Protected Waterbird Species on the Azov-Black Sea Coast in the Winter Seasons 2009–2022

The article presents data on waterbirds from the Red Data Book of Ukraine wintering in the Azov-Black Sea coastal wetlands during 2009‒2022. A total of 27 protected waterbird species were recorded during the International Waterbird Census. The average number of protected birds was 13,631 + 2,828 ind., the maximum — 35,768 ind. Detailed information on species composition and bird numbers is given for 14 wetlands, the most valuable for waterbirds

The Red Data Book Waterbirds in the Coastal Wetlands of the Azov-Black Sea Region of Ukraine — the Results of the August Counts 2018 and 2021

The article analyses data from the August Counts of 2018 and 2021, which covered the 40 most important wetlands on the Azov-Black Sea coast of Ukraine. Of the 106 wetland bird species recorded during the censuses, 35 species are listed in the Red Data Book of Ukraine. The number of them was about 50 thousand individuals or 7.6 % of the total number of counted birds: in 2018 — 24.1 thousand individuals and in 2021 — 25.8 thousand individuals. Detailed information on the number of bird species and the list of the most important sites for each species can be found in the publication. The comparison of the current data with the previous survey period 2004‒2015 (Chernichko et al., 2018) showed that the abundance of 17 waterbird species decreased, and 7 species increased their abundance. It is assumed that these changes are caused by the aridification of the climate, leading to the drying out of the shallow parts of the region's wetlands in the second half of the summer

Current Status of Anserinae Wintering in Azov-Black Sea Region of Ukraine

In the article is analyzed own field data of the authors and scientific publications on the wintering of Anserinae in the Azov-Black Sea region of Ukraine in 1900–2017, but the main data was obtained in frame of international mid-winter counts (IWC) in 2005–2017. It was found that 9 species of Anserinae occur in this region during the different seasons of the year: Anser anser — nesting, wintering and migrating; Rufibrenta ruficollis, A. albifrons, A. erythropus, A. fabalis — migrating and wintering; Branta canadensis, Branta leucopsis, Branta bernicla, Chen caerulescens — vagrant or birds which flew away from captivity (zoo etc.). Eulabeia indica — is possible vagrant species. The most numerous wintering species is A. albifrons, common — Rufibrenta ruficollis, not numerous — Anser anser, the other species are not met annually and registered in a very small number. There was almost tenfold drop in number of wintering geese in the Azov-Black Sea region of Ukraine during the period of counts. The main reasons of such reducing of geese amount are the followwing: weather and climate conditions, changes in the forage acessibility, hunting and poaching pressure, poisoning as a result of deratization of agricultural lands, and from 2014 — the militarization of the Syvash area and stop of water supplying of Crimea through the North Crimean channell. It is likely that the factors mentioned above led to relocating of wintering areas of Anserinae, and resulted in decreasing of their amount in this region

Recent changes in the abundance of Common Pochard Aythya ferina breeding in Europe

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