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| Sunday, 3 July 2005 |
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Junior Observer |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Coniferous forests : Animals in the evergreen The coniferous forests which you learned about last week are also known as evergreen forests or pinewood forests. The species of animals found in these forests are not as numerous as those in other types of forests, but these forests are home to several different animals. While amphibians and reptiles are scarce, birds, insects and mammals are common. Cold winters and heavy snowfall make it difficult for animals to survive; some animals hibernate and others migrate to warmer climates. Of those that remain, some die of starvation, frost bite or hypothermia. The coniferous forests are famous for valuable fur-bearing mammals because many animals who live here develop heavy winter coats. The mammals found in this region include the caribou or reindeer, moose and deer, mice and squirrels. Predators include wolves, lynxes, bears, foxes and wolverines. Have you ever seen pictures of wolverines? They are small, fierce carnivorous animals that belong to the weasel and stoat family. They have spread-out toes, like the lynx that enable them to move rapidly over deep snow areas without sinking. In order to survive in the harsh winter climate, mammals such as hares and foxes grow thick winter coats, but animals such as shrews and voles make burrows under the snow. They spend the winter in these burrows, surviving on food they have stored during the warm climate. Large mammals such as bears generally hibernate, spending the entire winter asleep. You may be puzzled as to how they could sleep for such a long spell without any food. They store food for the winter, not in burrows like some animals do, but in their own bodies! Bears live mostly on fat reserves in their bodies. They do occasionally wake up from their long winter sleep and hunt for food, but it is not very common in most cases. The kermode bear is the special name given to black bears that have white claws and cream coloured coats. They are found only in a narrow stretch of land along the coast of British Columbia and on the Princess Royal Island (check the world map). These bears are also known as 'spirit' bears. Most bird species that live in the coniferous forests migrate, but there are some birds who are permanent residents of these evergreen forests. Woodpeckers, tits, crossbills, owls, hawks and grouse are some of them.The lichens and mosses that grow on trees harbour insects and snails on which small birds such as tits feed. The crossbill which is a small finch with a peculiar crossed beak, uses its bill to tweak seeds from the pine or fir cones. The nutcracker is another bird that survives on cones. It is a large, crow-like bird with a thick, powerful beak. The cones are crushed with the help of this beak. The only birds that survive by eating pine needles are the capercaillie belonging to the grouse family, and the pine grosbeak which is a small finch. The Great Grey Owls, found in Alaska across Canada, down the Northern Rocky Mountains, and northern Minnesota, and even in northern Europe and the Soviet Union, feed primarily on small rodents which they catch by diving through the snow! Two other big birds found in the coniferous forest region are the bald eagles and gyrfalcons. The bald eagles, which are usually about six feet in diameter and over six feet tall, were once listed as endangered species. As recently as 1995, they were considered 'threatened' in the entire United States, but they are slowly making a comeback! Gyrfalcons are the largest falcons in the world! Like the peregrine, gyrfalcons too lay eggs on the bare rock of a cliff. Some of the other animals in the coniferous forests are the western tanager, the rocky mountain big horn sheep, Siberian tigers, western tanager, woodfrog, common loon and eastern milk snake.As in any other place in the world, insects are found in abundance even in the coniferous forests. Wasps, bees, butterflies and saw flies are among them. The monarch
butterfly is famous. Most insects in this region spend the winter in
pupae, buried either deep in the snow covered ground or inside tree
trunks, where they often become the target of woodpeckers. There are more
fascinating creatures in coniferous forests. Find out how these animals
survive in these forests, especially during winter. |
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