Watch the birds fight the wind

* The author is part of the community of readers of La Vanguardia.

Oliver Thansan
Oliver Thansan
12 November 2023 Sunday 16:05
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Watch the birds fight the wind

* The author is part of the community of readers of La Vanguardia

Autumn is a time when there can be strong gusts of wind, especially in the wake of storms. Birds have learned to fly when this phenomenon occurs, they even know how to take advantage of it to save energy in flight or take advantage of the blizzard to go faster.

In these images in La Vanguardia Readers' Photos we can see, on the plains of La Figuerosa, in Altet, Urgell region, the red kite and the buzzard fighting with the wind.

The red kite is a species of bird similar in appearance to the black kite, from which it is distinguished by its silver-gray head and silhouette. Their flight is harmonious and elegant, generally planned in large circles.

This bird is one of the easiest daytime birds of prey to differentiate due to its reddish color, its very pronounced forked tail, and it is one of the favorite birds of prey among those who are dedicated to observing it.

As night approaches they gather in colonies within wooded areas. It lives in countryside with forests, fields and scrubland. It nests in trees, although it usually flies over open fields in search of rodents and other birds, including poultry.

The buzzard is typical of the so-called Old World. It has a medium size. The plumage of each individual varies between dark brown and white tones.

He almost always hunts alone. Circle flight is common throughout the year among pairs, which protect their nest. A curious detail is that it is common for one of the members of the pair to chase the other at a distance of 10 to 50 meters in a horizontal flight and copying some of their movements.

Its natural habitat is open landscapes such as meadows, fields and heaths with forests or adjacent wooded areas in which to build its nest.

We can also see the cormorant flying in the wind through these lands of Urgell. This bird is aquatic and captures fish by propelling itself with its legs and diving for more than a minute in the water, being able to reach a depth of 10 meters.