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Common, in places abundant resident or short distant migrant. Inhabits the groves, gardens, forests in flood-lands, mountain deciduous and coniferous forests with shrubs and glades, at altitudes up to 1700 m in Altai and 2600 m in Tien Shan. Also lives in towns and villages. On migration visits fields (especially sunflower ones), kitchen-gardens, shelterbelts, forestless low mountains and thickets of tall weeds. Nest is located in tree (poplar, birch, elm, maple, oak, spruce, apple, pear, cherry, apricot) or in bush (juniper) at height 1.5-20 m above the ground; nest is built for 7-12 days by female from the dry thin grass and rootlets mixed with plant fuzz (of poplar mainly) and is lined with hair and fuzz. Clutch of 3-5 (usually 4) eggs is laid from mid-April to early August, mainly in May - June. Female incubates clutch for 12-13 days. Both parents feed offspring which fledge at age 12 days old, from end of May to late of August. Usually rears two broods per season, re-nesting after loss of first clutch is common. In autumn and winter disperses in flocks of up to several dozen birds; the distance of migration is unknown, but some birds from Altai reach Almaty.

References

Э.И.Гаврилов. "Фауна и распространение птиц Казахстана". Алматы, 1999. Gavrilov E. I., Gavrilov A. E. "The Birds of Kazakhstan". Almaty, 2005. В.К.Рябицев. "Птицы Урала, Приуралья и Западной Сибири". Екатеринбург. Издательство Уральского университета, 2000.