Alien sparrows drove Kamchatka bullfinches into the forest
On January 9, Bullfinch Day is celebrated in Russia. Mostly flocks of these small birds with a red breast delight the inhabitants of the region in winter, reported RAI KAMCHATKA-INFORM in the Kronotsky Nature Reserve.
Before the accidental settlement of field sparrows on the peninsula in the late 1970s, and then the deliberate importation of house sparrows in the early 1980s, common bullfinches were quite numerous in populated areas. However, the overgrown alien populations have displaced the bright birds into the forests.
In Kamchatka, bullfinches are found throughout the peninsula, including the Kronotsky and Koryak Nature reserves and the South Kamchatka Federal Reserve.
It is a common breeding and wintering species. Bullfinches feed mainly on berries and seeds of various shrubby plants, and occasionally on insects.
In winter, they form flocks and make nomads. Their movements are related to the abundance of food in certain areas, including within the boundaries of settlements.
Birds concentrate in places where their favorite shrubs were most productive in a particular year (for example, mountain ash, rose hips, hawthorn), flying from one place of the meal to another.
Photo by Sergey Krasnoshchekov/Kronotsky Nature Reserve.