Animal migrations

PATHWAYS OF FLIGHT OF BIRDS ON THE TERRITORY OF KAZAKHSTAN

(literature review, Gavrilov, 1979)

Question of seasonal migrations of birds has interested humans since the time of Aristotle. The accumulation of facts about this phenomenon gradually changed into regular stationary observations and developed with the development of technique (telescopes, binoculars, telescopes, radar installations, artificial satellites, transmitters and others). The biggest breakthrough was the method of mass circle of birds, proposed by H. Mortensen in 1899, and in recent times – the establishment of individual transmitters, which allowed to get accurate information about the movement of individual birds. However, many questions of seasonal migrations of birds remain unresolved.

with the development of science to study the questions of migrations of birds besides ornithologists connected with the scientists, physiologists, bio-physicists, mathematicians, engineers, virologists, parasitologists, ecologists, bio-geoclimatologists and others. Such collisions of birds with airplanes, spread of them by natural epidemic infections, diseases and parasites, which cause diseases in people and household animals, decrease of the number of hunting species and species that are on the verge of extinction.

Kazakhstan occupies a median position in the western part of Asia and is located almost in the center of the Eurasian continent. The main part of its territory consists of desert and steppe zones bordered from the southeast and east by the Tien Shan and Altai Mountains. The largest inland reservoirs are located here – the Caspian and The Aral Sea, Lake Balkhash, and the large rivers Ural, Irtysh, Syrdarya, and Ili flow. Due to its geographical location, Kazakhstan is located halfway between bird nesting sites in Western and partly Eastern Siberia and their wintering in southern Asia and Africa .The first scientific data on the birds of Kazakhstan, when the collection of information on seasonal flights began, appeared at the beginning of the 19th century. For a long time, the study of migrations was random, but they played a major role in further research and have not lost their importance to the present. This refers to the works of N.A. Severtsov (Sewertzow, 1880), P.P. Sushkin (1908) and V.N. Bostanjoglo (1911). This and other information collected later, summarized in the summary "Birds of Kazakhstan" (1960-1974), contained data on seasonal migrations. An analysis of the latter has shown that they have been studied quite fully. Only the species composition, geographical distribution and flight time of birds, and other migration issues are not even touched upon (Gavrilov, 1974).

The initiators of a systematic study of seasonal bird migrations in Kazakhstan Ornithologists from the Institute of Zoology of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR, led by ProfessorI.A. Dolgushin, appeared. In 1956-1958, the flight of birds was observed in the Western In Kazakhstan, in 1959-1963 – in the Dzhambul region, in 1964-1965 – inthe foothills and highlands of the Trans-Ili Alatau, and the research was conductedsimultaneously with other works and was faunal in nature (Gavrilov,1979). In 1958-1962, quantitative countsof waterfowl on the spring flight in Central and Southern Kazakhstan were carried out (Gavrin, 1964), and In 1966, an ornithological hospital for the study of bird migration was established in the foothills of the Western Tien Shan, at the ChokpakPass, which is still in operation. In the spring of 1967, observations were carried out in the lower reaches of the Chu River, in 1973 the springflight was observed in the Dzungarian Gate, in the autumn in the lower reaches of the Urals, in1975 and 1976 in the lower reaches of the Turgai River, in 1974-1976 from Lake Baikal. Alakol to Backpacks, as well as on the Ural River (Gavrilov, 1979). In 1970-1973, data onbird migration in the Aksu-Jabagly Reserve area was collected by B.M. Gubin (2012).

In the spring of the 1970s, starlings,wagtails, larks, swallows, ravens, skates and geese were most numerous in the Dzungarian Gates;sparrows, starlings, ravens, swallows andfinches were in the foothills of the Western Tien Shan; finches and buntings were in the Middle mountains; wagtails were in the lowerreaches of the Turgai River. Larks, starlings, sandpipers, swallows, geese, andgulls; larks, finches, starlings, ravens, and sparrows in the valley of the lower reaches of the Ural River(Gavrilov, 1979; Gubin, 2012). On an autumn flight this during the same period, sparrows,starlings, ravens, swallows and finches are most numerous in the foothills of the Western Tien Shan, and in the Middle highlands - sparrows,swallows, finches, wagtails, thrushes, barnacles, buntings, birds of prey andskates; in the lower reaches of the Turgai River – geese, larks, starlings, wagtails,buntings and finches; Wagtails, finches, starlings andravens are found in the floodplain of the Urals. Thus, both in spring and autumn, passerine birds dominate the main migration routes. However, their quantitative ratiois different.

The distribution of wetland birds in autumn differs significantly from that in springand is associated with the disappearance of river flooding and the drying up of temporary reservoirs., reduction of the area of lakes, rivers, reservoirs, etc.. This reduces the number of placessuitable for feeding and resting and, as a result, increases the concentration of birdson large bodies of water – the Kugaldzhinsky lakes, reservoirs of the Irgizko-Turgaidepression and the Balkhash-Alakol basin, the northern coast of the CaspianSea. The nature of the flight also changes - during the day the birds feed, and at night they fly tothe next stop, but with a sharp cold snap they fly during the day.

In autumn, there is no mass flight of cranes in the south-east of Kazakhstan,since they fly a different way to winter through Tibet and the Himalayas. (Gavrilov, 1977). Birds of prey, on the contrary, form a noticeable concentration in the foothills of the Western Tien Shan and in the valley of the middle stream The Urals (Zarudny, 1888, 1897; Gavrilov, 1979).

Each of the spans is characterized by a specific species composition, Moreover, quantitatively, few groups and species of birds predominate on the flight. The main reasons for dominating and choosing the path are as follows:

The species must have a high abundance, which is determined not onlyby the population density, but also by the size of the range and the nature of the distribution over the territory,depending on favorable conditions for reproduction.
An important factor is the territorial location of nesting sites andwintering grounds. The more distant they are from each other, the higher the concentrationof migrant movements in the intervening territory.
Daily activity of birds. Many species with high abundancemigrate at night, so they fall out of the visible range.
The rhythm of migration activity of birds is not a strict species feature andvaries both during one season and in spring and autumn. (Bolshakov, 1976: Gavrilov, 1979).
Availability of places rich in food and favorable for recreation of certaintypes of specialization. However, exceptions have been noted for a number of places (the valley of the lower reaches of the Ural River,the Atyrau region, and the Dzungarian Gate) (Bostanjoglo, 1911; Khrokov and Gavrilov, 1976; Gavrilov and Khrokov, 1976).
The concentration of some migratory birds is also influenced by geographical factors:flying along reservoirs, skirting mountain ranges, deserts, etc.
Amount of birds registered during visual counts depends on the height of their prolif. It depends on the height of their flight and in most cases it is measured by meteorological conditions, including wind direction and wind strength.

The nature of bird flight directions on the main migration routes in Kazakhtan. The flight is uneven everywhere, in waves: on some days birds do notfly, while on others their numbers are very high. Migrations are most evenly distributed in the Dzungarian Gates and the lower reaches of the Turgai, whilein the foothills of the Western Tien Shan and in the valley of the lower Urals there aremany days with very low numbers of birds. On flat areas Kazakhstan has noticed the relative independence of the migration course from the windsituation. At the same time, there is a clear dependence in the foothills. the intensity of the flight depends on the direction and strength of the wind.Tanya is different. In the spring in At the Dzungarian Gate, it has a northern and southern orientation (Gavrilov, Khrokov, 1976), a number of species use passages in mountain systems separatingKazakhstan is from Central Asia. Migration in the latitudinal direction is typicalfor the valleys of the Ili, Chu and Black Irtysh rivers. Moreover, in the morning, the passageof waterfowl to the east was observed, and in the evening – to the west (Gavrilov, 1968; Samusev,1972). In the foothills of the Western Tien Shan, most migrants fly to thenortheast (Gissov, 1976). In the lower reaches of the Turgai River, the general direction migration in other directions (southern, etc.) is smalland is expressed differently in different groups of birds (Auezov and Khrokov, 1977). Inthe lower reaches of the Ural River, the flight of birds to the north is poorly expressed,movements from west to east and back are more noticeable (Khrokov and Gavrilov, 1976).

In autumn, in the Ili Valley and in the Dzungarian Gate, the flight runs in both easternand western -south-western directions. It is poorly expressed in the lower reaches of the Chu River. Birds fly in transit, as the river, which is full of water in spring, is representedby separate ples in autumn, and most birds follow the south and southeast. In the valley of the The Syr Darya flight goes in the latitudinal direction – to the east (Antipin, 1962; Gavrilov, 1979). In the foothills of the Western Tien Shan, the direction of flight,as in spring, is exceptionally high – to the southwest. In the lower reaches of the Turgai The autumn general direction (south-east, south, south-west) of migrantsis less pronounced than in spring. The predominant path in different species depends onthe geographical location of their nesting sites, wintering grounds, and less often on the shape. the shores of reservoirs. In the lower reaches of the Urals, the southward direction of the autumn flightis more pronounced than in spring, but some species fly west–southwest(Khrokov and Gavrilov, 1976).

The flight is uneven everywhere, in waves: on some days birds do notfly, while on others their numbers are very high. Migrations are most evenly distributed in the Dzungarian Gates and the lower reaches of the Turgai, whilein the foothills of the Western Tien Shan and in the valley of the lower Urals there aremany days with very low numbers of birds. On flat areas Kazakhstan has noticed the relative independence of the migration course from the windsituation. At the same time, in the foothills there is a clear dependenceof the intensity of the flight on the direction and strength of the wind.

Migrations occur unevenly during the day. A number of bird species have a cleartendency to fly only during the day or at night, but most fly in any time of the day. In the foothills of the Western Tien Shan in spring and autumn, a massflight takes place in the morning hours. In the lower reaches of the Turgai, spring migrationsare evenly distributed throughout the day, and in autumn, morning andevening peaks of increased bird activity are clearly marked. In the valley of the Urals, the mostintense flight takes place in the morning in spring, and in the evening in autumn.

Visible bird migrations along the main flight paths in Kazakhstan in both springand autumn occur mainly at altitudes up to 50 m and only in the foothillsThere are significantly more birds flying in the upper air layers of the Western Tien Shan. Continuous clouds, precipitation and fog reduce their height. In a headwind, birds fly lower than in a calm and with a tailwind, but withthe difference in wind strength in the upper and ground layers, theyprefer to fly at altitudes that are not accessible to visualobservations.

The question of how birds make seasonal migrations – along certain pathsthat are clearly geographically limited, or on a wide front – still remains. controversial. They usually make a series of long-distance transit flights, alternating with rest and feeding stops. Taking into accounta number of factors, the same species migrate in a wide front and along certaingeographically defined paths.

An analysis of the directions of the general flight and the results of the ringing showed that the majority of migrants from the eastern and southeastern regions of Kazakhstan fly to India, Pakistan and Southeast Asia (Cambodia) for the winter., Vietnam), whereas from the northern, central and western regions of the republic – to Central Asia, Southern Europe and North Africa. According to the banding data Geographical relations of birds of Kazakhstan with 65 countries have been established (Gavrilov and A. Gavrilov, 2014). Migration routes pass through its territory, aimed at wintering in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East., In Central, South, Southeast, and East Asia (Fig. 1). In spring, some of the migrating birds head to the East European, West Siberian plains, and the Central Siberian Highlands (Fig. 2). The scale of migrations is within Kazakhstan is huge, and millions of birds cross this territory twice a year, so it is quite obvious that it is important to continue and expand research in this area.

Img. 1 Main directions of migration of birds in Kazakhstan: 1-2 Europe; 3-6 Africa, Near East, Central Asia; 7-8 Southeast and East Asia; 9-10 East Asia (Gavrilo, A. Gavrilo, 2014)

Img. 2 Main paths of spring migration of birds in Kazakhstan: 1 – Western European plain, 2 – Siberian plain, 3 – Siberian plains (Gavrilo, A. Gavrilo, 2014)

literature

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Auezov E.M., Hrokov V.V. Spring migration of birds in the lower reaches of the Turgay. 1977. Migration of birds in Asia. New Siberia, 1977. S. 115-121.

Bolshakov K.V. Research on the passage of waterfowl in the lower reaches of the Finny sea. Candidate's dissertation. L., 1976

Bostanjoglo V.N. Ornithological fauna of the Aral-Kazakh steppes. Materials for the study of the fauna and flora of the Russian empire. Part 11. Materials for the study of the fauna and flora of the Russian empire. M., 1911. 11th part.

Gavrilov E.I. Quantitative characteristics of the passage of waterfowl in lower reaches of the Chu (Southern Kazakhstan) // Water resources. Game in the USSR, their reproduction. And use. Part 2. M., 1968. pp. 28-30.

Gavrilov E.I. Migration routes and problems of studying the migration of birds in Kazakhstan. Alma-Ata, 1977, 53 p.

Gavrilov E.I. About the number and migration routes of the Red-crowned Crane and the Red-crowned Crane in Kazakhstan. Alma-Ata, 1979, 252 p.

Gavrilov E.I. Seasonal migration of birds in Kazakhstan. Alma-Ata,1979, 252 p.

Gavrilov E.I., Gavrilov A.E. Main results of the circle of birds in Kazakhstan (1951-2012 years).// Ornithological bulletin of Kazakhstan and Middle Asia. Issue 3. Almaty, 2014. S. 10-25.

Gavrilov E.I., Khrokov V.V. Spring migration of birds in the Jumagaysir fortress. Migrations of birds in the Jumagaysir fortress. Almaty, 1979 252 s.

Gavrin V.F. Ecology of the shilovostka in Kazakhstan. T. Int. zoo. AN KazSSR.,1964, t. 24. S. 5-58.

Gistsov A.P. Migratsii ptits v predgor'yakh Zapadnogo Tiyana v 1973 godu. Miagom, 1976. S. 27-47.

Gubin B.M. Ornithological observations in the Aksu-Djaba-gly nature reserve. Almaty, 2012. 248 s.

Zarudnyi N.A. Ornitologicheskaia fauna Oranburgskogo kraia. Oranburgskii Zoologicheskii Izvestiia, 1888, t.57, ap.1. S. 1-338