that the trainer asks to perform.

sense organs

Pigeons have an excellent viewing angle. In flight, a pigeon, with the help of its eyes and brain, is able to determine the distance, the situation and orient itself in a short period of time. Its viewing angle is 340°. So only 1/6 of the circle is outside of the visible. This is really an enviable viewing angle, considering how much the viewing angle is for a person (150 °).

Pigeons have incredibly sensitive eyes. They see objects and details that are very far away, and they also see when their owner is approaching. Birds have color vision, and their brain is able to remember colors and shades. The surrounding information is also perceived by birds due to good hearing, since it is very thin in them and perceives different sounds.

Walking around the city, each of us heard pigeons cooing. No one doubts that they master their communication and the language by which they communicate with each other and transmit information. And how interesting it is to find out what the ubiquitous birds are talking about. This article will introduce you to the common sounds they make, their causes and meaning, and the differences in the "talk" of females and males.

Sound calling card

Each bird species has its own sound calling card. Owls hoot, ducks quack, cranes chirp. What sounds a dove makes is also not a secret. However, there are a number of different signals that are only occasionally caught by the human ear.

Most often, a city dweller hears the cooing of pigeons. However, these birds are capable of making other sounds. The most common of them are listed below:

• cooing,
• hiss,
• clicking,
• whistling,
• cry.

Clicking and hissing sounds are made by chicks at different stages of their development. After all, at first they can only hiss or click their beak, requiring attention and care from their parents. When they grow up, they begin to whistle at the sight of older members of their family.

A pigeon may call out sharply and briefly "orrrr" or "urrr". This is a danger sign. Behind him, the flapping of wings is usually heard, after which the whole flock and even the doves in love, carried away by each other, take off and soar into the air. It is enough to give an alarm signal to one bird, but absolutely everyone will hear it and take it into account.

Males and females speak differently

But the most common sound of a dove is cooing. Females and males do it in their own way, their cooing is caused by different reasons.

But, regardless of gender, all pigeons coo, making soft, guttural sounds.

Loving doves treat their chicks responsibly. Both parents participate in incubation of the offspring. We are talking about this in the article.

But, despite equal care for the eggs, only females in this important period emit a special coo, something similar to the purr of a cat.

Males, on the other hand, make characteristic sounds when they choose and conquer their partner. The period of courting a dove is inextricably linked with the "song of the lover". This is a required attribute. At the same time, the performance is accompanied by specific movements and posture.

The described moment is very important, since these representatives of birds are monogamous. They choose their mate for life. Each male tries to attract the attention of the female he likes. Pigeons in love use the entire arsenal that nature has awarded them.

Enamored males relentlessly follow the chosen girlfriend, circle around her, either following her on the heels, or running ahead. The dove spreads its tail and presses it to the ground. She certainly arches her chest, tries to expand it as much as possible in order to appear stronger and larger in the eyes of the bride.

A distinctive feature is that the dove coos with its beak closed.

The cooing of each individual is unique

Doves in love always attract the eye and touch. After all, they always have a gentle and touching behavior during courtship. In the course of a peculiar ceremony, the couple strokes each other's neck and head with their beaks, touching them, continuing to make characteristic sounds.

When pigeons coo, they do it strictly individually. Each individual has its own rhythm, tonality, frequency and intensity of sound.

Considering that urban birds can make up to 8 clutches per year, each of which will be preceded by a courtship period, then you are simply doomed to almost constantly see how loving doves coo while dancing.

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Few know which birds chirp. But everyone is pleased, going into a park or garden, to hear the trills of birds, the sonorous chirping of small birds. Especially in spring, when they begin active work on arranging their nests, breeding chicks. Without their polyphony, nature would have plunged into dead silence, become numb.

Forests, meadows and parks enliven with their unforgettable. But each bird speaks in its own way. These sounds are diverse and unique. Further, we will learn in detail how the birds "talk" among themselves: who crackles, rings, and who hums.

The sounds that birds make

Each bird makes a sound. Ornithologists divide all bird vocals into long songs (trills) and short beeps. So what sounds do birds make? Nightingale, thrush - flood, whistle, click. Oriole singing consists of the sounds "fiu-liu-li" or "gi-gi-gi-gi". The starling imitates many sounds. The lark is ringing. The cuckoo was named after her cry - "cuckoo". With this sound, the male attracts the female during the mating season. They say: "The cuckoo cuckoos." But where did the yellow-bellied titmouse get its name from?

After all, she does not have blue plumage. The people noticed that the titmouse, especially in spring, pronounces “zin-zin”. In the people, it is also called Zinka, Zinziver. It is known that the swallow - chirps, the rook - shouts "gra", the sparrow - chirps, the crow - croaks, the magpie - cracks, the dove - cooes, the woodpecker - knocks, the owl - hoots. From poultry: duck - quacks, goose - cackle, rooster - crows. Below we learn about who coots from birds.

Designation

Before answering the question of which birds cooing, let's look into Dahl's explanatory dictionary and find out what the word "cooing" means. The dictionary explains to us its meaning as "to make characteristic sounds, reminiscent of" kurly-kurly ". The cries of turkeys are called cooing. But sometimes they say that the turkey kuldikatsya.

In common parlance, sometimes domestic turkeys are called kuldyks. On the head of the turkey there is a small process that, when air is blown out, vibrates and makes a low but loud sound. In letters, it looks like this: "kh-ul-dykh."

Cranes

Turkeys aren't the only birds that coo. Cranes cry the same way. Returning to Dahl, another interpretation of the word "coo" is: "shout like a crane." With its loud trumpet cry, this bird stands out among other polyphony of birds.

The crane in many peoples of the world symbolizes holiness and spirituality. The ancient Egyptians considered him a bird of the sun, close to the gods and the sky. In the Caucasus, it was believed that after the death of the souls of soldiers who fell in battle, they move into cranes. It was considered a great sin to kill this bird. V was very often depicted on art canvases, and poets composed their haiku about him. And also in this country there is a tradition to give the newlyweds (during the wedding ceremony) paper origami "cranes" as a symbol of longevity, health, faith and peace.

Tall, thin-legged, graceful in its own way, this wading bird has always been a source of inspiration for writers, poets and artists. For example, Paustovsky compared crane cries with the sonorous pouring of water in a glass vessel.

Signs associated with cranes

So, you already know which birds are cooing. Cranes in Rus' have always been revered. They were considered mystical birds, and many signs were associated with their appearance:

• In the old days, it was believed that a crane wedge flying away in autumn takes the souls of the dead with it to the afterlife.
• In the spring, on the contrary, he brings the souls of unborn babies. A particularly joyful event was to meet a crane wedge in the spring. Hearing the ringing cooing in the sky, the peasants ran out into the street and turned to the birds with prayers for health and well-being. Cranes were often mentioned in ritual spring songs and incantations.
• It was believed that the one who sees a pair of cranes for the first time in the spring will get married or get married this year. And whoever meets the whole flock as a whole will soon be replenished in the family.
• A crane wedge in the sky is a harbinger of a thaw. “It became warm, so the zhurka flew in, and he says: I brought it!”.
• If the cranes fly to the Nut Spas, then there will be frost on Pokrov; if not, then winter - later.
• If the cranes fly off to the southern countries one by one, then there will be a crop failure, and if in a flock, then one should expect a rich harvest.