This awkward-looking bird has the imposing image of a medieval warrior. A massive beak, compressed from the sides like an ax, greenish-yellow with a red end, reminiscent of a terrible ax. Dense paw-plates at its base in the form of a lowered visor complement the formidable appearance of the bird. Give him a spear and a shield in addition - and he would be a well-armed knight in full ammunition. It is not for nothing that the bird was nicknamed the hatchet, or hatchet (lat. Fratercula cirrhata; eng. Тufted puffin).

As if confirming this comparison, the warlike resident of the bird market bit painfully, and then with a strong blow, like an ax, cut the hand of the person holding him until it bled. With a deep, low-voice grunt of axes, he made it clear that he was ready to repeat the blow. A black Jesuit robe, white piercing eyes bordered with red eyelids and long wavy feathers - braids, like a plume on the head, emphasized the caricature resemblance of this little man to both a knight and a person of clergy.

The peculiar structure of the beak and tongue helps the bird to squeeze and press the caught fish to the palate, “in reserve,” and continue fishing. The freed lower jaw allows the hatchet to grab prey again. A hatchet flies from the sea, carrying caught fish. There are a lot of them in the beak, and they even hang down on the sides like a beard! Don't fly back and forth after one fish!

But try sticking your hand into the hole when the owner or mistress is there: you will be convinced that the massive beak was given to the bird not only for decoration. And the plume is just a spring wedding outfit.

The puffin nests in separate pairs on the rocky, inaccessible cliffs of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk and the Tatar Strait; it is also found in the Bering Sea.
These amazing birds arrive to us at the end of May, as soon as the sea is free of ice, and only in the second ten days of June and even later do they begin nesting.

Banding confirmed that the hatchet occupies the same hole every year. There is only one egg in the clutch; the hatchet hatchet, like the duck, incubates it for almost a month. Chicks are extremely gluttonous and grumpy. They are always quarreling with their neighbors over apartments and food.

Less than a month will pass before the small hatchets are lowered onto the water - this is an important event in the life of the colony. The bustle and noise at this time at the bird market is incredible.
By winter, young people lead an independent wandering life. In September, puffins fly away from their nesting sites to the south. All winter they stay away from the coast and do not appear on land.
Hatchets can fly not only in the air, but also in water, for which they use their wings. They row in the water with them, reaching impressive depths of 100 meters.

An unusual bird with a bright appearance of the auk family, living in the waters of the Arctic Ocean - the puffin or hatchet. Near Kamchatka and Sakhalin there are very small islands and rocks on which these birds have settled since ancient times. Every year, more than 100 thousand individuals flock here during egg laying.

The feathered body is black-brown in color, the cheeks are white, the head is decorated with tufts of yellow feathers sticking out behind the eyes, and the beak is a powerful bright orange hue. He spends almost his entire life at sea, feeding on fish and crustaceans, only during the mating season does he return to the mainland to give new life posterity. Unlike most birds, puffin puffins do not build nests, but use their large and powerful beaks, wielding them like a pickaxe, to dig holes in soft peat, scooping out the soil with their webbed feet. Due to the lack of territory, old burrows are not abandoned, but expand and deepen from generation to generation, creating complex underground labyrinths. When the burrow is ready, dry leaves and grass are collected for bedding for the single egg.

hatchet with a chick at the nest

In seven weeks, a very small and defenseless chick will hatch, which will have to be looked after for another two months until it gets stronger and begins an independent life. But until it gets stronger, the chick needs to be fed, and very well - the parents have to fly to the sea about six times a day in search of food. Often fishing spots are tens of kilometers from land and in order to reduce the frequency of flights, puffins try to bring as many fish as possible at a time. The reliably known catch record is 29 fish. Toporki are good divers and fast swimmers, so they easily get food.

a hatchet flies over the surface of the water, looking for a school of fish

hatchet returns with a catch

But the chicks are not the only ones waiting for hatchets with their catch. Grey-winged gulls nesting in the neighborhood, seeing a parent flying by with a rich catch, begin to chase easy prey. No matter how nimble the hatchet, a large and strong seagull often beats off the prey and the oppressed parent has no choice but to fly back to the sea to get food.

Hatchet(lat. Lunda cirrhata), or Long-crested puffins (lat. Fratercula cirrhata) is a bird of the auk family. It has a bright appearance - a powerful red-orange beak, flattened on the sides, white cheeks, and tufts of long yellowish feathers behind the eyes. The color of the plumage is monotonous, black and brown. Paws are red.

A medium-sized bird, body length about 35 cm; weight - 600-800 g.

They live on the Asian and American coasts of the North Pacific Ocean, south to California. They are most often seen flying along the shoreline close to the surface of the water in search of food for their young.

They nest in colonies along the ocean coasts. An excellent flyer; It takes off from the water with difficulty, accelerating for a long time, but stays in the air easily, sometimes climbing to great heights. Swims well and dives to more than 60 meters in depth. Unlike most auks, this species does not rely on its tarsus when walking. It runs, pushing off with its fingers, like all other birds.

It feeds on small fish and marine invertebrates. Having spotted prey in the water, the hatchet dives and then swims underwater, using its wings and legs as oars, chasing a school of small fish.

The wings of puffins are more designed for swimming underwater than for flying in the air, therefore, in order to reach their maximum speed (up to 64 km/h), they need to flap their wings very quickly - 300-400 times per minute.

Returning from a hunt, the hatchet carries several fish in its beak at the same time. The average catch is usually 10 - 12 small fish, but there is a known case (in Maine) when a caring father brought 62 fish in his beak. While the bird swims underwater, opening its beak for new prey, its rough tongue presses the already caught fish to special outgrowths on the roof of its mouth.

Colonies of hatchets are quite numerous in some places; for example, on one of the Bering Sea islands, 100,000 pairs were counted over an area of ​​approximately 12 km². They serve as a commercial object; meat and eggs are used for food.

A single egg is laid in a hole, which it digs in soft soil or under stones. The hatched chick is covered with thick, long and thin down; leaves the nest fully feathered

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animals
Type: Chordates
Class: Birds
Squad: Charadriiformes
Family: Auks
Genus: Hatchets
View: Hatchet (Lunda cirrhata)

Bird Hatchet is a bird from the auk family. Numerous breeding species.

Winters in the Pacific waters of Kamchatka, the Commander and Kuril Islands, as well as off the southern coast of Sakhalin and in Peter the Great Gulf.

The hatchet is a small bird, medium in size, the beak is quite massive, bright orange, body length is about 40 cm; weight - 600-800 g. plumage color is uniform, black-brown.

The cheeks are white, there are tufts of long yellowish feathers behind the eyes, and webbed feet.

Puffins are flocking birds; they mostly stay together and usually feed in the sea, where they constantly fly.

Birds also stand firmly and walk almost vertically on the ground.

Birds nest in colonies of varying sizes; one flock can contain 50 pairs; often individual pairs nest on islands and coastal cliffs.

In general, the hatchet is a nomadic bird.

Appears at nesting sites in May - June, flies away in August - September.

Usually hatchet eggs are laid in a created hole, but you can often see an egg in a crack in a rock.

Hatchets are excellent flyers, although it is difficult for them to take off from the water, but after gaining altitude they can soar for a long time at high altitudes.

Hatchetfish also dive well and swim underwater due to their webbed feet, and dive in pursuit of fish.

It feeds on small fish and marine invertebrates.

Unfortunately, hatchets are hunted for their dietary meat, and eggs are taken from hatchets.

The character of hatchets is quite formidable, brave, together they are ready to repel anyone.

On one of the Bering Sea islands, 100,000 pairs were counted over an area of ​​approximately 12 km².

The chick, which is often only one, is cared for by both parents, the hatched chick is covered with thick, long and thin down, and the chick leaves the nest fully feathered.

The hatchet, or hatchet, is an amazing bird. It got its name due to the unusual shape of its beak, which really looks a bit like the heel of an ax. She chooses harsh places to live, preferring to settle on the shores of the cold northern seas. We will talk further about the appearance and habits of the bird.

Bird hatchet

The Auk family includes many interesting-looking birds. These include puffins with flat orange beaks, auklets with a tuft of feathers on the bridge of their nose, and auks that resemble penguins. All of them are inhabitants of the sea and can spend many months in the water without going ashore at all.

Cute amazing hatchet birds are no exception. They live in the northern waters of the Pacific Ocean. Birds are found near Kamchatka, the Commander and Kuril Islands, near Sakhalin and Japan. Off the coast of North America they are distributed from the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska to California.

Appearance

The hatchet is a small bird whose body length is about 35-40 centimeters. Populations living in the western seas of the ocean are generally larger than those living in the eastern seas. Interesting: The hatchet is flattened on the sides, but quite large in height. It is extended forward and rounded towards the edge. The base of the beak is slightly greenish, while the rest of the beak is yellow-orange. The short and powerful legs of birds are colored yellow. Like all waterfowl species, they have webbed toes.

The dense, squat body of the hatchet is completely covered with blue-black plumage. But birds look like this only in winter. With the arrival of spring, both males and females transform, acquiring more expressive colors. Their legs turn a red-orange hue, their cheeks become pure white, and their beaks become very dark and bright red. Another new feature is the long tufts of yellowish feathers that appear above the eyes. All this is necessary during the mating season to attract a partner.

Lifestyle and reproduction

IN winter time hatchet birds constantly roam in the open ocean and sea spaces. In the spring they swim to the shores to give birth to offspring. They settle on small isolated islands or on inaccessible coasts. Other waterfowl species are often present next to them, and together they gather huge bird colonies.

Hatchetheads do not build nests, but dig them out in the ground with the help of a strong beak and flat paws. Therefore, the main condition for them is the presence of a sufficient soil or peat layer. From year to year they fly to the same places, without changing the nest, but only deepening it. When the hole is ready, the birds line it with grass and leaves and then lay an egg.

Each pair has only one chick. In the first weeks of life, he is completely defenseless, so his parents carefully guard him, taking turns flying off in search of food. After two months, the chick becomes quite old and independent, but it will be able to start its own family only after 3-4 years.

Behavior and nutrition

Due to their lifestyle, hatchet birds are more confident swimmers than flyers. To get good speed, they have to make a lot of quick swings. Maximum speed at the same time it reaches only 65 km/h. Lifting off the ground always occurs heavily and with strain. Nevertheless, they feel good in the air and can rise to significant heights.

On the surface of the ground, birds usually straighten their bodies upward and, if necessary, can run quite quickly. But what they do best is swim and dive. They are able to dive to a depth of 60 meters and hold their breath for several minutes. Underwater, they actively help themselves with their wings and paws, using them as oars.

The main diet of hatchets is fish, but from time to time adult birds hunt squids, sea ​​urchins and other invertebrates. The fishing sites are often far from the nest, so they try to carry as much prey as possible in their beak. There are cases when one bird brought up to 30 small fish at a time.

The hatchets themselves also often become someone else's prey. They are hunted by polar foxes, owls, peregrine falcons, and bald eagles. By choosing remote uninhabited islands, they avoid the threat of attack by land-based predators and, possibly, owls. But it is more difficult to hide from flying enemies. Grey-winged gulls often settle near bird colonies, stealing other people's eggs or young chicks. They are much larger than hatchets and can take catches by chasing them in the air.