NewData about Wintering of Birds of Prey on the Middle Dnipro area

Abstract

Introduction.Monitoring of birds of prey wintering is quite important for measuring their quantity all year round, especially due to climate change. On the studied territory the most interesting is the situation with Common Buzzard. It started wintering at the beginning of the 2000-ies and quickly became the most numerous species among birds of prey.Purpose.The article presents the research data about birds of prey species and quantity in agro landscapes of the Middle Dniproduring the winter periods of 2014-2017, which is a continuation of analogous researches carried out in 2009-2014.Methods.Ten birds’ censuses during three winter periods took place on the territory of Cherkasy and Kirovograd Regions. Censuses were performed on the driving route of 1184kilometers at different landscapes. The main attention was paid to the study of open landscapes(fields, grassland, and meadows) witharoute of 533 kilometers. Results.There were 230 birds of eight species were founded. The Common Buzzard was the most numerous among the calculated birds (58,7% ofthe total number).The second in number was the Rough-Legged Buzzard (27,0%). Other species were rare (Hen Harrier, Goshawk, Sparrowhawk, White-tailed Eagle, Merlin & Kestrel). Two species (Hen Harrier & White-tailed Eagle) are included inthe Red Book of Ukraine.The number of the Common Buzzard and the Rough-Legged Buzzard differed 2-3 times in different winters. It depended on weather conditions. The greatest impact has the snow cover, the increase of which leads to the migration of these birds to more southern regions.Further adaptation of the Common Buzzard to wintering in the Middle Dniprois continuing.In winter, it occurs in settlements, where it hunts on the outskirts of villages andin city parks. This behavior allows you to survive the extreme period in winter without long migration.Originality.Our data supplement the information on the species composition of Birds of Prey, their number, and dynamics in the Middle Dnipro in the winter. The greatest impact to the number of the Common Buzzard and the Rough-Legged Buzzard in the winter period has the snow cover.Conclusions. Further monitoring of the fauna and the number of wintering birds of prey in the Middle Dniprois needed to study the impact of climate change on biodiversity.Key words:Falconiformes, Common Buzzard, wintering, number, Middle Dnipro.