UBPRC – Ukrainian Birds of Prey Research Centre

The International Expedition in Eastern Kazakhstan Region (Balkhash Аrea). Part 3.

This post finishes a story about the scientific expedition to Kazakhstan in 2011. Part 1 is available here, Part 2 is here. The period of observations covers the middle of the third decade of May to the middle of the third decade of June

In the third decade of May the Nightjars were already actively displaying. In the evenings a pair of these birds constantly hunted in the camp area, attracted by a huge number of various insects circling in the light of electric lamps. Often, when returned late to the camp, we saw Nightjars well visible in the headlights of the car.

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Photo by S.Domashevsky, May-June 2011.

Once, crossing the bridge across the Ayaguz river, we disturbed a group of White Pelicans. One of these birds had eaten so much fish that couldn’t fly off. To lift in the air it had to regurgitate its catch and only after that was able to fly away. The catch mainly consisted of minnows and some Caspian roaches. There were 395 fishes, with a total weight of 3.2 kg. Fresh and brackish lakes always were full of active bird life. In this period we could observe there up to 8 species of ducks and 13 species of waders.
Some nests of the Long-legged Buzzards were occupied by several pairs of Indian Sparrows. Their nests, similar to those in Ukraine, located among large twigs of the raptor’s construction or were stuck as balls at the margin of interlacement of lower branches of the big nest. Some rocky outputs were occupying with colonies of Rosy Starlings, some of them include over 2,000 birds.

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Сurrent state of the Saker Falcon population in Ukraine

The Saker Falcon (Falco cherrug) − is a rare breeding species of birds of prey, listed in the Red Data Book of Ukraine. Its number has sharply declined in the first half of the 20th century. Then a gradual restoration of the population started in the 1980s, and in the Red Data Book of Ukraine (Milobog, 2009) the bird number was estimated as 250-300 pairs. As a result of the population growth in Europe BirdLife International in 2010 revised the conservation status of this raptor and moved it from the category «endangered» (EN) to «vulnerable» (VU). This fact caused many negative responses of birds of prey experts (see, for instance, articles of O.V.Belyalov, A.V.Moshkin in the journal “Raptors Conservation” (2010)).

The Saker population in Ukraine is extremely vulnerable. Major threats are poaching (includes taking out birds for falconry), inadequate food supply, lack of breeding sites. Therefore, we support a reasonable position to return the status «endangered» for the species.

At the Saker International Conference in Hungary, September 2010, there was presented a report by Yu. V. Milobog and V.V. Vetrov on the current state of population of this species in Ukraine and adjacent territories. As a result of more detailed studies conducted in recent years, the number was estimated as 315-345 pairs. The report is available here:

Milobog Y., Vetrov V. Saker Falcon (Falco cherrug) in Ukraine and adjacent areas // Conservation of the Saker Falcon (Falco cherrug) in Europe – Sharing the results of the life06nat/h/000096 “Conservation of the Falco cherrug in the Carpathian Basin” Project (Bukk National Park Directorate Eger, Hungary, 16-18 September 2010)

Size 40 kB, pdf-file

The International Expedition in Eastern Kazakhstan Region (Balkhash Аrea). Part 2.

This post continues a story about the scientific expedition to Kazakhstan in 2011. Part 1 is available to read here.

The middle of the first decade of May was marked with appearance of first Rosy Starlings. And the Lesser Short-toed Lark and Calandra Larks had first fledglings which become easy and accessible prey for raptors. Just at that period, we began finding first broods of the Houbara Bustard and saw displaying Asian Sparrowhawks in the river valleys of Bakanaska and Ayaguz. During daily field visits it was recorded an increasing number of migratory Sparrowhawks, Merlins, Hobby Falcons, Honey Buzzards and Crested Honey Buzzards. Sites of concentration of rodent colonies (sousliks, Libyan jirds) accumulated immature or not yet started breeding Steppe Eagles, Imperial Eagles, Long-legged Buzzard and Pallid Harriers. First chicks of Long-legged Buzzards started appearing in the nests in the late first and early second decade of May. The Quail could be already seen in mass numbers, and we often observed Pallid Harriers hunting these small Gallinaceae birds.

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Photo by S. Domashevsky, May 2011.

On the river Ayaguz (flowing into Lake Balkhash) water levels began dropping and bars with rapid waters accumulated small fish species rising to spawn. It has lead to concentration of immature Black Storks (13 birds) and White Pelicans (about 200 individuals), as well as dozens of Yellow-legged and Great Black-headed Gulls, Comon Terns. In mid-May we found Great Bustard chicks aged 2-3 days. The plains and valleys of the rivers were full of small passerine birds migrating northward. Just in the river valleys there were found nesting Montagu’s Harriers, and their males often fly away to hunt at the distance up to 5 km from their nesting sites. Lesser Kestrels in the early third decade of May incubated full clutches. Their nests were located in the chimneys of destroyed buildings of an abandoned village. At the beginning of the third decade of May in a saxaul wood there it was revealed the Short-toed Eagle’s nest, located at the height of about two meters, where the female was incubating the full clutch – 1 egg. Our Hungarian colleague, Gabor Papp, birds of prey expert, was lucky to see a young Pallas’s Fish Eagle, which is now extremely rare in Kazakhstan.

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The International Expedition in Eastern Kazakhstan Region (Balkhash Аrea)

During April – June 2011 I had the opportunity to conduct ornithological fieldworks in Kazakhstan. The expedition was organized under support of the International Fund for for Houbara Conservation (IFHC) and participated by representatives of France, UAE, Morocco, India, China, Africa, Hungary, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Great Britain. The main objective was to study the Houbara Bustard (Chlamydotis undulate). At the same time it was collected material for other species of birds. This essay presents the results of observations conducted 14-17 April, and a series of photographs for the first month of the expedition.

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Photo by S. Domashevsky, mid April – first decade of May, 2011

On the 1st of April, 2011 the swift-winged Boeing in 4.5 hours took me from the International Borispol Airport (Ukraine) to the airport of Alma-Ata (Kazakhstan), than it was additional 3.5 hours of waiting and one-hour flight to Shymkent (South Kazakhstan Region). From the airplane window it could be seen snow-capped peaks of the Tian Shan, plain and hilly steppes. Waiting for the arrival of other members of the expedition and setting of the good weather in the eastern part of Kazakhstan, I had to spend 2 weeks in the city. Not to lose time, we conducted ornithological observations with our Belarusian colleagues around the city and in its parks.

On the 14th of April, the procession consisting of 16 crossover vehicles and 10 trailers set off. For 3 days we drove 1440 km, saw a variety of steppe landscapes and mountains, went along the Alatau in 100 km from the Chinese border, and only when it got dark arrived in the Ayaguz district of Eastern Kazakhstan Region.

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International expedition to study the Saker Falcon in the south of Ukraine

31.05-6.06.2011 a joint Ukrainian-Hungarian-Romanian expedition trip to study the Saker Falcon in the south of Ukraine was carried out. The main purpose was to mark Saker’s chicks with satellite transmitters to investigate their It is the first project in Ukraine dedicated to satellite telemetry of birds of prey.

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Photo: M.Prommer, M.Gavrilyuk, V.Vetrov, H.Torok

As we wrote in the previous material, the project aimed at protection and study of the Saker Falcon has been implemented in countries of Eastern Europe since 2007. One of its directions is studying migration of these raptors using satellite telemetry. Generally, over the period 2007-2010 our colleagues marked over 30 Saker Falcons. It was found out that young birds widely roamed over the steppe zone of Eastern Europe: thus, birds born in Hungary often visited the territory of Ukraine. It has lead to the idea of marking birds in Ukraine as well.

Hungarian ornithologists supplied us with 9 satellite transmitters, for which we are sincerely grateful to the project manager Jozsef Fidloczky, and to Saker experts from Bükk National Park Directorate and MME/BirdLife Hungary. Participants of the expedition were Yury Milobog, Maxim Gavrilyuk, Vitaly Vetrov, Vladimir Strigunov, Matyas Prommer (MME/BirdLife Hungary), Hunor Török (Bükk National Park Directorate, Hungary), Szilárd Daróczi (Milvus Group, Romania).
Preliminary, it was planned to mark Saker’s chicks in several regions of Ukraine to clarify differences in directions of their further migration. Besides, we intended marking birds which nest in different places – on cliffs, power line poles and clay precipices (in case of they survive until their first breeding we will be able to find out their fidelity in selection nesting sites).

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Monitoring of the White-tailed Eagle population in the Middle Dnieper area

Monitoring of populations of rare Falconiformes is an important tool to organize protection of these birds. For this purpose we have developed the Monitoring Programme for the Birds of Prey of Ukraine. One of the Programme directions is long-term tracking of the White-tailed Eagle population.

We initiated the monitoring of the White-tailed Eagle population in 1992. That time numbers of this rare raptor in the Dnieper valley just started to restore and a discovery of every nest was a big event. Each year and expedition after expedition the territory of our studies expanded, and the numbers of the White-tailed Eagle also increased. At present, we know approximately 50 breeding sites of the White-tailed Eagle within regions of Chernihiv, Kyiv, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad and Poltava.

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Annual monitoring includes occupation control of known breeding sites, search for new pairs, control of breeding success and productivity, organization of protection for breeding sites.
Results of these studies were reflected in a dissertation (PhD thesis) (Gavrilyuk 2002), and in individual publications (Gavrilyuk, Grishchenko, 1999; Gavrilyuk, Grishchenko, 2000; 2008 etc.). Over the 19 years we tracked 111 breeding cases. It is established that the average breeding success is 74%, i.e. approximately ¼ pairs breed successfully. Mostly the reason of unsuccessful breeding is hard to find out, however we know cases when these eagles did not breed chicks because of forestry activity in their breeding period or human disturbance.

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New issue of journal «Strepet» published

The new number of Stepet journal has been published. – 2010. – Vol. 8, Iss. 2. The journal includes the following publications on birds of prey:

If you would like to purchase the journal please contact the editor Viktor Belik (strepet@raptors.org.ua), in Ukraine – to Yury Milobog (ym@raptors.org.ua).

Results of spring counts in the alienated zone of Chornobyl Atomic Power Station (CAPS) in March 2011

This work continues of our studies of birds of prey fauna in the alienated zone of Chornobyl Atomic Power Station.

The Chornobyl alienated zone always attracts researches with its wild surroundings almost deprived of traces of human activity, and with abundance of various groups of animals and birds. We used a chance to realize our old desire for searching Strigiformes birds in this region, and carried out counts 21 to 25.03.2011.

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For this purpose we applied a well-known method of provoking owls by records of their voices. In forest sites we played voices of the Pygmy and Tengmalm’s Owls, Great Grey Owl, in open areas – those of the Eagle Owl. Records of the Tawny Owl we used only occasionally since the species is numerous in forest areas and frequently responses voices of the above-mentioned owl species.

Information on availability of owls in the alienated zone is very poor. Data on the Great Grey Owl is limited by 6 encounters, mainly in the western part of the zone (Gashchak et al. 2006; Domashevsky 2004; pers. comm. A.V. Yastremsky). A Pygmy Owl was observed in twilight at Belorus border by S.P. Gashchak 30.06.2009 (pers. comm.) In addition, there were several records of the Eagle Owl including a fledgling found nearby the atomic station (Gashchak et al. 2006).

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Results of counts of wintering birds of prey in 2011 in the Central Dnieper area

In January-February 2011 we have carried out counts of birds of prey to monitor their numbers.

The counts covered districts of Cherkasy, Chyhyryn and Kaniv (Cherkasy region), as well as Svitlovodsk district (Kirovohrad region) and Kremenchuh district (Poltava region). Three counts were conducted in agrolandscapes using an automobile. Additive data were received during field visits and excursions in other areas and biotopes.

Results of winter counts of Falconiformes in agrolandscapes of Central Dnieper area in 2011.

Generally, the number of birds of prey in the winter of 2010-2011 was extremely low. Compared with January 2009, when we conducted counts according to the same technique and approximately in the same sites, the number of Falconiformes during the current winter was 4 times lower. The total number was smaller mainly due to the Common Buzzards, which were 6 times less; the count numbers of the Rough-legged Buzzards were 3 times lower. Reduction of the Common Buzzard numbers we connect, primarily, with cold and snowy conditions of the previous winter, when there was mass mortality of these birds from starvation. We assume that a grouping of the wintering Common Buzzards, which had been formed during the last 5-6 years due to reduction of the distance of autumn movements, suffered from a significant “stroke” last winter. Although we agree with Sergey Domashevsky, that populations of raptors in Europe in the breeding season of 2010 were affected with heat and fires, which led to an extremely low breeding productivity, but there is no reason to think that it could brought about the 6 times reduction of the population of the Common Buzzard. Decline in bird numbers on wintering grounds in the Central Dnieper area is also linked with redistribution of birds within the wintering area. Also in the neighboring Kyiv region S. Domashevsky recorded low number of birds of prey during this winter. The number of hawks in our counts is not indicative, since these birds prefer not to stay in agricultural landscapes in winter.
Similar to previous years, the Common Buzzard and Rough-legged Buzzard dominated, their ratio was approximately equal. Except for main counts, the Hen Harrier was once observed. The Merlin was not recorded even once for the whole winter. Thus, we observed 7 species of Falconiformes.

Maxim Gavrilyuk, Alexandr Ilyukha, Nikolay Borisenko, Sergey Nadtochy

Counts and ringing of birds of prey in the north of Ukraine in winter 2011

To carry out monitoring of numbers and ringing of wintering birds of prey we did 5 visits of the areas within Kyiv region in the winter of 2011.

4.01 and 20.02 we visited a dump of solid domestic waste of Kyiv, 24.02 − cattle farm, 27.02 − grain elevator in Boryspil district, and 1.03 − meadows in the vicinity of Kyiv.

On the Kyiv dump of solid domestic waste, located in Obukhiv district, we recorded a large concentration of Corvidae (Rook, Jackdaw), Yellow-legged Gulls and a small number of the Rock Dove (100 birds); overall numbers of birds exceeded 7000 ind. In spite of this, only one individual of the Goshawk was recorded during each visit which is extremely low for such concentration of its prey. The Common Buzzard turned out to be one of common species. But its numbers were not stable – 10 birds during the first visit, and 3 – during the second. There was also recorded one Sparrowhawk.

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