INTERNATIONAL WADER STUDY GROUP BULLETIN

Current status of the southern subspeciesof the Whimbrel Numenius phaeopusalboaxillaris (Lowe1921) in Russia and Kazakstan

V. V.Morogov

Morozov,V.V. Currentstatus of the southernsubspecies of the WhimbrelNumenius phaeopus alboaxillarisLowe 1921 in Russiaand Kazakstan. WaderStudy Group Bull. 92: 30-37.

Examinationof museumskins of SouthernWhimbrel showed that the white lower back and short upper tail covertsare the mostreliable diagnostic character. Observations on the specieswere made during expeditionsthat took place in 1996and 1997,and a smallbreeding colony was studied in thefoothills of the Ural mountains.The influencesof agricultureand climate change on the speciesare discussed.

V.V.Morosov, Russian Institute of Nature Conservation(Goskompriroda RF), Znamenskoye-Sadki, Moscow M-628, 113628 Russia.

[Translator'snote: this article was first publishedin Russianin Russkiyornitologicheskiy zhurnal [RussianJournal of Ornithology],Express-issue 34: St Petersburg,1998, pp.3-15. Explanatory notes and translationsof transliterationsin the referencesare givenin squarebrackets. Thanks are dueto Pavel Tomkovichfor checkingthe translation and assisting with themap. Translatedby GeoffreyHarper.]

INTRODUCTION STUDY AREA, MATERIALS AND The southernsubspecies of the WhimbrelNumenius METHODS phaeopusalboaxillaris Lowe 1921 [herecalled Southern We learnedsomething about the currentrange, habitats Whimbrel] occupiesthe steppeand forest-steppezones andbiology of the SouthernWhimbrel during expedi- around the southernend of the Ural Mountains, and is tionsorganised by the RussianBird ConservationUnion oneof the leaststudied species of Palearcticwaders. It in orderto searchfor breedingsites of the Slender-billed was describedfrom specimensobtained on wintering CurlewN. tenuirostris.The work was fundedby groundsin EastAfrica (Kozlova 1962)but itstaxonomic VogelbeschermingNederland, for whichwe expressour distinctnesswas questioned,and sometaxonomists deepgratitude. consideredthat the SouthernWhimbrel merely repre- sentedindividual variation in the nominatesubspecies The field work wascarried out from 10thApril to 10th N. phaeopusphaeopus Linnaeus 1758 (Meinertzhagen June1996, and from 15thApril to 22ndJune 1997. The 1930;Peters 1934; Vaurie 1965). In ourown literature its areacovered in 1996 took in part of WestKazakstan, subspecificstatus is acceptedwithout qualification by from the south-east border of Saratov Oblast in Russia to onlya few ornithologists(Gladkov 1951; Dolgushin the westernborder of AktyubinskOblast in Kazakstan 1962;Kozlova 1962), while othersinclude it in the andthe southof OrenburgOblast in Russia.In 1997 nominaterace (Buturlin 1934; Stepanyan 1990). severalareas were investigatedin Bashkiria,Saratov and ChelyabinskOblasts in Russia,and West-Kazakstan and Numeniusphaeopus alboaxillaris is separatedon the KustanayOblasts in Kazakstan.Optical equipment used basisof measurements,colouring, and distribution.Its consistedof 12x 40 BPTs-2and 10x40'Optolyth' breedingrange is very small,and is restrictedto the binoculars,and 20-60 x 'Optolyth'telescope. The birds steppeareas of Zavolzh'e, Priural'e,Bashkiria, and West were sexedby their behaviour,and by comparingsizes of andNorth Kazakstan (Gladkov 1951; Kozlova 1962). pairedbirds. We regardedthe largerand longer-billed Thereis howeverhardly any real proof of breeding,such individualin eachpair asthe female. Numbersof birds as recordsof nestsor non-flyingyoung. Absolutely were assessedby absolutecounts of nestsand birds nothingis knownabout the nestingbiology of these alarmingnear nestlings within areashaving clear natural Whimbrels. boundaries.The incubationstage of eggswas deter- minedby meansof the water test. 30 Bulb•tin92August2000 INTERNATIONAL WADER STUDY GROUP BULLETIN

Figure 1. The study area

Twenty-sixspecimens of N. phaeopusalboaxillaris, and thesefeathers had scatteredbrownish flecks, while in nine with charactersintermediate between phaeopus and two the flecks on the axillaries were rather numerous. In alboaxillaris,were examinedfor detailsof plumage the collectionat ZM MGU four specimenscan unam- colour. Thesespecimens belong to the collectionsof the biguouslybe assignedto alboaxillaris. Only threeof ZoologicalMuseum of MoscowState University (ZM theseare adult,two havingpure white axillaries.Of nine MGU) andof the ZoologicalInstitute of the Russian specimensin the ZIN collectionregarded as transitional Academyof Sciencesin St Petersburg(ZIN). Thebill to thephaeopus race, three have flecks on the axillaries andtarsus were measuredwith a slidegauge/vernier andupper back, five haveflecks only on the axillaries, caliperto the nearest0.1 mm, the wing andnests with a and one in the Menzbir Collectionhas only isolated ruler to the nearest 1 mm. For diameters of nests and fleckson the axillaries.The lastshould, in my opinion, their cups,two measurementswere made of eachat right be assignedto alboaxillaris. anglesto eachother. Mean valuesare given (+SE). Plumagecolouration on the lowerback and short tail coverts is more consistent: in all birds examined and RESULTS assignedto alboaxillaris,these parts are pure white. Plumage colouring Thus the colouration of the back and short tail coverts is The SouthernWhimbrel is characterisedby pure-white a morereliable identification character for separatingthe axillaries,a white lowerback, and white shortupper tail Southern Whimbrel. coverts. Somespecimens, despite the presenceon the back or axillariesof occasionaldark flecks or blotches, It must be realised that under field conditions the are assignedby expertsto subspeciesalboaxillaris characters described above are difficult to use for (Gladkov1951, Kozlova 1962). identification if the birds are at some distance. It is usuallynot possibleto make a judgementabout the Twenty-twoof theWhimbrel specimens at ZIN are presenceof fleckson the lower back, sinceit canbe seen assignedto alboaxillaris. Our thoroughexamination of only whenthe bird is takingto the air or whenit is flying thesebirds showed that only in threeof them are all the awayfrom the observer.The sameapplies to obtaininga axillariespure white. In therest, either some or all of clearview of the axillaries.In flightNumenius species 31

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flap their wingsrather rapidly, so that it is generally Distribution impossibleto seeat a considerabledistance whether The breedingrange of N. phaeopusalboaxillaris has thereare flecks on the axillaries.In my own experienceit beforenow not been determined even approximately. It is practicablewith binocularsof at leastx 12 magnifica- was formerlyconsidered to includesteppes beyond the tion only at 30 m distanceor less. It mustalso be Volgaand along the River Ural andits tributaries (rivers remembered that the Southern Whimbrel's call is identi- Sakmara,Chagan, and Ilek) eastwardsas far as Kustanay cal with that of the nominaterace, so that it is unreliable (Gladkov 1951) or evento the lowerreaches of the Irtysh for separatingthe subspeciesin the field. andthe mouths of theTobol and Ishim (Kozlova 1962). On thebasis of informationfrom Bostanzhoglo (1911) it Measurementx is thoughtthat to the souththis racewas distributedat It is considered that the Southern Whimbrcl is on leastas far asLake Chelkar (Cholkhar) in West averagelarger than other races (Kozlova 1962). Never- Kazakstan,and northwards approximately as far asthe thelessall quantitativecharacters overlap markedly in all townof Samara(Kozlova 1962). The rangewas based four subspeciesofN. phaeopux.According to Gladkov mainly on summerrecords of the birds:no nestsor (1951)the wing length of five maleSouthern Whimbrcl nestlingswere found,despite the statementby variedfrom 248 to 275 mm, averaging257.4 mm, with Eversmann(1866) that 'in thenorthern Orenburg steppes correspondingfigures for femalesbeing 252-272 and andin the wide steppe-likevalleys of the Urals foothills 259.4 mm. Kozlova(1962) givesthe following data in her it nestsin largenumbers. Its eggsare like thoseof the monograph,based on ZIN material,According to foreign CurlewN. arquata,but significantlysmaller, not so sources(Cramp & Simmons1983), measurements of pointed,and with largerbrown blotches and not so SouthernWhimbrel are as shownin Table2 [mcangiven sharplydefined' (p. 454). More detailedquantitative in brackets].I measured25 specimensof adultNumeniux informationis not given. (skinsat Z1N andZM MGU) assignedto alboaxillarix, for 16 of which the sex was indicated on the label. Some The absenceof documenteddirect evidence indicating of the measurements of these Southern Whimbrcl skins undoubtedbreeding gave Dolgushin (1962) groundsfor are as shown in Table 3. excludingthe Whimbrelfrom the list of birdsbreeding in Kazakstan.This exclusionwas in principleentirely justified,in sofar asbreeding in the steppesbetween the Table 1

males females wing length(mm) 234.0- 271.2 245.0- 263.5 bill length(mm) 73.0- 83.0 79.0- 92.2

Table 2

males females winglength (mm) 238- 278 (259;n-- 15) 249 - 270(259; n = 20) bill length(mm) 73 - 83 (76.8) 79 - 93 (88.3+ 3.89,n=4) tarsuslength (mm) 61 - 62 (61.7) 64 - 68 (65.7+ 1.57,n=4)

Table 3

males(n = 9) females(n = 7) wing length(mm) 239 - 263 (249.3+2.4) 241 - 258 (250.3+2.3) bill length(mm) 75.8- 85.7(81.9 + 0.98) 81.7- 93.3(85.2 + 2.0) tarsuslength (mm) 57.8- 66.1(61.4 + 0.72) 60.0 - 68.0 (63.6+ 0.87)

Differencesin bill andtarsus length are not significant(t = 1.48,P > 0.05 andt = 0.58, P > 0.05 respectively). 32 Bulletin92Afuqust2000 INTERNATIONAL WADER STUDY GROUP BULLETIN riversVolga and Ural, alongthe Ural, andin theTurgay nearthe village of Furmanovoand near Lake Depression(Zarudny 1888, 1897;Bostanzhoglo 1911; Sorshiganak(see Figure 1). Two separatebirds, obvi- Gladkov1951) wasunconfirmed. However, Dolgushin ouslyon passage,were observedon 26th April 1996 at (1962) deniedthe possibility of Whimbrelbreeding in the the edgeof shallowflooding to the northof Lake steppezone, assuming that breedingwas confinedto Sorshiganak.These birds were markedby comparatively sphagnumpeat bogs,and that the southernboundary of light plumage,a somewhatless prominent dark the breedingrange passed through Tyumen', Lake browstripe,and white underwing, which in oneindi- Chernoyeand Tyukalinsk. vidual couldbe seenclearly at a distanceof 25 metres, when it performedthe 'wing-up' display. At the sametime Kozlova (1962) grantedthe possibility of Whimbrelbreeding in the steppesaround Orenburg Eventually,in 1997,a smallcolony ofN. ph. alboaxillaris andSamara, since l•he ZIN collectiofiincludes skins of was discoveredin the steppezone of the SouthernUrals malesand femaleswith broodpatches collected on 7th, foothills,coexisting with Curlews. The Whimbrelwere 16thand 17thJune. Thesecollections date from as early nestingin the valleyof a namelesstributary of theRiver asthe expeditionsof Eversmann(1866) in 1861-62and Maly Kizel on the borderbetween Bashkiria and Karelin(1875) in 1852-68.Examination of theZ1N ChelyabinskOblast (Figure 1). The birdsdisplayed specimensshowed that the broodpatches were most anxietynear the nestand nestlings, and permitted a close clearlydeveloped in individualsobtained on 20th May approach.This alloweddetailed observation of them, 1896in thevicinity of thevillage of Polibinoin the former includingthe underwing.It was clearlyseen through the SamaraGuberniya, in the basinof the River Bol'shoy x 10 binocularsand the x 20-60 'Optolyth' telescopethat Kinel' (Karamzin1901). Only smallbrood patches, the axillariesof somebirds were pure white, while in startingto regress,were present in birdsfrom near othersthey had a few smalldark flecks. The upperback Orenburg.Since these birds were collected in June,they andtail covertswere pure white, thatis, the main suggestthat they were eitheraccompanying part-grown distinguishingcharacters of the birdsin thispopulation brood,or had losttheir offspringand had begun to were entirelyconsistent with the diagnosticcharacters of disperse. the Southern Whimbrel.

The mostrecent mention of findingWhimbrel in the steppezone within Russiais foundin the book by Breedingbiology Ii'ichev & Fomin(1988). Onebird - a malein whichthe Habitat broodpatches had almostdisappeared - was collectedin The Whimbreloccupied the floodplainand adjacent the SouthernUrals on 1st June1974 in the Ulyandy slopesof the valley of a steppestream at the foot of low systemof lakes,and anotherwas a youngindividual foothills of the SouthernUrals, situated south-eastof the collectedon 13thAugust 1974 on the River Belayain KutantauRange. The floodplainwas occupiedby water Bashkiria(in the ZM MGU collection).Subsequently, on meadowsor meadowspartly subjectto flooding,dis- account of the absence of new records in the last 20 sectedby numerousopen drainage channels, the edges years,it cameto be believedthat the steppesubspecies of which are to variousdegrees overgrown with bushes of the Whimbrel had died out, at leastwithin Russia (rose,willow) andyoung trees (birch, willow). The (Sotnikova1992; Belik 1994). However,the Whimbrel meadowsare mainly grass-sedge,since the floodplainis wasdiscovered in 1985 by V.L.Shevchenko& very flat, andwith many depressions.In the lowest- N.V.Slyusar' nesting in WestKazakstan in the Ural valley lying partsof the floodplainare sedgemarshes (Carex northof thevillage of Chapayevoand east of Lake spp) or tussocksof C.caespitosa. On the higherparts Chelkar(Shevchenko et al. 1993). The exactidentity of thereis shortmixed-herb grassland. The slopesof the these Whimbrel was not established,but we assumethat river valley are generallyploughed and occupied by they were alboaxillaris. Unfortunately,the clutches fields of cerealcrops or clover,but thereare alsopatches found were not measured,which raiseda number of of virgin steppe,mostly on the more stonysites. The doubtsabout the species'identification. Our 1996 streambanks are open,covered with low willow scrub expeditionvisited the samesite, but nestingby with wormwood[Artemisia] and Chenopodiaceae.The Whimbrelthere was not confirmed.We sawonly birds streambed and drainage channels are in placesfilled of the nominaterace on passagein considerablenum- with reeds,reedmace [Typha] and otherhydrophytes bers(Morozov 1996). At the sametime Curlew seemed (waterplantain [Alisma], sweet-grass [Glyceria], flower- to be very common:several nests were foundboth in the ing rush[Butomus] and sedges).The floodplainmead- Ural valleyand near Lake Chelkar. ows are usedas private hay meadowsby the inhabitants of the nearestsettlement. The area of the floodplain We encountered alboaxillaris Whimbrel between the meadowsis quiteconsiderable - at least3,000 ha - and riversVolga and Ural in thebasin of theRiver Bol'shoy the fields occupyabout 500 ha; the steppevegetation Uzen', on the Slamikhinski flooded area of this river coversan insignificantarea. 33

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Spatialdistribution and numbers Makatsch(1974) givesaverage measurements for The spatialdistribution of Whimbrelsoccupying the area phaeopuswhich do not overlapthose of alboaxillaris, wasuneven. The left-bankpart of the floodplain,which whereas the extreme measures do in all cases. More was more openand with taller herbvegetation, was used recentreports affirm that there is no cleargeographical only for foraging,by bothCurlews and Whimbrels, but variationin eggsizes (Cramp & Simmons1983). only by a few individuals.Most of the birds,of both species,fed on the rightbank of theriver, mainly within In the neston the floodplainmeadow two nestlings their individualterritories. The Whimbrelsappeared to hatchedbetween 10.00 and 14.00 hours (local solar time) nestaround the edgesof the Curlew area. Like the on 25thMay 1997.The third nestlingappeared on the Curlews,they preferredslightly raised dry placesas nest morningof 26th May before08.00. They donot differ in sites. colourfrom nestlings of therace phaeopus. Bill lengthin the alboaxillarisdowny young was 17.3, 17.4and 18.2 The totalnumber of Whimbrelswas six pairs. They mm, andthe tarsuswas 36.9, 36.0 and 37.8 mm. formedtwo subpopulationsof two andfour pairs respectively,and within eachof thesethe territorieswere Both malesand femalesincubated, although the females adjacentto eachother. Within eachsubpopulation the wereas a rule foundon the nestduring daylight hours. memberswere in constantvisual and auditory contact. Both parentswatched over the nestlingsonce they had The Whimbrels'territories overlapped those of the left thenest. On 26thMay 1997two pairshad nestlings, Curlews,but no interspecificaggression was observed; andthe otherbirds had clutches. All sixpairs of Curlews there was simultaneous/mutual alarm around each in the samearea had nestlings, to judge by their behav- others'nests or offspring. iour.

Nesting DISCUSSION Threenests ofN. ph. alboaxillariswere found. One of The work describedhere resulted in the discoveryof the them was sited on a level meadow of mixed herbs and breedingsite of the stepperace of the Whimbrel. This is grass,partly flooded in spring,in a scarcelynoticeable the only oneknown at present.Judging by the rather depression.On 25th May 1997 in this nesttwo eggs sketchyinvestigation of the steppesbetween the rivers were cracked and two hatched. The other two nests Volga andIshim, it is reasonableto assumethat there are contained,on 26th May, threefresh and four well- othersites. In all probabilityother Southern Whimbrel incubatedeggs respectively. The first of thesenests nestingsites are alsosituated in river valleysof the was locatedin a clovercrop at the upperedge of the steppeand forest-steppe zones of Zaural'e,and possibly floodplain,while the secondwas on a dry mound,on a of Priural'e. Althoughour searchesin KustanayOblast field left from the previousyear, bordering a patchof (Kazakstan)were not successful,it is still possiblethat virgin steppealong the upperslope of the streamvalley. the Southern Whimbrel inhabits similar sites on the The lining of the neston the meadowconsisted of dry TurgayPlateau and in the TurgayDepression. grassleaves. The nestdiameter, cup diameter and cup depthwere 18.5, 12.0 and4.4 cm. The nestin the clover As our experiencehas demonstrated, Numenius is field was in the form of a deeppit in the earth,lined with absentfrom manyplaces with entirelysuitable condi- cerealstraw; its dimensionswere 22.0 x 19.5, 12.5 and 5.5 tions,meaning that the birds'distribution is patchy.The cm respectively.The neston the field wasa fairly discoveryof new nestingsites is very mucha chance massiveconstruction of dry cerealstraw from the affair. Nevertheless,guided by the type of habitat previousyear; its dimensionswere 30.0, 14.5and 4.5 cm preferredby Whimbrels,searches are bestconcentrated respectively.The averagemeasurements of thesenests in the forest-steppezone and the northernhalf of the were23.0 + 2.1 ( n-- 6), 13.0+ 0.4 (n = 6), and4.8 + 0.3 (n -- steppezone. Thereare as yet no groundsfor dismissing 3). We assumethat the clutchcontaining three fresh thepossibility that the SouthernWhimbrel may nestin eggson 26th May was a secondlaying. the dry steppes,but it may be that nestingoccurs in the southernpart of the steppezone only occasionally, The eggswere colouredlike thoseof the nominaterace mainlyin coolerand wetter years. A similarpattern has of Whimbrel:the backgroundcolour in two clutcheswas beennoticed for Curlewsbetween the riversVolga and darkgreen, and in the thirdyellow-brown. The sizesof Ural, wherethe southernboundary of theirbreeding theeggs were (in mm): firstclutch - 59.9 x 42.8, 60.7 x 44.4 rangeshifts 30-60 km in a meridionaldirection according and60.8 x 45.2; second-64.5 x 43.9, 62.7 x 43.2 and63.7 x to the dampnessof the season(Shevchenko et al. 1993). 42.7; third- 58.8 x 42.7, 60.0 x 43.0, 58.6 x 42.7 and57.9 x We think similarconsiderations apply to not onlythe 44.4. The averagemeasures of theseten eggswere: possiblebut alsothe demonstratedfacts of Southern length- 59.56 ( 0.39, largestdiameter - 43.5 ( 0.27. In Whimbrelnesting in the steppesaround Lake Chelkar comparisonwith eggsof thephaeopus race, those of (Bostanzhoglo1911; Shevchenkoet al. 1993). It is 34 alboaxillarisare slightlylarger. In his monograph probablethat the extentof fluctuationin the southern Bulletin92August2000 INTERNATIONAL WADER STUDY GROUP BULLETIN boundaryof the SouthernWhimbrel's breeding range is requirementsare similar to thoseof the Curlew. The different, andcould exceed 100 km. latterhas however a greaterpartiality for dampcondi- tions,so it preferentiallyoccupies meadow habitats. We foundWhimbrels nesting on meadowsand fields of Karamzin(190 l) madea pointof notingthe Whimbrel's cropsadjacent to floodplainmeadows. After the preferencefor river floodplainsand low-lying places in nestlingshad hatchedthe birdsmoved onto the mead- steppe. If theseobservations are correct,the most ows. Unfortunatelythere are no descriptionsin the promisingplaces in whichto searchfor thisextremely literaturegiving a clearidea of the nestinghabitats of rarebird shouldbe floodplainmeadows of steppeand alboaxillaris. Only informationfrom the work of forest-stepperivers, used as pastureor for hay. Karamzin(1901) anda collectedspecimen with brood patchesconfirms that this subspeciesof Whimbrelalso The currentlow numbersand fragmented range of the formerlynested mainly onmeadows along valleys of SouthernWhimbrel may be explainedin partby the steppeand forest-stepperivers, whereas encounters severetransformation of its nestinghabitats. Even a with them in steppehabitats were much rarer. centuryago Karamzin (1901 ) wasdrawing attention to the severedegradation and transformation of open In contrastwith the Curlew, the Southern Whimbrel is herbage-coveredhabitats in the steppeand forest- evidentlya morespecialised meadow species. Although steppein the SamaraGuberniya of his day,resulting from the Curlew alsolikes occupyingmeadows, our observa- the steppebeing ploughedup and overstocked. tions showedthat in the steppezone it equallysuccess- Lavrenko(1980) pointedout that the steppesof the fully settledin fresh-waterand solonchakflooded southernpart of EuropeanUSSR had beenmostly meadows,sandy feather-grass [Stipa] steppes,and ploughedas early as the 18th-19th centuries.In the black-wormwood[Artemisia] associations in complexdry secondhalf of the 20th century,in connectionwith the steppes.More rarelyand at lowerdensity, it occupies developmentof the virgin steppein WestSiberia and virgin feather-grasssteppes on chernozemsand in Kazakstan,the areaof arableland onceagain increased Eurotia semi-desert.Thus, of 19 Curlew nestsfound by massivelyand as a resultmeadows in dry regionswere us in 1996, two were on solonchakPuccinellia meadows alsosubject to severechanges as a resultof agriculture. by lagoons,three on non-salineAgropyron meadows by The drier typesof meadowvegetation, like the steppe, lagoons,two on ordinarywater meadows of river wereploughed for crops. In placesfields in the valleys floodplains,two in feather-grass/fescue[Festuca] of steppestreams come right up to the water or to the steppes,three in feather-grasssteppes on sand,three on steepbank. On the remainingpatches of meadow black-wormwoodassociations of the dry steppe vegetationthe stockingdensity increased drastically, subzone,three in Eurotia semi-desert,and one on a field which increased disturbance and nest destruction from underpotatoes the previousyear. Accordingto Ryabov trampling,which in turnreduced the birds'breeding (1982), in NorthKazakstan the Curlew nests in various success.The mechanisedhandling of the hay alsohad a openhabitats from forest-steppeto semi-desertinclu- negativeeffect on nestsand nestlings. sive. At the sametime the negativeeffects of stockon wader The impressionis gainedthat the two main habitat breedingshould not be exaggerated.It is well known requirementsof this speciesare heightand structureof that in the absenceof grazingthe speciescomposition the vegetationcover, and the presenceof nearbywater and structureof meadowand steppevegetation changes (especiallyimportant in the southof the steppezone). (Pachoski1917; Alekhin 1925; Lavrenko 1940, 1952; As for the vegetation,the mostimportant factor is that it Rabotnov1955, 1974, 1982). With moderategrazing shouldnot be too high, allowingclear observationof pressurethe speciesrichness, numbers and densityof any danger.According to our observationson breedingwaders on meadowpastures is higherthan on floodplainmeadows of tributariesof theRiver Klyazmain areaslacking stock (Morozov 1990; 1995). On unmown Vladimir Oblast,Curlews nested only in partsof the andungrazed meadows in Vladimir Oblast,occupied meadowswith low vegetationwhich was mown or mainlyby tall clumpsof TuftedHair-grass Deschampsia damagedby stock[by grazingand/or trampling] the caespitosa,waders are generallynot seen. Thesetall- previousyear. They neveroccupied meadows which herbmeadows are occupiedonly by YellowWagtails emergedfrom the snowin an unmownstate. Another Motacilla fiava and WhinchatSaxicola rubetra. The importantfactor is the presenceof areaswith relatively situationis similarin the steppes.For example,after the sparsevegetation, which evidently allows more effective creationof the OrenburgZapovednik and the cessation foragingsince the food itemsare moreaccessible. In of grazingwithin it (in the section'Burtinskaya Steppe'), additionthe birdsprefer suchhabitats for their nest the fallow fieldswere overgrownby tall herbcommuni- sites. ties, as a result of which Demoiselle Cranes Anthropoidesvirgo, SociablePlovers Chettusia We suggestthat the SouthernWhimbrel's habitat gregariaand White-winged Larks Melanocorypha 35

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leucopterastopped breeding - speciesof semi-desertand creativediscussions on manyornithological questions. I dry steppes,occupying habitats with low vegetationor thankthe curatorsof the ornithologicaldepts of ZIN requiringthe presence of openground (A.V. Davygora, RAN and ZM MGU - V.M.Loskot and ES.Tomkovich - personalcommunication). for permissionto studytheir collections.

Our work in 1996-97 showedthat in North andparticu- larlyin WestKazakstan, in thezone of marginalagricul- REFERENCES ture(dry steppes),there is still a sufficientlylarge area Alekhin V.V. 1925.Nashipoyemnyye luga (Our of steppehabitats. For instance, according to official FloodplainMeadows), Moscow, pp. 1-122. statistics,in West-KazakstanOblast the arablearea comprises22.1% (Priroda1991). In KustanayOblast Belik V.E 1994. 'Gde zhe obitayettonkoklyuvy thereis morearable, although only in the subzoneof kronshnep?'(Where on earthdoes the Slender-billed mixed-herb/feather-grasssteppe is not lessthan 80% of Curlew breed?,Informatsionnyye materialy Rabochey theland ploughed; the corresponding figure for theturf/ gruppypokulikam, 7: 30-32.[English translation: Wader feather-grasssteppes is 30-40%,and it is insignificantin StudyGroup Bull. 75: 37-38.] the dry rescue/feather-grasssteppe subzone (Ryabov 1982). Thusthe alarmist view of thetotal ploughing-up BostanzhogloV.N. 1911. 'Ornitologicheskayafauna of thevirgin lands and the consequent disappearance of aralo-kaspiyskikhstepey' (Avifauna of the Aral-Caspian mostof the steppepopulations of Curlew(Belik 1994)is steppes),Materialy k poznaniyufauny i flory Ros. notentirely accurate. It is true,probably, only in relation imperii,11: 1-410. to the Curlewpopulations occupying the forest-steppe andnorthern steppes on chernozm.There is no doubt ButurlinS.A. 1934. 'Kuliki,chayki, chistiki, ryabki i that the numbersof this specieshave significantly golubi'(Waders,gulls, auks, sand-grouse and pigeons), declinedafter the virgin lands were ploughed up in these Polnyopredelitel' ptits SSSR, Moscow & Leningrad,1: 1- zones,but it is still not a particularrarity in the southern 254. partof theKustanay steppes (Ryabov 1982; our data). It became clear from our 1996 work that the Curlew is CrampS. & SimmonsK.E.L. 1983.Birds of Europe, West commonnot onlyin the steppesbetween the rivers Africa and theMiddle East: TheBirds of the Western Volgaand Ural but alsobeyond the Uralsas far asthe Palearctic, Oxford Univ. Press,3:1-913. borderofAktyubinsk Oblast (Kazakstan). It is highly polytopic(see above) and widely distributed, and in GladkovN.A. 1951. 'Otryadkuliki' (OrderWaders), generalits situationin thisregion is favourable.Ac- PtitsySovetskogo Soyuza, Moscow, 3: 3-372. cordinglyit is suggestedthat probably one of themain causesof rangereduction and population degradation of DolgushinI.A. 1962. 'Otryadkuliki - Limicolae'(Order the SouthernWhimbrel may be globalclimate change, Waders- Limicolae),Ptitsy Kazakhstana, Alma-Ata, 2: in particularthe increasing dryness of theclimate in 40-245. southernEurope, in WesternSiberia and in CentralAsia duringthe last century. Krivenko (1991) hassuggested EversmannE. 1866. Estestvennayaistoriya ptits that this is the main influenceon changesof rangein a Orenburgskogokraya (Natural History of the Birdsof varietyof bird species.A furtherpossible negative OrenburgKray), Kazan', 3: 1-621. factormight turn out to be changedconditions on the winteringgrounds or at pointsof concentrationwhile II'ichev V.D. & FominV.E. 1988. Ornitofaunai on migration,though this calls for separatespecialised izmeneniyesredy •a primereYuzhno-Ural •kogo analysis. regiona)(Avifauna & Changesto the Environment, exemplifiedby theSouth-Urals Region), Moscow, pp. 1- 248. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The 1996and 1997 expeditions were funded by KaramzinA.N. 1901. 'PtitsyBuguruslanskogo i VogelbeschermingNederland. Simultaneous work in the sopredelnykhsnim chasteyBugul'minskogo, field andconsultation with local ornithologists- Buzulukskogouezdov Samarskoy gubernii i V.L.Shevchenko,EV. Debelo, V.N.Moseykina and Belebeyskogouezda Ufimskoy gubernii' [Birds of V.D.Zakharova- wereinvaluable for the organisationand Buguruslanskiand adjacent parts of Bugul'minski,and successfulcompletion of our searches.We expressour Buzulukskiuezds of Samarskiguberniya and Belebeyski sinceregratitude to S.N.Erokhovand V. EBelik for close uezd,Ufimski guberniya],Materialy k poznaniyufauny i andfruitful cooperation during the expedition and fiory Ros.imperii, 5: 202-394.

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Karelin G.S. 1875. 'Razbor stat'i A.Ryabinina PachoskiI.K. 1917. Opisaniyerastitel'nosti "Estestvennyyeproizvedeniya zemel' Ural'skogo Khersonskoygubernii: Stepi [Descriptionof theVegeta- kazach'egovoyska", izvlechennoy iz knigi ego: tion of KhersonGuberniya: Steppes], pp. 1-366. Materialy dlyageografii i statistikiRossii - Ural •koye kazach'e voysko.2 chasti.Spb. 1866 [Analysisof PetersJ.L. 1934. Check-listof the Birds of the World, A.Ryabinin'sarticle 'Natural products from the landsof Cambridge,Mass., 2: 1-401. the Urals CossackDistrict', extractedfrom his book Contributionsto the Geographyand Statisticsof Russia RabotnovTA. 1955. 'Prirodnyyeusloviyapoym - UralsCossack District. 2 parts.,St Petersburg,1866], evropeyskoychasti SSSR' [Natural conditions of the Trudy S-Peterburgskogoobshchestva floodplainsin the Europeanpart of USSR], Lugovodstvo estestvoispytateley,6.' 1-113. v poymakhrek, Moscow,pp.7-51.

KozlovaE.V. 1962. 'Rzhankoobraznyye.Podotryad RabotnovT.A. 1974. Lugovedenie[Meadow Manage- kuliki' [Plovers.Suborder waders], Fauna SSSR.Ptitsy, ment],Moscow, pp. 1-384. Moscow& Leningrad,2/1 (3): 1-433. RyabovV.E 1982.Avifauna stepey Severnogo KrivenkoV.G. 1991. Vodoplavayushchiyeptitsy i ikh Kazakhstana[Avifauna of the Steppesof North okhrana[Waterbirds and their Protection],Moscow, Kazakstan],Moscow, pp. 1-176. pp.l-217. SintsovR.V. (ed.) (1991) Priroda Ural •'koyoblasti i eye LavrenkoE.M. 1940. 'Stepi'[Steppes], Rastitel'nost' okhrana[Nature of Uralski Oblastand its Protection], SSSR,Moscow & Leningrad,2: 1-265. Ural'sk, 1: 1-149.

LavrenkoE.M. 1952. 'Mikrokompleksnost'i SotnikovaE.I. 1992. 'Kuliki,predlagayemyye k mozaichnost'fastitel 'nogopokrova stepeykak rezul'tat vklyucheniyuvo vtoroye izdaniyeKrasnoy knigi zhiznedeyatel'nostizhivotnykh i rasteniy' RSFSR' [Wadersproposed for inclusionin the 2nd [Microcomplexityand mosaic structure of steppe editionof theRed Data BookofRSFSR], Informatsiya vegetationas a resultof animaland plant activity], Trudy Rabocheygruppy po kulikam,Ekaterinburg, pp. 18-19. Botanicheskogoinstituta AN SSSR,8: 40-70. StepanyanL.S. 1990. Konspektornitologicheskoyfauny LavrenkoE.M. 1980. 'Kharakteristikastepey kak tipa SSSR[Conspectus of the Avifaunaof USSR], Moscow, rastitel'nosti'[Characteristics of steppeas a vegetation pp.1-728. type],Rastitel'nost' evropeyskoy chasti SSSR, Lenin- grad,pp.203-206. ShevchenkoV.L., DebeloP.V., Gavrilov E.I., NaglovV.A. & FedosenkoA.K. 1993. 'Ob ornitofauneVolzhsko- MakatschW. 1974. Die Eier der VogelEuropas [The Ural •'kogomezhdurech ?a' [Avifaunaof theVolga-Ural Eggsof EuropeanBirds], Leipzig: Neumann Verlag, 5:1 - watershed],Fauna i ekologiyaptits Kazakhstana, 468. Almaty,pp.7-103.

MeinertzhagenR. 1930.Nicoll •• Birds of Egypt,London, Vaurie C. 1965. TheBird,' of the PalearcticFauna: a 2: 1-770. SystematicReference, Non-Passeriformes, London, pp. 1- 763. MorozovV.V. 1990. 'Redkiyegnezdyashchiye,ya kuliki poymennykhlugov rek Moskvyi Klyaz'my' [Rare ZarudnyN.A. 1888. 'Ornitologicheskayafauna nestingwaders of the floodplainmeadows of the rivers Orenburgskogokraya' [Avifaunaof OrenburgKray], Moskva and Klyazma], Redkiyevidy ptits tsentra Zap. Iraper.Akad. nauk,57, Appendix1: 1-338. Nechernozem?a, Moscow,pp. 144-149. ZarudnyN.A. 1897. 'Dopolneniyak 'Ornitologicheskoy MorozovV.V. 1995. 'Okhranaptits lugovykhekosistem •[buneOrenburgskogo kraya' [Addendato Avifauna of sredneypolo,y Rossii' [Protectionof birdsof the OrenburgKray], Materialy k poznaniyufauny i fiory meadowecosystems of the centralbelt of Russia], Ros.imperii, 3: 1-142. Problemysokhraneniya raznoobraziya prirody stepnykhi lesostepnykhregionov, Moscow, pp.52-53.

MorozovV.V. 1996. Slender-billedCurlew Surveys in Russiaand Kazakhstan.Unpublished report, pp. 1-24. 37

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