Das odinshühnchen - profile, breeding season, food, pictures, presentation

The Odinshenchen (Phalaropus lobatus) belongs to the family of the barnacles (Scolopcidae). It is a very small and lively chicken that belongs to the migratory birds. Occurrence and distribution: Their wintering area lies in southern Asia.
Every now and then an Odins chicken disappears and then we can also see it in Germany. You can see it during the breeding season in Northern Europe. Its breeding areas can be found on Iceland and in Northern Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, Finland). Where do Odin chickens breed? It breeds in raised bogs, on lakes and pools with good riparian vegetation. We saw several Odin ‘s chickens with their young at a lake together with iron ducks, middlings and red-throated diver. The 19 cm is only half the size of the coot, which broods here in Germany. What does the Odin Chicken look like? I also show you some pictures of the look and the destination.
If you only look for where and when they breed, what they eat, the size, the age, the weight, the breeding season, the characteristics, the life expectancy and the wingspan, then look in the profile for children.

Many always say that the Odins chicken in its gorgeous dress should be confused with the slightly larger Thor’s chicken. I can not confirm. The Odins chicken has a white throat spot and the Thor’s chicken has a large white cheek spot that reaches over the eye. But in her white winter dress you could quickly confuse the Thor’s and the Odin’s chicken.
Odin’s Chicken Male and female look the same at first glance. But if you take a closer look, you can see the differences.

The difference between males and females in the Odins chicken lies in the color of the plumage. One differentiates the male and female in primarily on the red neck and on the red chest band. In the following photo you can see the female on the right and the male on the left. In the background between the two Odins chickens you can see footprints from anglers.

The Odins chicken has a dark face with a small white eye spot. It has a fine, medium-length black beak. The big white throat spot shines from afar. Neck and chest are predominantly red (males less red). The back is dark gray with light brown stripes, the flanks are banded dark gray and the underside is white.

Remember, everything is different with the Odins Chicken. The female looks more beautiful and it is about the male. At the beginning of May when the courtship begins, the female swarms around several males in her gorgeous dress. She chooses a male. The Baltz call / voice is a short “twik twik” or “kerek” and you can still hear a soft twittering. If the Odinshühchen female has selected a male, the male begins building the nest. The nest is built in the bank vegetation from plant remains. The iron ducks and red-throated diver often breed in the breeding area.

When does the Odins chicken breed? They have an annual brood from May to July. The female lays 3-4 stone gray to olive green eggs with brown spots. The male is responsible for hatching the eggs. I could see that males left the nest in the evening to go looking for food. During this time the female kept the eggs warm. The breeding time is approximately 21 days. When the young Odin chickens have hatched and their plumage has dried, they leave the nest (nest escape). The male is responsible for feeding the young. He is supported by the Odinshühnchen female in the first days.

It takes a little patience to see the chickens. The chicks rarely stay in open water because there are too many enemies from above, e.g. Skua and herring gulls. The chicks mostly look for food in the shallow water of the bank vegetation and on land.

The Odins chicken’s food consists of insects, worms, larvae, water beetles, and crustaceans. Outside of the breeding season, when the little Odin chickens are out in the open, their food consists of krill, small fish and plankton. While searching for food during their breeding season, you can watch them trod on the spot, so that the larvae and water beetles come to the surface. Now the Odins chicken only need to peck the larvae and microorganisms from the surface of the water and they turn in a circle. The Odins chicken belongs to the genus of water treads.

The Odins chickens have black legs and the feet look like those of the coots. They only have small webs between their toes at the end.

The Odins’ chickens are responsible for territorial defense. As soon as disturbances occurred in the area, all females present in the area flew towards the troublemaker. Mostly it was skua or anglers who have no respect for nature. I had to witness several times during my observations that anglers ran across the breeding area. Even though the boys had just hatched. Somebody should tell me Anglers are for nature. I teach him better.

I will show you a few more pictures on which you can see that Odin’s Chicken is not afraid of trouble in the area. The middle saw that comes too close to the shore in search of food, where the chicks are, is immediately driven away by the Odins chicken. The escape distance from humans and other animals is very small. It has to do with the fact that Odinshühchen spends most of the time in the open sea and therefore the image of the enemy towards humans is not so pronounced.

In between, when they are not trying to drive the anglers out of their area, they clean and maintain their plumage. It is also very important because the Odin chickens are constantly on the water. The plumage must always be perfectly waterproof.

Time flies like in flight. The boys have fledged (about 3 weeks) and are on their way to the coast. Here the young Odins chicken meet other boys with whom they fly out to sea. Chickens spend most of their life outside the breeding season in the open sea. Young Odinshühner can be recognized from afar by their black head with a white line and the white neck.

And as always at the end three pictures that I find very interesting and meaningful.

Continue to have fun on my pages, such as Varanger or the long-eared owl.

Since I often get inquiries about profiles, a small profile for children now follows about the Chicken and also the name in different languages, such as in Latin, in English, in Spanish, in French and in Italian.

Odinshühnchen profile

Scientific name: Phalaropus lobatus
Family: Barnacles (Scolopacidae)
English name: Red-necked Phalarope
Spanish name: Falaropo picofino
French name: Phalarope a bec etroit
Italian name: Falaropo beccosottile
Size: 19 cm
Weight: 50g
Wingspan: 34 cm
Brood: 1 year brood
Reproduction / mating season: May to June
Breeding season: May to July
Number of eggs / clutch size: 3-4
Breeding duration: 21
Nestling duration: Nestflüchter
Food: Breeding season: insects, crustaceans, water beetles, larvae
Not breeding season: krill, small fish, plankton
Age: life expectancy 10 years
List of enemies: skua, falcons, owls, fish, seagulls, fox, human
The five senses of the Odins Chicken
More information and profiles on the subject of birds, under bird profiles or Limikolen.

If you want to learn something about the knowledge of birds, then visit my pages: What do birds and intelligent crows know. My site is very useful for projects in kindergarten, district school, high school, at the university and at school for lectures and essays in biology, in zoology, in specialist classes, for worksheets, for species profiles and for lectures or for an essay in biology lessons popular. Here you will find everything for your profile template (elementary school, junior high school, high school) about birds.
For the children in preschool and for them children in the primary school there are extra bird sites, e.g. with chick pictures or with bird portraits. At the bottom of the page you will always find a list of other bird watching.

We have our most beautiful bird sightings in Europe on Iceland, in Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark), in Holland, in England, in Poland, in Austria, in Switzerland, in Belgium, in Ireland, in Italy, in France, in Portugal, in Spain, in Greece, in Germany in Berlin, in Hamburg on the Elbe, in Bremen, in NRW, in Baden-Württemberg, in Saarland, in Rhineland-Palatinate, in Bavaria, in Hesse, in Schleswig- Holstein, made in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (Lewitz), Thuringia, Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt and Lower Saxony.

Observations, photographs, bird pictures and author: Gerhard Brodowski Hamburg

Das odinshühnchen – profile, breeding season, food, pictures, presentation

Odinshühnchen profile

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