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Ruffs in flight
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| [Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note |
This photo is from last month when I visited the nature reserve Lauwersmeer in the north of our country. I don’t know what to think about this photo. Not because I see only one male and all the others are females, but because of the quality. So I’m very curious about your opinion.
The Ruff (Philomachus pugnax) is a medium-sized wader which breeds on marshes and wet meadows across northern Eurasia. The male is much larger than the female (the reeve), and has a breeding plumage which includes brightly coloured head tufts and the large collar of feathers which led to the species' current name. The head and neck ornaments are erected as part of an elaborate display at a lek in which three differently plumaged types of male utilise a variety of strategies, including female mimicry, to gain access to the reeves. The female lays four eggs in a well-hidden ground nest, incubating and rearing the chicks on her own. Predators of chicks and eggs include mammals such as foxes, feral cats and stoats, and birds including large gulls, corvids and skuas.
This highly gregarious species is migratory, wintering, sometimes in huge flocks, in southern and western Europe, Africa, southern Asia and Australia. It forages in wet grassland and soft mud, probing or searching by sight for edible items. Insects are the main food, especially in the breeding season, but the Ruff will take plant material, including rice and maize, on migration and in winter.
The Ruff is usually considered to be the only member of its genus, with the Broad-billed and Sharp-tailed Sandpipers as its closest relatives. Although this bird's overall status is secure due to the large numbers breeding in Scandinavia and the Arctic, its range in much of Europe is contracting due to drainage, increased fertiliser use, the loss of mown or grazed breeding sites, and over-hunting.
Male Ruff start to moult into the main display plumage before their return to the breeding areas, and the proportion with head and neck decorations gradually increases through the spring. Second-year birds lag behind full adults in developing breeding plumage; since they have a lower body mass and a slower weight increase than adults, it may be that energy constraints during migration are the main reason of the delayed moult. Ruffs of both sexes have an additional moult stage between the winter and final summer plumages, a phenomenon also seen in the Bar-tailed Godwit. Before developing the full display finery with coloured ruff and tufts, the males replace part of their winter plumage with striped feathers, and females also develop a mix of winter and striped feathers before reaching their summer appearance. The final male breeding plumage results from the replacement of both winter and striped feathers, but the reeve retains the striped feathers and replaces only the winter feathers to reach her summer plumage. The striped prenuptial plumages may represent the 'original' breeding appearance of this species, the male's showy nuptial feathers evolving later under strong sexual selection pressures.
Distribution and habitat
The Ruff breeds in extensive lowland freshwater marshes and damp grasslands. It avoids barren tundra and areas badly affected by severe weather, preferring hummocky marshes and deltas with shallow water margins. The wetter areas provide a source of food, the mounds and slopes may be used for leks, and dry areas with sedge or low scrub offer nesting sites.
The Ruff breeds in Europe and Asia from Scandinavia and Great Britain almost to the Pacific. In Europe it is found in cool temperate areas, but over its Russian range it is an Arctic species, occurring mainly north of about 65N. The largest numbers breed in Russia (more than 1 million pairs), Sweden (61,000 pairs), Finland (39,000 pairs) and Norway (14,000 pairs). Although it also breeds from Britain east through the Low Countries to Poland, Germany and Denmark, there are fewer than 2,000 pairs in these more southerly areas.
This species is migratory, with the bulk wintering in Africa.
The male, which plays no part in nesting or chick care, leaves the breeding grounds in late June or early July, followed later in July by the female and juveniles.
Birds returning north in spring across the central Mediterranean appear to follow a well-defined flyway.
Behaviour
Mating
Males display during the breeding season at a lek in a traditional open grassy arena. The Ruff is one of the few lekking species in which the display is primarily directed at other males rather than to the females, and it is the only bird with genetically determined differences in mating behaviour. The male-plumaged birds show two types of appearance and behaviour; the resident or independent males have strongly coloured black or chestnut ruffs and stake out and occupy small mating territories in the lek. They actively court females and display a high degree of aggression towards other resident males; 5–20 territorial males each hold an area of the lek about 1 m across, usually with bare soil in the centre. They perform an elaborate display which includes wing fluttering, jumping, standing upright, crouching with ruff erect, or lunging at rivals. They are typically silent even when displaying, although a soft gue-gue-gue may occasionally be given.
Not all mating takes place at the lek, since only a minority of the males attend an active lek. As alternative strategies, males can also directly pursue females ("following") or wait for them as they approached good feeding sites ("intercepting"). Males switched between the three tactics, being more likely to attend a lek when the copulation rate the previous day was high or when fewer females were available after nesting had started. Lekking rates were low in cold weather early in the season when off-lek males spent most of their time feeding.
Nesting and survival
The nest is a shallow ground scrape lined with grass leaves and stems, and concealed in marsh plants or tall grass up to 400 m from the lek. Nesting is solitary, although several females may lay in the general vicinity of a lek. The eggs are slightly glossy, green or olive, and marked with dark blotches; they are laid from mid-March to early June depending on latitude.
The typical clutch is four eggs, 44 x 31 mm size and weighing 21.0 g which 5% is shell. Incubation is by the female alone, and the time to hatching is 20–23 days, with a further 25–28 days to fledging. The precocial chicks have buff and chestnut down, streaked and barred with black, and frosted with white. Only one brood is raised each year.
Predators of waders breeding in wet grasslands include mammals such as foxes, feral cats and stoats, and birds such as large gulls, Common Raven, Carrion and Hooded Crows, and Great and Arctic Skuas. Overgrazing can increase predation by making nests easier to find.
Feeding
The Ruff normally feeds using a steady Redshank-like walk and pecking action, but it will also wade deeply and submerge its head. On saline lakes in East Africa it often swims like a phalarope, picking items off the surface. It will feed at night as well as during the day. When feeding, the Ruff frequently raises its back feathers producing a loose pointed peak on the back; this habit is shared only by the Black-tailed Godwit.
During the breeding season, the Ruff’s diet consists almost exclusively of the adults and larva of terrestrial and aquatic insects such as beetles and flies. On migration and during the winter, the Ruff eats insects (including caddis flies, water-beetles, mayflies and grasshoppers), crustaceans, spiders, molluscs, worms, frogs, small fish, and also the seeds of rice and other cereals, sedges, grasses and aquatic plants.
Just prior to migration, the Ruff increases its body mass at a rate of about 1% a day, much slower than the Bar-tailed Godwits breeding in Alaska which fatten at four times that rate. This is thought to be because the godwit cannot use staging areas to refuel on its trans-Pacific flight, whereas the Ruff is able to make regular stops. For the same reason, the Ruff does not shrink its digestive organs to shed weight before migrating, unlike the godwit.
Source: (partly) Wikipedia |
maurydv, eng55, Argus, siggi, boreocypriensis, nglen, jaycee, CeltickRanger, Gert-Paassen, Noisette, goldyrs, MMM, jconceicao, oscarromulus has marked this note useful
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Hello Peter
fantastic picture of this beautiful flight of Ruffs, good sharpness and splendid lighting, very nice and dynamic composition with the lovely reflections on the water.
TFS
Best regards
Maurizio
- KOMSIS
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 220 W: 0 N: 544]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-n-g.gif)
(1885) - [2009-06-08 6:47]
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Hi Peter,
Flying birds, visual disciple ...
An unusual composition.
Very beautiful photo in excellent sharpness an perfect details.
On the water, they are very nice reflections.
Best wishes,
Seyfi
Hi Peter,
Cool capture of these Ruffs skimming across the water.I see at least one more male there,and perhaps there are more juvenile males.
The quality is fine.
TFS
Steve
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- Marx44
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 173 W: 95 N: 588]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-g-g.gif)
(2090) - [2009-06-08 7:39]
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Hi
Very detailed image of this Ruff.
Great exposure and light.
Brilliant low-down POV.
Superb composition.
Very well done,
Marx
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- eng55
![Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1074 W: 30 N: 1046]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-s-g.gif)
(3270) - [2009-06-08 7:45]
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Hi Peter,
Excellent capture of this flying birds.POV,BG,composition and visual impact are wonderful.Have a great week!
Thanks for posting..
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- Argus
(34473)
- [2009-06-08 8:32]
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Hello Peter,
An excellent in-flight capture of a flock of Ruffs, the different breeding colour variations of the males being clearly seen.
+: Sharpness, DOF, pose, POV, BG, composition, colours and lighting.
-: none and their reflections in the ater is a nice touch.
Thanks and best regards,
Ivan
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- lousat
(19222)
- [2009-06-08 8:50]
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Hi Peter,the reflections on the water make a difference.A fantastic group taken as the best as possible,wonderful sharpness....and isn't easy!! eheheh...my best compliments,Luciano
hello Peter
excellent moment scene and capture
TFS thanks for sharing
Nasos
Ciao Peter, fantastic capture of a lot of flying Ruffs, superb composition, very well done, ciao Silvio
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- siggi
(15508)
- [2009-06-08 11:19]
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Hello Peter,
This shot works well. Nice composition, great POV. I like the colours and the clarity is excellent. Nice work. TFS. Best regards Siggi
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- demeve
(5989)
- [2009-06-08 12:04]
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Hello Peter,
Fantastic formation, very colorful and very well composed images
Everton
Hi Peter, a fantastic and splendid capture Ruffs. i think this an example of "harem-forming" behaviour amongst the birds MF:) funny indeed:) You captured this scene perfectly.
TFS and cheers,
Bayram
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- nglen
(31692)
- [2009-06-08 13:32]
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Hi Peter. Firstly mat i say what interesting notes from you. To go with this amazing inflight shot of the flock of Ruffs. Your use of the light has given clear details andbright colours. With the refection in the water as a bonus. well done TFs.
Nick..
hello Peter!
excellent group of Ruffs in flight
i like the composition of the blue Bg
best sERGIO
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- jaycee
(21912)
- [2009-06-08 16:36]
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Hi Peter,
This flock of Ruffs in flight is marvelous. Colors and details are excellent and I love all of the assorted positions. The reflections are a wonderful bonus.
Jane
hello Peter
excellent photo of the Ruffs in group flight, fine POV,
fine focus with excellent sharpness and details,
beautiful warm luminosity, the reflections on the
water adds a plus to the image, TFS
Asbed
Hallo Peter,
een mooie compositie van deze vogels in vlucht en landing.
Prachtige kleuren en met die reflecties in het water.
Jammer dat er wat afgesneden zijn maar daar ontkm je met zo'n koppel niet aan of je moet de uitsnede heel anders maken.
Gert
Hello Peter
for me , it's a great shotwhile it's a great moment to see all this ruffs flying together and are good details, it's not easy for subjects in move
the colors are beautiful too especially the blue BG
Have a good evening
Jacqueline
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- joska
(5058)
- [2009-06-09 12:02]
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Very good Photo, with great detailles!
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- joey
(24727)
- [2009-06-09 13:33]
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Great shot, Peter!
Really nice lighting.
Superb timing.
Joe
I love the birds, their reflection and the blue BG!
This has to be amongst the best shots on TN, Peter!
Respect, my friend!!!
Goldy
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- MMM
(8837)
- [2009-06-09 19:21]
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Hi Peter
That will be my final critic before holliday.That is a nice global image,even whit a large aperture you had capture an excellent DOF.Well compose image with nice POV.Sharp image with lot of of action and nice colors.
YFS Michel
Hello Peter,
Excellent capture.
Light,focus and details are splendid.
Good notes.
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- briGG
(1383)
- [2009-06-10 10:08]
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Hallo Peter,
Hier is een plaatje dat is niet eenvoudig om te doen!
U heeft bleef lang op de uitkijk!
Veel vogels ... met behoud van scherpte, Bravo!
Goedenavond
brigitte
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- foozi
(8757)
- [2009-07-03 1:41]
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Hi Peter,
an excellent shot of these birds in flight. Very special and the moment is well captured.
nice patterns and the reflection on the water is very stylish.
regards,
Foozi
