American goat: the only bird that hibernates for the winter

It is customary to divide birds into settled and migratory, depending on their lifestyle. But among them there are very special birds. This is an American white-necked goat. Although these birds do not like the cold season, they are in no hurry to leave their homeland in search of the best places for wintering. Instead of exhausting and dangerous flights, they chose hibernation in a cozy place.

The American white-necked goat, or, as it is sometimes called, the California goat, is found in arid regions in western North America. Its habitat extends from the Canadian province of British Columbia in the north to the central regions of Mexico in the south. This is a small bird, whose weight reaches only 35-55 grams, and body size - 20 centimeters.

Kozodoi build their nests on the ground, under the cover of bushes or grass. In late spring and throughout the summer, the female lays, as a rule, two eggs. But there have been cases when the female makes the second nest and lays a new batch of eggs while the male feeds the hatched offspring. In addition to this feature, the goats have a very interesting defensive reaction to the appearance of predators: the goats are open their mouths and hiss loudly, simulating the behavior of a snake.

Kozodoi are active at night, as their main food is night flying insects. With the onset of the cool season, the goats will fall into a special state resembling hibernation in mammals. At this time of the year, their main food, insects, is practically absent. In order not to complicate their lives by seeking food, they hibernate. Kozodoi find a quiet place in the crevices of the rocks and plunge into a daze, which can last from 10-20 days to 3 months. Studies have shown that metabolic processes in the body of a bird are so slow that their body temperature can drop to 10 degrees Celsius. Cases were recorded when the body temperature in birds dropped to 3-4 degrees, and oxygen consumption was reduced to 30 times. Moreover, their hibernation places are not completely closed from the outside world. The goat settles in for the winter so that the sun's rays fall on it and heat it with its heat.

Interestingly, not all white-necked goats have this skill. The northern bird population, which lives in Canada and the northern states of the United States, prefers to still fly south to Mexico. But the Kozodoi, who originally lived in the south, just plunge into hibernation.

Zoologists discovered an interesting peculiarity of the goats in winter stupor only in 1947, when half-dead birds were discovered in the rocks. But Native Americans knew about this feature of birds long before the discovery of scientists, because in the language of the Hopi Indians the white-necked goat is called "sleeping".