Influence of Global Weather Conditions on Timing of the Spring Migration of Birds in the Kaniv Nature Reserve (Central Ukraine)

Abstract

I studied the effect of North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) on the phenology of spring migration of birds in Central Ukraine. Data for arrival and departure of 92 species collected in 1987 to 2018 were used. The statistically significant correlation was found for 33 (35.9 %) bird species. 50 coefficients were negative (82.0 %) and 11 ones — positive (18.0 %). The majority of relationships have been shown in February (12) and March (22). In April, they became more rarely (5). There was only one significant value for January and May. For 20 species correlations were found with averaged indices including three months (January to March). The relationships with NAO indices were much commoner for the short-distance migrants (63.3 % of studied species) than for birds wintering in tropical and Southern Africa (20.5 %) and the intermediate group (18.8 %). Wintering birds showed 8 significant coefficients in 3 species (42.9 %). Statistically significant coefficients of correlation ranged in absolute values from 0.35 to 0.80. The average absolute values were very close for different groups of species. The overall mean made 0.50 ± 0.01 (n = 61).

Population size and nesting peculiarities of the black-headed gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus (Linnaeus, 1766) on the territory of water treatment facilities

“…Usually, the black-headed gull migrates southward within the country, where it forms winter aggregations. A few birds (75 individuals) were recorded on the Dnipro River near Kaniv on December 25, 2011 (Grishchenko et al, 2013). Since the second half of the 20th century, the majority of black-headed gulls, have wintered in Poland (Tomiałojć & Stawarczyk, 2003).…”

“…In Ukraine, significant fluctuations in the population of black-headed gulls are observed, with large colonies disappearing in certain years, and smaller settlements remaining unstable. (Grishchenko et al, 2013;Fedun et al, 2015;Banik, 2016). In Western European countries, the population is increasing in the areas where birds can feed on anthropogenic food sources such as food wastes in landfills and farms, etc.…”

The MallardAnas platyrhynchosin Slovenia: a review with an estimation of its current population

“…Shallow waters such as the Ormož Basins Nature Reserve, NRŠZ, Medvedce reservoir and Rački ribniki also have peak numbers in August and September, indicating a movement to food-rich sites. Autumn migration of northern and eastern populations reach the peak in October and November (Scott & Rose 1996) and ends in early November or, exceptionally, in early December (Grishchenko 1997). In contrast to Lake Constance (Werner et al 2018), in the Slovenian monitoring data there is a small decrease in numbers in October, most likely due to water discharge from Aquacultures in late October (e.g.…”

“…In Slovenia, summer movements are more evident from the end of July. Mallards have the most prolonged autumn migration of all duck species (Drilling et al 2020), starting in September (Scott & Rose 1996, Grishchenko 1997, one month later than in Slovenia. One of the reasons could be a local movement to larger waters, which explains the increase in numbers at Ormož and Ptuj lakes, where the increase in August cannot be explained only by local breeders.…”

“…Owing to its wide distribution, adaptability, and large numbers, it is a good candidate for various environmental studies. Indeed, it is one of the most studied waterbirds with many studies on urban (Figley & van Druff 1982, Engel et al 1988, Avilova 2018) and feeding ecology (Jorde et al 1983), daily (Shin et al 2016, Yetter et al 2018 and migratory movements (Krementz et al 2011, Kang et al 2014, inter-and intraspecific interactions (Marchowski & Neubauer 2019), toxicology (Friend & Trainer 1974, Plessl et al 2017, virology (Wille et al 2018), endocrinology (Haase 1983), physiology (Gatti 2011, Söderquist et al 2014, phenology (Grishchenko 1997), population dynamics (Janke et al 2017), population regulation (Hill 1984), seed dispersal (Kleyheeg et al 2019), and habitat use (Link et al 2011). Many aspects of breeding have also been studied, such as habitat selection (Fan et al 2017), site fidelity (Clark et al 2005), hybridisation (Sheppard 2018), productivity (Singer et al 2016, Garrick et al 2017, duckling survival (Titman & Lowther 1975, Krapu et al 2006, population recruitment (Kaminski & Gluesing 1987), second (Olsen et al 2003) and replacement broods (Arnold et al 2010), brood size (Zicus et al 2003), adult survival (Boyer et al 2018), brood parasitism (Talent et al 1981) and breeding ecology at the edge of the species' range …”