Tomkowch . studies m the Soviet Union

Wader studies in the Soviet Union P.S. Tomkovich

Tomkovich, P.S. 1998. Wader studies in the Soviet Union. International Wader Studies10: 9-12.

A brief descriptionis givenof the developmentof wader studiesin the RussianEmpire, in the USSR,and currentlyin the CIS. Specialwader publications have appeared from the early20th century,but thesebirds only became a subjectof specialstudies since the late 1950s.Growth of interestin wadersin the 1960sculminated in All-Union wader conferencesorganised on an irregularbasis since 1973. In October1987 the Working Group on Waderswas established,which keepsresearchers informed about wader studiesand relevantconservation activities not only in CIS but alsothroughout the world. However,almost no joint projectsare currentlyrunning successfullydue to low activityof theGroup members and their onlypartial interest in .

P.S.Tomkovich, Ornithology Dept., Zoological Museum, Moscow State University, Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street, 6, Moscow 103009, Russia.

TOMKOS•4u,II. C. t998. I4ccaeAosam4• no Kya•aM S COBeTCKOMColo3e. International Wader Studies 10: 9-12.

Observations on waders in Russia, as on in A new wave of ornithologicalresearch began soon general,date from the secondhalf of the 18th after the Second World War, which was associated century.In the courseof numerousexpeditions an with theappearance of the six-volumeBirds of the understandingof their numbersand distribution SovietUnion (Dementiev et al. 1951-54)and with acrossthe boundlessexpanses of the land beganto plansby the Academyof Sciencesof the USSRfor be obtained. This information was collated for the thepreparation and publicationof monographson firsttime at the startof the presentcentury in the the fauna of little-studiedregions. Especially incompletemanuscript Waders of the Russian Empire worthy of notewas the volumeon wadersby O.B. by S.A. Buturlin(1902, 1905). He was the first Kistyakivski(1957) in the seriesFaunas of the Ukraine Russianornithologist who includedwaders and the sectionon wadersby I.A. Dolgushin(1962) amongsthis manyinterests. This period marked in the five-volumeBirds of Kazakhstart. In the post- the start of scientificstudy on wadersin Russia. war yearsup to the middle of the 1960s,the first BesidesButurlin's wide-ranging work, otherpapers nestswere found in the USSRof the Grey-tailed appearedon the AsiaticDowitcher Limnodromus TattlerHeteroscelus brevipes, Long-billed Dowitcher semipalmatusand on the nestingof the Slender- Limnodromusscolopaceus, and PintailSnipe Gallinago billed Curlew Numenius tenurirostris and other rare stenura,as well as of Broad-billedLimicolafalcinellus, waders of western Siberia. However, after the Sharp-tailedCalidris acuminata and BairdsCalidris Socialist Revolution of 1917, the difficult economic bairdiiSandpipers. Articles describing the situationagain resulted in the studyof waders distributionand way of life of Baird's,Curlew C. takingplace only incidentallyduring various ferruginea,Pectoral C. melanotusand Spoon-billed expeditionsto remoteareas. Nevertheless, during Eurynorhynchuspygmeus Sandpipers and of Red- the 1920s and 1930s the first facts were obtained neckedStint C. ruficollisappeared but, asbefore, aboutthe nestingsites and lifestyleof the Great thesetended to containonly generalizationsof Knot Calidris tenuirostris and the Little Curlew materialgathered incidentally in the courseof Numenius minutus, and the first nests were found of broader faunal research. However, it should be the Far EasternCurlew Numeniusmadagascariensis. notedthat from earlytimes Russian faunal studies In addition,Buturlin and L.A. Portenkomade great were morethan mere compilations of listsand an progressin studiesof the geographicalvariation of elucidationof the statusof species,containing wadersin the USSR,almost completing the instead a treasure-house of all sorts of facts about descriptionof new speciesand sub-speciesof the life of birds. Palearctic forms. International Wader Studies 10: 9-12

In the 1950s,works on wadersbegan to appearthat detailedanalyses of themigration in EasternEurope werebased on moreintensive study. Especially of speciessuch as the LapwingVanellus vanellus, worthy of notewas an articleby A.M. Cheltsov OystercatcherHaernatopus ostralegus, Tumstone Bebutov (1950), who discovered that arctic waders Arenariainterpres and Great SnipeGallinago media. encounteredduring summer in Kazakhstanare In 1973-74,headquarters and resourceswere chieflyearly migrants from the tundraand not speciallyallocated and a Co-ordinatingCommittee wanderingimmature birds, or onesbreeding on the setup for dealingwith problemsof migration steppes,as was formerlythought. However,it was and orientationin the country. researchinto morphologythat predominatedat this time. Importantmonographs by E.V.Kozlova (1961, The 1970s culminated in the second All-Union 1962)and K.A. Yudin (1965)in the seriesFauna of the Conference on Waders in 1979, and a third such USSRcomprised not only the fullestreview yet of conferencewas held in October1987. During the information about waders in the USSR, but also a interveningperiod, first discoveries of nestingin the comprehensivemorphological analysis of USSR of Oriental Pratincole Glareola maldivarum and genealogicalhistory (phylogeny) within the group. SemipalmatedSandpiper Calidris pusilia were made and better information obtained on the distribution By the end of the 1960s,a growthof interestin andbiology of severalunder-studied species, wadersamong Soviet ornithologists resulted in includingIbisbill Ibidorhyncha struthersii, Long- morefrequent and detailedpublications, billed PloverCharadrius placidus and Buff-breasted, particularlyones based on ringing. An important Bairdsand Curlew Sandpipers.Of particularnote work of that time is the monographby V.V.Biancki, waspublication of the detailedmonograph by A.Ya. Waders,gulls and auks of the Kandalaksha Gulf (1967). Kondratyevon Thebiology of waders in thetundra of Thanksto both Sovietand foreignwader research, north-eastAsia (1982). the old idea of a dull uniformityin the way of life andbehaviour of wadersgradually changed to Migration researchalso underwent further almostthe oppositeopinion. It becameclear that developmentduring thistime. Concentrated waderspossess a greatvariety of breedingsystems, ringingby ornithologistsat the Universityof a diversityof behaviourinvolving considerable use Krasnoyarskproduced the first interestingresults of displayplumages, and subtleecological concerninglinks betweenthe wadersof south- differencesbetween species. All this,along with the centralSiberia and Australia. Similarly, greatvariety of speciesand the abundanceof many ornithologistsat the ZoologicalInstitute of waders,combined to makethem a modelgroup for Kazakhstanbegan to draw conclusionsfrom the studyinga seriesof generalbiological questions. detailedmigration studies in thatrepublic; so far, Thus,the beginning of the 1970ssaw an increasing informationhas been published for the Red-necked focuson wadersthroughout the whole world. In PhalaropePhalaropus lobatus, Broad-billed the USSR,a new stagein researchon thesebirds Sandpiper,Temminck's Stint Calidris temrninckii and was achieved in 1973, when the first All-Union preparedfor Little StintC. minuta.In addition,the Conferenceon waderbiology was organisedby V.E. RingingCentre of the USSRhas published a Flint. This conference was successful both in summaryof COMECON wader ringingdata showingthat the Sovietstudy on waderswas then (Viksne& Mikhelson 1985). "keepingpace" with elsewhereand alsoin establishingthe basisof a traditionfor such Interestingresults of generalbiological importance conferencesof countrywideimportance. were obtained in several areas. For instance, there were interestingcomparative behavioural studies Despiteno longerhaving a predominantrole, published,such as those of themating and distributional research on Soviet waders continued territorialdisplays in Little RingedPlover to be important in the 1970sin view of the vast size Charadriusdubius and Long-billed Ringed Plover C. of the country.Discoveries in thisperiod included placidus(Panov 1973), and classificationof the first nestsof the JapaneseSnipe Gallinago distractionbehaviour in arcticwaders (Flint 1973, hardwickii,Solitary Snipe Gallinago solitaria, Buff- 1977). Researchby E.I. Khlebosolov(1985, 1986) in breastedSandpiper Tryngites subruficollis and the lowerreaches of the KolymaRiver has SpottedGreenshank Tringa guttifer. Unfixed- demonstratedthe importanceof competitive transect census studies of birds, often in remote interactionsnot only amongstadult arcticwaders areas,also became popular, but unfortunately but alsoamongst downy chicks in theirfirst days of informationgathered on breedingwaders was life. Downychicks, even of closelyrelated species, usuallyincidental and rarelyreflected their true differ in variousecological niches: they tend to use densityand distribution.Breeding biology studies, different micro-habitats, different food and, on notablyof rarespecies and individuallymarked occasion,different methods of hunting. Fromthis it populations,attracted great attention, and A.A. canbe establishedthat the earlypost-hatching Kistchinski(1976, 1978) produced important papers period is oneof the weak links in the life of tundra on the roleof wadersin tundraecosystems. Studies birds,being an importantdeterminant of on wader migrationalso achieved prominence at divergenceamong related wader species. thistime. Thefirst generalreview of resultsfrom Khlebosolovfurther suggests that the territorial wader ringingin the USSRhad beenmade by behaviourof tundrawaders and species M.I. Lebedeva(1957, 1965, 1974), as well as more compositionin an areaare determinedthrough the

10 Tomkowch: Wader studies in the' availabilityof food for downy chicksand the Republicsand no membersat the momentin diversityof micro-habitats. Moldova, nor in the Transcaucasian and Middle Asian states. Despitesuch achievements, participants at the third All-Union WaderConference agreed that the The RGK producesan annualBulletin Information precedingten yearshad seena declinein the Materialsof the Working Group on Wadersin orderto scientificquality of Sovietresearch on waders exchangeinformation within the CIS. This gives relativeto prevailingworld standards.In addition, worldwide news and information about activities in the USSR little examination had been made of relatedto wadersin differentregions in the CIS,as suchtopical contemporary problems as the well as annualringing totals,reviews of some identificationand assessmentof siteswith large importantpublications, outstanding wader records concentrationsof waders,which are necessaryfor and otherdata. An annualgathering and their conservation,the protectionof rare species, publicationof briefinformation about breeding and the quantitativeappraisal of human successof wadersin Russiantundras together with transformationof waderhabitats. In an attemptto data on the statusof lemmingand predator rectifythis situation,the third Wader Conference populationsand arcticweather conditionshas sawthe creationof a WaderStudy Group (RGK) alreadybecame a tradition,and thesedata have underthe auspicesof the All-Union Ornithologists receivedworldwide interest after their publication Societyof the USSR. in the InternationalWader Study Group Bulletin (and are reprintedin Section4 of this volume). Sincethen, the work of organizingthe RGK has beenenergetically pursued: organizers have been In the absenceof a RaritiesCommittee or something selectedto headresearch in differentregions of the similarin the USSRand subsequentlyin the countryand to studyspecific problems and species; majorityof statesof the CIS, the Executive a co-ordinatedprogramme of colour-ringingwaders Committee of the RGK decided to function in this hasbeen planned; a decisionmade to hold wader way. It considersunusual wader recordsand makes conferencesmore regularly; and the first edition of decisions,which are publishedin the Bulletin.The an RGK InformationBulletin prepared. Committee also reconsiders doubtful former records that are scattered in the faunistic literature. An There was a belief that from the moment of the overviewof theseare compiledfor the attentionof a creationof the RGK,a new historicstage in the broaderornithological audience (Tomkovich in study of wadersin the USSR(currently Russia and press). the associatednewly independentstates) had been reached.The RGKwas necessary to bringtogether It has become clear that RGK members do not professionaland amateurornithologists interested participateactively in differentprojects introduced in the studyand protectionof waders. RGK helps within the countryor at an internationallevel. A increasecontact between wader workers, facilitates smallresponse was receivedfor the WSG'sRuffnet the exchangeof informationand encourages andespecially Kentish Plover projects and theonly internationalcontacts. The RGK helpsother successfulsmall internal project to dateis a interestedorganisations obtain data on the Haematopusproject organised by V.S.Sarychev. Due distribution, numbers and other data and to this project,data on the distributionand numbers informationon wadersand in disseminatingideas of Oystercatchersin centralEuropean Russia were on wader conservation.An importantrole for RGK received,which demonstratedthat the populationis is to initiate and co-ordinate those wader studies, endangered,and as a resultit is now confirmedfor whichcan only be undertakenco-operatively using the next edition of the Red Data Book of Russia. the effortsof manyscattered observers. Specialattention was paid to the co-ordinationof Membershipwas freebefore 1993 and as a result180 wader colour-markingin the USSRand then in CIS, members of the RGK were recorded at that time. but the absenceof goodplastics and a low This is a largenumber if onenotes the few amateurs responsibilityof researcherswere causesof in the countryand the small total number of frequentlyoccurring overlaps between different professionalornithologists. But it is still too small colour-markingschemes. However, the situation consideringthe vastextent of the former USSR: haschanged recently (Tomkovich 1996): Darvic is therewere c. 22,000km 2 of the USSRper availablenow thanksto sponsorshipfrom the professional.ornithologist.Russian ornithologists Schleswig-HolsteinWattenmeer National Park,and usuallyare generalistsand do not specialisein involvement with the international WSG's colour- particularscientific fields: there are lessthan 25 mark co-ordination scheme has now become RGK memberswho reallypay specialattention to possiblefor RGK members. wadersin theirstudies. It wasthus not a surprise that aftera membershipfee was introducedthe The establishment of the RGK has facilitated the numberof membersof the RGK droppedby half. organisationof conferencesin the periodof the RGK membersare not distributeduniformly USSR,including the fourth wader conferencein throughthe CIS:most are concentratedin the Donetsk, Ukraine in 1990 and the international Ukraineand centralpart of the EuropeanRussia. OdessaWSG Conferencereported in this volume. Thereare only occasionalmembers from Baltic However,the politicaland economicsituation changedsharply in the early 1990s,and now it is 11 Wader Studies 10: 9-12 difficultto predictwhen the nextmeeting of wader Faunaand ecology of waders. 1: 23-24. Moscow peoplewill be possiblein CIS. Moreoverthe UniversityPubl., Moscow. In Russian. proceedingsof the Donetskconference are not Flint,V.E. 1977. Distractiondisplay: ecological and publishedyet. Nevertheless,possibilities for ethologicalaspects (waders as an example).In: ornithologistsfrom the CIS to collaboratewith Ilychev,V.D. (ed.),Adaptive peculiarities and foreigncolleagues have increased recently and evolutionofbird. s. Pp. 109-119. Nauka, Moscow. In membersjoining expeditions to studywaders in CIS Russian. and throughoutthe world arenow becoming Khlebosolov, E.I. 1985. The territorial behaviour and its common events. relationto the post-nestingecology in sometundra waders. ZoologicheskyZhurna164 (7): 1024-1035.In Since1994 the RGK hasorganized a special Russian. expeditionto south-easternTaimyr, north-central Khlebosolov, E.I. 1986. Food resources of tundra waders Siberia,with financialsupport of the Schleswig- andpeculiarities of theirbehavioural patterns HolsteinWattenmeer National Park, TaimyrNature duringthe reproductionperiod. Zoologichesky Reserveand InternationalArctic Expedition of the Zhurna165(7):1032-1040. In Russian. RussianAcademy of Sciences.The aim of thistrip Kistchinski,A.A. 1976. Populationand biomassof birds wasto comparedifferent census methods for andtheir transformation of energyin subarctic breedingtundra waders and for monitoring ecosystems.Ecology (Sverdlovsk, USSR) 5: 71-78. purposes(Soloviev et al. 1996).Recently the RGK In Russian. have receiveda grant in orderto assistin the Kistchinski,A.A. 1978.Trophic relations between birds collectionof datafrom CIS ornithologistsand to and someinvertebrates in tundraecosystems. publishtwo volumesas a specialpart of the ZhurnalObschej Biologii 39(2): 212-226. In Russian internationalWSG projectBreeding Waders in Europe with Englishsummary. - 2000. Thiswill aid estimationof wader breeding Kistyakivsky,O.B. 1957.Order Waders - Limicolae.In: populationsin the largestpart of EasternEurope. Pidoplichko,I.G. (ed.),Fauna of the Ukraine. Vol. 4. Throughworking for a commonaim, we hopethis Birds: 140-322. Acad. of Sci. of the Ukraine projectwill help to co-ordinatethe work of different Republic,Kiev. In Ukrainian. ornithologistsand thusincrease the RGK Kondratyev,A.Ya. 1982.The biology of waders in thetundra membership. ofnorth-east Asia. Nauka, Moscow.In Russian. Kozlova, E.V. 1961. , suborder Limicolae. Sothe era of the separatedevelopment of sciencein In: Faunaof the USSR. Birds. Vol. 2, issue1, part 2. a closedsociety is finished,and thereare hopes that Nauka,Moscow & Leningrad.In Russian. wader enthusiasts from the former USSR and the Kozlova, E.V. 1962. Charadriiformes, suborder Limicolae. West will enrich each other with their skills and In: Faunaof the USSR. Birds. Vol. 2, issue1, part 3. knowledge.The RGK is planningits importantrole Nauka,Moscow & Leningrad.In Russian. in thisprocess. It is left to expresshopes that in Lebedeva,M.I. 1957.Ringing results of somewader contrast to the nationalistic tendencies of the states species.Archives of the Ringing Office 9: 290-316.In of the formerUSSR, ornithologists will continueto Russian. collaborate on studies and the conservation of Lebedeva,M.I. 1965. Wadermigrations based on ringing waders and other birds, which know no boundaries. data. Ornitologiya7: 328-340.In Russian. The first developmentof RGK activitieshas shown Lebedeva,M.I. 1974. Tothe studyof transcontinental what is possibleby suchjoint working. connectionsof someSiberian waders. Ornitologiya 11: 298-306. In Russian. References Panov,E.N. 1973. Thebirds of south Ussuriland (fauna, biology,behaviour). Nauka, Novosibirsk. In Biancki,V.V. 1967.Waders, gulls and auksof the Russian. KandalakshaGulf. TransactionsofKandalaksha State Soloviev,M.Y., Dementiev,M.N., Golovnyuk,V.V., Pronin, NatureReserve, 6. PublishingHouse of Murmansk. In Russian. T.A. & Sviridova,T.V. 1996. Breedingconditions and numbersof birds at SouthEastern Taimyr, 1994-1996. Buturlin,S.A. 1902. Wadersof the Russian Empire. Issue 1. Tula. In Russian. Finalreport on theWader Monitoring Project at Taimyr. Unpubl.Report, Moscow State University. Buturlin,S.A. 1905. Wadersof the Russian Empire. Issue 2. Moscow. In Russian. Tomkovich,P.S. 1996. The colour-markingof wadersin the CIS. WaderStudy Group Bull. 80: 23-24. Cheltsov-Bebutov, A.M. 1950. On the status of northern Tomkovich,P.S. In press.Some conclusions of the waderspecies in Kazakhstan.Okhrana Prirody 11: 80-94. In Russian. FaunisticCommission of the WorkingGroup on Wadersof the CIS in 1988-1995.Ornitologiya 29. In Dementiev, G.P., Gladkov, N.A., Ptushenko, E.S., Russianwith Englishsummary. Spangenberg,E.E & Sudilovskaya,A.M. 1951-54. Viksne, Ya.A. & Mikhelson, Kh.A. (eds.). 1985. The Birdsof the Soviet Union. Vols. 1-6. Sovetskaya migrationsof the birds of Eastern Europe and Northern Nauka Publ., Moscow. In Russian. Asia: - Charadriiformes. Nauka, Moscow. Dolgushin,I.A. 1962. OrderWaders - Limicolae.In: In Russian. Dolgushin,I.A. (ed.),Birds of Kazakhstan. 2: 40-245. Yudin,'K.A. 1965. Phylogeny and classification of Acad.of Sci.of KazakhRepublic, Alma-Ata. In Russian. Charadriiforrnes.In: Faunaof the USSR. Birds. Vol. 2, issue1, part 1. Nauka,Moscow & Leningrad.In Flint,V.E. 1973. "Chickfeign" as a peculiartype of the Russian. distractiondisplay of waders. In: Flint,V.E. (ed.),

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