Location: Exhibition
complex / 6th floor
At the exhibition
"Tit in Hands" at the Darwin Museum you will learn why the tit has
this name, how many species of titmouse live in Russia and in the world, what
are their behavioral features, and also will be surprised at the variety of
colors of these small birds.
Tits belong
to the most recognizable birds in Russia. But only few people know that this is
a large group, which includes many different small songbirds. Each species has
its own characteristics of behavior, appearance, lifestyle and nutrition.
The exhibition
"Tit in Hands" at the Darwin Museum is dedicated to the biology of
tits. They are amazing birds that live next to us and have developed a special
relationship with humans. They play an important role in the natural balance as
well. Since ancient times, people have classified tits as one of the most
useful bird species, primarily for gardens, parks and forests. Many insects,
which people call pests, eat cultivated plants, damage trees in parks and
gardens. It is tits that help to actively fight voracious invertebrates.
The
exhibition will not bypass the important topic of helping tits in winter. This
is the most difficult time for many birds. The main enemies of tits are hunger
and cold, they become the cause of a huge number of deaths among these birds.
In order not to die from cold, titmouses need a lot of energy to warm up,
therefore, they need a large amount of food, which is not so easy to find in
winter. Only one out of ten tits survives until spring. At the exhibition you
can learn how to make a feeder and a house for tits by improvised means.
Items from
the collections of the Darwin Museum - stuffed animals, nests, rare books,
graphics, complemented by photographs of leading ornithologists and wildlife
photographers will allow you to immerse yourself in the world of tits and open
it from a completely different perspective.
Bearded
reedling (Panurus biarmicus) Photographer: Vasily Vishnevsky
Crested tit
(Lophophanes cristatus) Photographer: Vasily Vishnevsky
Long-tailed
tit (Aegithalos caudatus) Photographer: Vasily Vishnevsky