Which bird of prey eats only fish. The most terrible birds of prey. Food preferences of lake residents

Not only the class of mammals can pose a threat to humans, but also some species of birds of prey. And although they almost never attack people, if they wanted, predators could tear apart any person. This article will discuss the most aggressive birds of prey.

martial eagle
The top ten most terrible birds of prey are revealed by the martial eagle. The wingspan of this bird reaches 2.6 meters, and the weight of the eagle can exceed 6 kilograms. This type of eagle is very aggressive, and its food is everything that was caught: antelopes, small birds, small lion cubs, baboons and other animals. Very often, eagles attack young lambs and sheep, as a result of which farmers shoot the birds. Today the martial eagle refers to rare species birds, so it is almost impossible to meet him.

Steller's sea eagle

Another bird of prey that is on the verge of extinction. The place of residence of eagles is Japan and Russia. They mainly feed on fish, but they also eat other birds, including cranes and swans. Of all the eagles Steller's sea eagle is the heaviest, as its weight reaches 9 kilograms. The wingspan of this bird of prey is 2.5 meters. The eagle is famous for its massive beak, which can bite through even a large bird.

Fish owl
Of all the existing owls, the fish owl is the largest. These predatory giants live in Siberia and Japan. The fish owl weighs about 5 kilograms, and its wingspan reaches 2 meters. Like most birds of prey, the fishing owl feeds on fish, as well as other small birds.

Golden eagle
Many people confuse the golden eagle with the eagle, as they are quite similar in appearance. Golden eagles live in countries North America, North Africa and Eurasia. Their main food is rabbits, hares, fish and other birds, including even birds of prey. The golden eagle is very large and strong, however, to date there are no known attacks of golden eagles on people. The weight of an adult bird reaches 7 kilograms, and the wingspan is 2 meters. Females are much larger than males, and they are also more aggressive. Scientists have found fossils of golden eagles, which confirm that in the distant past these birds were even larger.

Philippine eagle

This species of eagle is one of the largest eagles adapted for forest hunting. To see this beautiful bird, you need to go to the Philippines, where it is considered national symbol. The weight of the Philippine eagle is 7 kilograms, but smaller individuals are also found, and its wingspan is 2 meters. The diet consists of monkeys, the bats, lemurs, pigs and some dogs. In the Philippines, these eagles are highly valued, so killing them carries a serious penalty of twelve years in prison. And, nevertheless, eagles still manage to be shot, so the birds are considered an endangered species. The number of individuals is 200-400.

South American harpy

This giant bird has long been nicknamed the most powerful eagle. Adults grow up to 9 kilograms. The South American harpy has incredibly long claws, which are even longer than those of a bear, so the bird can easily pierce a human skull if it wants. Despite its strength, this predator never attacks people, unless it needs to protect its young and nest. Their diet consists of sloths, monkeys and large birds, including parrots. They less often feed on boa constrictors and iguanas. Today there are few of these birds left. This is due to active deforestation in the places where harpies build their nests; in addition, the birds raise only one chick. There are places in Mexico where birds are almost extinct, so the South American harpy is already considered a legend there.

bearded man

Otherwise, the predator is also called the Lamb. The bearded man weighs about 8 kilograms and has a wingspan of 3 meters. Bearded vultures are scavengers, because they mainly feed on bones, which they first break against the rock. In addition, these predators catch turtles, which they kill in the same way as they cut up bones.

African vulture

The full name of this bird is African long-eared vulture. Vultures can grow up to 115 centimeters in length, while their weight is 14 kilograms. As a rule, vultures feed on carrion, but in rare cases they attack antelopes, flamingos and gazelles. Vultures also often steal eggs in other nests, and sometimes small chicks. The vulture is famous for its aggressiveness. In the wild, even predators such as cheetahs are afraid of the long-eared vulture. The homeland of African vultures is northern Africa.

Eurasian eagle owl

Eagle owls live in the mountains and forests of Eurasia. Weight Limit– 4.3 kilograms, while the wingspan reaches 2 meters. Of all the eagle owls, the Eurasian eagle owl is the strongest and largest. Their diet consists of rodents, hares, rabbits, and they can also attack other birds of prey, among which are some species of eagles.

Crowned eagle

The eagle lives in the tropics of Africa. The crowned eagle reaches 90 centimeters in length, with a wingspan of 2 meters. These scary predators They hunt animals whose weight does not exceed 35 kilograms. In Africa, this fearless eagle was nicknamed “the leopard from the air.” The eagle has very powerful claws that can easily break a monkey's skull. Although predator birds do not attack people, the crowned eagle is capable of killing an adult. There is a known case in Zambia where a seven-year-old child was attacked by an eagle. The bird of prey could easily have dragged the boy to itself if a woman who heard the screams had not come running to help. The child suffered serious injuries to his chest, head and arms.

Thousands, and maybe even more, years ago, from the total huge number of birds living on land, seabirds. Their names are very diverse and depend on belonging to a particular order or family.

Classification

There is the following classification of seabirds:

Seabird family: description

These birds, in comparison with their other brothers belonging to other groups, are considered long-lived. In general, their life cycle has a slightly shifted time frame. For example, representatives maritime group they pair and reproduce much later than their companions. Over the entire cycle, they have fewer chicks, but they devote relatively more time to their offspring. Life expectancy is also significantly increased. Seabirds usually nest in large colonies. Some of them live permanently in one area, others can migrate over significant distances every year, and some even travel by air around the entire Earth.

There are varieties that spend almost their entire life cycle away from the shores, in the endless waters of the oceans. And their brothers settle only on land, going to drift on the waves only for the sake of prey. However, in addition to these two opposing types, there is also a third. Its representatives spend part of their time in the coastal zone, and the other in waters of the seas and oceans.

As one might expect, the world of birds has not been without human intervention. People often used birds as a food source. And for experienced fishermen and experienced sailors, they served as a guide. Of course, human activity does not go unnoticed, and now many species are on the verge of extinction. Unfortunately, some exist only on the pages of the Red Book.

Birds and their structure

Specialists with a wealth of knowledge about characteristic features of one species or another, can easily determine how its representatives feed, how they hunt, and in what area they live. Great importance has the shape and length of the wings. Thus, representatives of birds with a small scope are classified as diving species. Whereas birds with long wings most often live in deep ocean areas. For example, the wandering albatross is a bird that travels countless kilometers in the hope of a meal. However, representatives of this species lose their ability to fly over time. long distance. Many of them have already chosen the bays or piers where fishing boats often moor.

Everything in nature tends to adapt to convenience. Why fly into the vast expanses of water if food is so available on the shore? The albatross is a bird that, in the process of evolution, even slightly changed the structure of its wings. Now these beauties often do not use active flight techniques, but have switched to dynamic or inclined soaring. That is, albatrosses simply catch currents air masses and maneuver.

Webbed feet and sense of smell

Almost all seabirds have webbed feet, which makes it much easier for them to move in the water. But this is not all the advantages of the building. For example, many petrels have a highly developed sense of smell. Thanks to this, they can accurately determine the location of prey in the vast expanses of the ocean.

Cormorant is a bird with a special feather structure

All representatives marine species, except for cormorants and certain varieties of terns, have plumage impregnated with a layer of fat. This water repellent property serves reliable protection from getting wet, and dense down provides constant temperature body even in cold water. The cormorant is a bird that has the advantage, compared to its other relatives, of special structure feathers This allows him not to freeze even if he has to dive a lot and for a long time. More specific gravity provides this representative of birds with the opportunity long stay under the water.

Penguin

Almost all representatives of the seabird family have plumage colors of black, gray or white. However, there are birds that have brighter and more variegated colors. For example, a penguin is a bird individual species which are the owners of multi-colored plumage in the neck and chest. Color is very important in conditions wildlife. Its main function is camouflage, that is, the ability to blend in with the colors of a certain area. This allows not only birds, but all animals to hide from a predator’s attack or not give themselves away while hunting for prey.

Description

The penguin is the bird that scientists believe is the most socialized. Their colonies consist of a huge number of individuals. Most They spend their life cycle in water. Penguins come to land only to conceive and raise offspring. The peculiarities of their structure allow these representatives of the bird family to survive in extreme conditions. low temperatures. Dense straight plumage creates a powerful barrier to the cold.

Heavy bones and wings that function as fins make penguins fast swimmers capable of diving very deep. The streamlined shape of the body helps them to excellently cut through the expanses of water, and in case of danger, to deftly escape from a predator. Their feathers do not get wet and effectively retain heat thanks to constant processing with fat secreted by the gland in the tail area. All varieties except emperor penguin, nest. They settle in the rocks, preparing a place for future offspring from stones and earthy breasts. Those who do not need nests place the eggs under the skin pouch. The chick is also located there for the first time after birth. In a pair, the female and male take turns incubating the egg.

Seagull and other interesting birds

Another waterfowl seabird is the gull. It feeds mainly on small fish. Gets food different ways: catching on the surface, diving from the air to a certain depth, hunting under water with pursuit, does not disdain representatives of higher vertebrates.

The first principle is explained by the presence of different water currents, which often help push small inhabitants of the seas and oceans to shallow depths. This is what birds expect when they are on the surface. They just need to dip their head into the water, and the prey ends up in the beak. The second type of food production is used by typhoon birds, frigate birds and storm petrels. They deftly soar over the surface of the sea, making an instant dive into the water and picking up food as they go. Most of them have a hard time taking off if they land on the water surface. Some gulls, including petrels, on the contrary, hunt afloat. Although the previous type of hunting is by no means alien to them. Sooty albatrosses, slender-billed petrels and many other seabirds are capable of diving to depths of up to 70 m in pursuit of prey. Special meaning has the structure of a beak. Thus, many albatrosses have plate-like growths along the perimeter, which allows them to filter and retain plankton from the water. Phaetons, gannets, terns and pelicans dive into the waves directly from above. They often work in tandem with other ocean inhabitants.

Since for effective aerial viewing the water must have a maximum degree of transparency, hunting in the wild does not always occur according to the intended principle. When visibility is limited, representatives of this species look for concentrations of dolphins, as well as tuna. By swimming, they help push schools of fish to a shallow depth from the surface, where they are caught by pelicans and the like.

Bird colony settlements are found on tropical latitude, for example, on the Pacific Island. Christmas, outside the Arctic Circle - in Antarctica. Albatrosses nest in small numbers, while guillemots and guillemots hold the record for colony density.

Hatchets and guillemots

The northern seabird is a regular at numerous traditional bird markets. Puffins and guillemots are considered record holders among those that are able to gather in such a densely populated area. Thanks to their short wings, they dive perfectly into the water, providing themselves with food. These representatives can be called the most adapted to sea ​​waters. Their chicks, which do not yet know how to fly, fall from their nests in rocky terrain directly into the waves.

Here they are fed and further grow. Many, of course, die, crashing on the rocky terrain. When cold weather approaches, all the inhabitants of the colonies fly away into the endless expanses of water. Some of the seabirds are migratory. They wait out the cold for more warm regions, then return home. Others are nomadic. Many seabirds fly long distances, sometimes changing latitude, and can only return to their place of birth in a circle. Sometimes the entire life cycle is not enough for such a route.

Conclusion

Seabirds, like many other water inhabitants, often become victims environmental disasters or poaching. The number of birds largely depends on human actions.

Based on food items, several main groups of birds can be divided into several main groups: carnivores, carnivores, piscivores, insectivores, granivores and frugivores.

Predator birds feed mainly or even exclusively on birds and mammals. These include the vast majority of representatives of the orders of diurnal raptors and owls. Of the passerine birds, shrikes lead a predatory lifestyle, feeding on small birds and animals along with insects. It is noteworthy that the beak of shrikes is very similar to the beak of a real bird of prey, it is curved at the end and even has a pre-apical tooth, like that of falcons. On the other hand, small falcons, in particular the falcon, readily eat large insects, and in some places locusts constitute their main food. The honey buzzard (Pernis apivorus), a bird from the order of diurnal predators, the front part of its head is covered with dense, scale-like feathers that protect against insect stings, has switched entirely to feeding on hymenoptera. Among the predatory animals there are also those that feed on snakes. This is the African secretary, who has very long legs that protect his body from snake bites and with which he tramples his prey. It is noteworthy that the South American cariama, which belongs to a different order, but also feeds mainly on snakes, has a striking convergent resemblance to the secretary, in particular, long legs and a short beak curved with a hook.

Carnivores may be highlighted separately. Typical representatives its vultures, vultures, and condors are a group of diurnal predators. The African marabou stork is a carnivore, which, like vultures, has bare head and the neck and a huge crop that digests even large bones. Some eagles, crows, and petrels also feed on carrion, but for them it is not their main food and they do not have special adaptations for devouring it.

Fish-eating birds — large group, very heterogeneous systematic situation its representatives. This includes penguins, loons, grebes, pelicans, cormorants, most gulls, herons, mergansers, ospreys and some sea eagles. Of the devices for feeding fish, the following deserve special attention. In penguins, the tongue and palate are completely covered with large horny papillae directed backwards, which help the bird not only to hold its slippery prey, but also to direct it head first when swallowing. A huge leathery sack under the wide-spreading halves lower jaw Pelicans serve as a net for them when catching fish. The water cutter (close to gulls) has a long, laterally compressed beak, the lower half of which is much longer than the upper; flying quickly over the water with its beak open and its lower half lowered into the water, it seems to “plow out” the fish. In mergansers, sharp teeth along the edges of the beak help them hold slippery fish, and in ospreys, sharp spines on the soles of their paws and sharp, rounded claws serve the same purpose. It is noteworthy that the osprey, falling like a stone into the water after its prey, has very dense plumage on the lower part of the body and does not have long loose feathers on the lower legs - “pants”, characteristic of other representatives of the order, daytime predators.

Our planet is inhabited amazing representatives fauna, each of which has its own unique qualities. We know a lot about them: for example, koalas do not drink water at all, cats see perfectly in the dark, and dolphins have almost human intelligence. What do we know about fish, except that there are some that are edible, and some that are completely inedible and even poisonous?

In this article we will talk about the amazing inhabitants of the underwater dimension that have fins: about their life in the depths, their habits and what fish eat depending on the environment in which they live.

You will discover the unknown world of the underwater kingdom, in which not everything is as calm and peaceful as it seems at first glance. For example, fish live in reservoirs that feed on fish and small animals. There are also fish-loving birds and animals that are not averse to enjoying a freshly caught delicacy.

To each their own menu

According to the nature of their behavior and food preferences, fish are divided mainly into predatory and peaceful. Predatory fish are fish that eat fish and only occasionally eat other foods. They pose a serious threat to vegetarian fish, especially if they are small in size.

Peaceful ones, in turn, are herbivores, benthophages and planktivores. Basically, these are fish that eat algae.

Herbivores consume exclusively phytoplankton, in other words, floating algae. Benthophages are fish that feed on algae that grow at depth (they are called phytobenthos) and organic particles. Planktivores prefer zooplankton and do not disdain single-celled organisms that inhabit the river.

In addition, there are omnivorous euryphages - fish that feed on fish, algae and small invertebrates. Their menu is the most diverse.

River settlers

Looking at the river, we can’t even imagine how many different living creatures live under the water surface. Each area has its own “sets” river fish. For example, in rivers in Russia there are such representatives as bersh, cupid, dace, ruffe, sturgeon, char, whitefish, and grayling.

Also in Russian waters you can find smelt, pike, carp, bream, and asp. In addition, there are crucian carp, minnows, silver carp, roach, rudd, tench, catfish, burbot, and river perch so beloved by anglers. And it's not full list all kinds.

Carnivorous river predators

What do fish eat in the river? Each of them has its own diet. Menu river inhabitants depends on many factors: the type of bottom (sand or stones), algae, and even the time of year.

Let's start with the classic predators, which include fish that eat fish. These are bersh, sturgeon, char, pike, catfish, burbot, river perch. Let's look at them:

• Bersh belongs to the Perch family and is very similar in appearance to pike perch. This is a predatory schooling fish that eats fry of roach and rudd. Does not disdain small minnows and ruffs.
• The sturgeon belongs to the family of the same name. This is an aggressive predator that can dine on the main menu and “snack” on a frog. In a river a large number of sturgeon are found only when they spawn. These migratory fish predators feed not only in fresh waters, but also in salty ones.
• Char is a very large representative of the Salmon family, which is considered a predator because it loves caviar very much. valuable fish, sweeps it away in huge quantities, thereby reducing their population on a catastrophic scale. Char also preys on juvenile salmon.
• Pike is the only representative of the family of the same name. This is an extremely aggressive, voracious, predatory person. Its diet includes fish such as crucian carp and roach. In addition, pike “suffers” from cannibalism: these predator fish eat smaller representatives of their genus. Small mammals (for example, mice) that accidentally find themselves in the water can also add variety to the pike menu. Small pikes and their cubs can also become prey for pike.
• Catfish from the Catfish family are similar in appearance to pike. It feeds on small fish and can also attack waterfowl chicks. Large representatives hunt large birds, and are also capable of dragging a dog or small calf under water. There are known cases when catfish attacked pigeons that carelessly pecked grain at the water's edge. This “greed” for food is due to the fact that he eats only in warm seasons, and goes hungry in winter.
• Burbot belongs to the Cod order. These predator fish hunt prey at night, and feed not only on fish, including juveniles of their own kind, but also on decaying animals and frogs.
• River perch is both hunter and prey. It feeds on small fish and is itself food for pike and pike perch.

Underwater vegetarians

The peaceful inhabitants of the river depths are harmless fish that feed on algae, phytoplankton, and detritus. Phytoplankton are tiny plant organisms that inhabit water bodies in large numbers and move thanks to the current.

Phytoplankton is often not visible to the naked eye, so people do not attach importance to it. Many of us are not even aware of these microscopic organisms, but they are the most important vegetarian component of what the fish in the river eat. This is especially true for species such as carp, silver carp and tench. Let's find out more about them:

• Cupid is a native of the Carp family. Feeds exclusively plant foods: mud, various algae, reeds. It can also consume land plants that are flooded during river floods.
• Silver carp are in the same family as grass carp and prefer microscopic algae and detritus. The mouth of the silver carp is a kind of “filtering apparatus”, thanks to which this fish filters green water, being a kind of river orderly.
• Tench is a very sedentary fish that prefers to live near the bottom or in algae thickets. More than 60% of its diet consists of algae.

Omnivorous euryphages

The interesting thing is that almost all owners of fins, whether peaceful vegans or carnivores, during the period of active growth they are omnivores. What do fish in the river that are classified as euryphages feed on? The answer is simple: almost everything that gets into their mouth. These are small river plankton, crustaceans, mollusks, protozoa, and even insects! This is especially true for young animals. Caloric nutrition is an important element that growing fish need.

The “youth” that feed on insects do not necessarily become predators, and the fry that eat algae do not always grow up to be herbivores. However, there are a number of fish that remain “omnivorous” throughout their lives:

• Dace is a native of the Carp family. It eats bottom-dwelling invertebrates, as well as vegetation and insects.
• Ruff belongs to the Perch family. He is incredibly voracious and eats continuously. The main diet of the ruffe is invertebrates, insects and their larvae, small mollusks, fish eggs and some types of algae.
• Grayling is a representative of the family of the same name. Like the ruffe, it feeds on zooplankton, insects, and the eggs of spawning fish.
• Smelt is an omnivorous fish that does not disdain any food such as caviar and fry of other fish, algae, and bottom organisms.
• Carp is a large euryphage of the Cyprinidae family. He has no stomach, so his hunger is never satisfied. This fish eats mollusks, insect larvae, and zooplankton that live in the bottom mud.
• Bream differs from most fish in having a small mouth opening. Because of this anatomical feature it is unable to absorb large food, so it is content with detritus, small insects and worms.
• Asp belongs to the Carp family. The juveniles of this fish feed on insects, zooplankton, and small crustaceans. Mature individuals switch to a “predatory” diet. At the same time, the asp does not have teeth and catches small fish, stunning them with a blow of the tail. It does not disdain large insects, such as butterflies, beetles, and dragonflies.
• Crucian carp is another representative of euryphage fish. Their food is crustaceans, insect larvae, mollusks, mud, algae, bottom plankton, and duckweed.
• The gudgeon is a typical example of benthophages. It feeds on zooplankton, small insects and mollusks, as well as the eggs of various fish.
• The rudd is a fish of the Cyprinidae family. It is a kind of “litmus test” for determining water quality - rudd lives only in clean water bodies. Her menu includes young shoots of various aquatic plants, insects and their larvae, as well as mollusk eggs, which this fish finds on the leaves of water lilies.
• Roach is an unpretentious fish of the Cyprinidae family that eats small crustaceans and leeches, bloodworms, algae and their seeds.

Food preferences of lake residents

Do not forget that in addition to rivers there are also lakes, which are also home to all kinds of underwater inhabitants: snails, frogs, crayfish. Lives in such reservoirs lake fish, feeding on small crustaceans: sterlet, carp, grass carp, tench, perch, rainbow trout, crucian carp, roach, whitefish and ide.

Fish living in the lake have a slightly different diet than river fish. This is due to the special microclimate of the reservoir. River predator fish like whitefish differ in their food preferences from lake fish in that the diet of most of them consists of 60% phytoplankton and algae.

The largest and most voracious lake fish, feeding on small crustaceans, phyto- and zooplankton, is carp. Like its river "brother", it never gets enough, since it is a fish without a stomach. Bream also eats small crustaceans in huge quantities.

Inhabitants of the salt sea

The depths of the sea are simply teeming with all kinds of fauna, and especially fish. Like river ones, they can be peaceful and predatory. What do fish eat in the sea? Due to the fact that it is more densely populated different organisms, the menu of marine cold-blooded animals is more diverse than their river “relatives”.

The most common marine “brothers” of river fin fish, leading a relatively peaceful lifestyle, are pelengas, herring, mullet, red mullet and ram. Why "relatively"? Because these algae-eating fish can sometimes dine on their own kind.

Menu aggressive fish, unlike civilians deep sea, more varied. What do marine predator fish eat? It is interesting to know that a small predator with fins may well form the diet of a larger carnivorous fish. The most common commercial species are mackerel, pink salmon, catfish, flounder, halibut, horse mackerel, salmon, tuna, cod and pike perch.

Diet for peaceful marine fish

1. Pelengas belongs to the Mullet family. This is a valuable medium-sized commercial fish that feeds on dendrites, mollusks and algae, and is therefore considered a sea ameliorator.
2. Herring is the most “eaten” of all. Birds love her, and we people love her. It feeds on small crustaceans and zooplankton. More major representatives herring can engage in cannibalism, eating young of their own kind.
3. Mullet is considered one of the most delicious fish. It digs up its food (zooplankton and dentrite) from bottom sediments.
4. Fish with funny name The red mullet feeds on small benthic organisms, using its antennae to probe for food.
5. Ram is one of the favorite prey of amateur fishermen. It leads a bottom-dwelling lifestyle and eats small mollusks and zooplankton.

Food of marine predator fish

1. Mackerel is one of the most beloved fish consumed by humans. This is a euryphage predator that feeds on both plankton and smaller ones of its own kind.
2. Pink salmon is one of the most important commercial representatives of the Salmon family. In some countries this fish is called "Russian salmon". Its diet consists of mollusks and smaller fish, crustaceans and fry.
3. Catfish prefers cold water, therefore it lives at quite great depths. Thanks to its well-developed jaws, its menu is very varied. Catfish eat crabs, shellfish, sea ​​urchins, lobsters, starfish and sometimes jellyfish. Catfish also do not disdain fish, which are significantly larger in size.
4. Flounder is unique due to its unusual appearance. This flat creature leads a bottom-dwelling lifestyle and hunts crustaceans and small fish, attacking them from its sandy shelter.
5. Halibut belongs to the Flounder family and eats the same food as flounder. Preference is given to capelin and pollock.
6. Horse mackerel is a fast hunter. Its prey is such fish as anchovy, red mullet and mullet. It does not refuse its own young. In turn, horse mackerel is a favorite food for dolphins.
7. Salmon is the most loved fish by people. It is widely used in cooking in all cuisines of the world. In the sea, salmon feed on herring, sprat, smelt, herring and crustaceans.
8. Tuna belongs to the mackerel family and is the most valuable commercial fish. It feeds on cephalopods and some species of small fish, as well as squid and shrimp.
9. Cod and pike perch in their food preferences are no different from the above “brothers”.

Aquarium migrants menu

Aquarists now have fashion trend make an imitation depths of the sea. To do this, the aquarium is decorated with corals, anemones and exotic fish from the seas and oceans are introduced there. An ignorant person is unlikely to be able to find the right “company” - after all, many inhabitants of the pseudo-sea behind glass can destroy each other in accordance with their dietary characteristics. Aggressive predator fish will always prey on peaceful phytophages - this should be taken into account when choosing multi-colored “residents” with fins. Special attention It is worth paying attention to what the fish eat in the sea. The most popular predatory aquarium “overseas guests” are discus, astronotus, apistogramma, and yellow.

Among the peaceful inhabitants of the sea, clown fish, lalius, angel fish, neons, minors, and tetras can settle in the aquarium.

If you decide to arrange your own in your home undersea world, it is worth finding out what aquarium residents eat at home - in the sea or ocean. Predators like yellowfish dine on snails and small crustaceans, and are also not averse to hunting small fish. Other cichlids, as well as astronotuses and piranhas, are not far behind them.

But algae is what the clown fish eats. As well as most other peaceful aquarium inhabitants.

River fish hunters

Birds that feed on fish pose a great danger to them, regardless of their habitat. Winged enemies river representatives- these are black-headed gulls, gray herons, cranes, ospreys and white-tailed eagles. These voracious birds can destroy huge quantities of fish. Let's find out more about them:

• The black-headed (river/black-headed gull) is an omnivorous, picky eating bird of small size. Thanks to the membranes on their feet, seagulls swim well, and catching fish from the surface of a reservoir is not difficult for them.
• Gray herons and cranes are fairly large birds that prefer only animal food. Fish makes up up to 80% of their diet, the remaining 20% ​​is frogs and rodents.
• Ospreys are river eagles. They are listed in the Red Book. Osprey is a bird that feeds on fish and only fish! They hunt with the help of their clawed paws, capturing prey from the water. Osprey is the most terrible enemy of river inhabitants, regardless of species.
• The white-tailed eagle, like the osprey, is listed in the Red Book. It is a large bird of prey that feeds on fish and smaller birds. The white-tailed eagle's menu also includes hares, gophers, marmots and other rodents. They do not disdain carrion.

Winged sea hunters

Fish that live in the sea are also not immune to becoming food for birds. Their lives are actively encroached upon by such feathered gourmet lovers as cormorants, albatrosses, petrels, and gulls. IN northern seas penguins hunt fish in the oceans.

1. Cormorant is pretty big bird, which feeds not only on capelin, sardines and herring, but also on shellfish. The eyes of these winged hunters have a transparent nictitating membrane, which, when immersed under water, serves as a kind of underwater glasses. Thanks to this anatomical feature, cormorants can perfectly see their prey under the water.
2. Albatross is marine longevity. During its 30-year life, one individual eats a huge amount of fish, as well as crustaceans, squid and mollusks. Albatrosses can dive 15 meters deep and also have an extremely accurate sense of smell.
3. The petrel is similar in appearance to the dove, but, unlike the latter, it has much larger size and webbed feet. Life cycle These birds are 20-26 years old. Their diet is the same as that of albatrosses and cormorants. Petrels also often accompany ships, eating food waste.
4. Seagulls are the only birds that do not have natural enemies. Their main diet is primarily fish, but also shellfish, insects, small birds and their eggs, crustaceans, carrion and waste. These cunning creatures have become adept at getting mollusks out of even the most durable shells by throwing them from a height.
5. Penguins are gourmet birds. They will never eat rotten or stale fish, as seagulls or petrels do. Their diet should be exclusively freshly caught, it consists of plankton, fish, krill, squid and cephalopods. Penguins obtain food by diving to a depth of 20-70 meters.

Trouble from the shore

In addition to birds and fishermen, animals are enemies of fish. Four-legged representatives of the fauna that feed on fish will never miss the opportunity to enjoy their favorite dish. Especially many “lovers of delicacies” live on the river. What animals eat fish? These are muskrat, otter, shrew, muskrat. Mink also loves it very much and eats it in large quantities.