The number of birds staying in Vitebsk for winter is growing

The number of birds in Vitebsk that were supposed to fly to warmer climates but stayed in the city for winter is growing.

The sight witnessed recently is not for the faint of heart. Not far from the new "Euroopt" store in Bilevo, there is a patch of field that is a solid mud pit with a few puddles. It is here that about twenty ducks and drakes have settled. Practically a few meters from the paved pedestrian path, the birds were carelessly going about their business. Some were searching for worms and plant roots in the puddles, while others, with their legs tucked, were dozing on the ground, or rather, in the mud.

The birds have become so accustomed to the presence of passersby that they didn't even react to them. However, they always raised their heads when another piece of bread, which kind-hearted people shared with the feathered creatures, flew in their direction.

The problem of waterfowl inhabiting a large city is not new. The chief ecologist of the city, Valery Fando, reported that the number of birds in the regional center that are supposed to fly to warmer climates is increasing every year. According to rough estimates, up to 800 waterfowl spent the winter in the city and its surroundings last season.

In mid-November, ducks could be found in Vitebsk in seemingly the most unsuitable places – in a field near the "Euroopt" store, in a ravine on the Dunay stream on Moskovsky Avenue, building № 27, block 2. Even earlier, near this building, ducks and drakes were carelessly walking near a children's sandbox, completely unafraid of people.

If birds find shelter in such places, then the Vitba River and the reservoir in Sokolniki are a paradise for them. It is not surprising that in Sokolniki, when we visited there with city ecologists, the reservoir was not empty. Near the shore, drakes and ducks with grown ducklings were swimming. We counted more than two dozen. And gracefully among these birds stood a pair of swans. However, both ducks and swans were ready at any moment to come ashore to take the offered bread almost from their hands.

- Such trust is fraught with danger, as we know of many cases where homeless people hunted ducks and even swans in the city, - I express my concern.

- And that's not the only concern, - Valeriy Fando agrees. - The fact that birds that should be migrating are staying in the city is not only due to climate warming, but also to people who have accustomed wild birds to food that is not natural for them – bread. If birds were fed only white bread, it would be one thing, but ducks are being stuffed with all sorts of things, including black bread, which freezes in their goiters in the cold. Last season, a die-off of ducks was observed, with an excess of salt found in their stomachs. In addition, feeding dulls the birds' natural instincts, and they do not fly away for winter. If water bodies freeze, birds fly to others, as the saying goes, a duck quacks – the banks ring. And if they stay for the winter, they should be fed during frosts exceeding 20 degrees. And only with white bread or chopped vegetables.

Up to several hundred ducks and drakes were in unfrozen ice holes on the Vitba River and at the discharge point of wastewater into the Dvina at the city's treatment facilities in the village of Tarny during the severe frosts last winter.

Elena Bashun, "Vitbichi"