Читать книгу Trekking Munich to Venice. The Traumpfad, 'Dream Way', a classic trek across the eastern Alps онлайн

19 страница из 49

Also specially adapted for alpine conditions and quite common is the black alpine salamander and its more spectacular cousin the fire salamander (black with gold patches). The alpine salamander is the only European amphibian to give birth to live young (usually two of them) emerging after developing inside the mother for three years – a longer gestation period even than the elephant (just over two years).

The Alps are not a particularly rich habitat for birds. Most common is the alpine chough, a small hyperactive crow specifically adapted for high altitude,. Also important is the nutcracker, a bird that looks similar to a starling, which plays a key role in the life of the arolla pine distributing, in a good year, up to 100,000 seeds in holes up to a metre under the snow at the perfect depth for germination. The nutcracker has a brilliant memory. It returns for most of the seeds but leaves enough to secure future generations of the tree. If you see a raptor it is likely to be a common buzzard although there are also honey buzzards around. There are about 350 pairs of golden eagle in the Austrian Alps so if you’re lucky you might see one of them as well.