Морские птицы острова Тайночин (залив Шелихова, Охотское море)

Abstract

The north of the Sea of Okhotsk is one of the least studied areas in Russia's Far East. Tainochin Island (61°48'35"N 159°19'35"E) in the north of Shelikhov Bay, despite its small size, supports a very large seabird colony of seabirds. The first and the only survey of seabird colonies on the island was held back in 1994. In 2017 more than 1000 digital images of colonies were made during a single- day survey (7.06.2017). We used these digital photographs to count seabirds on the island in order to compare the current species composition and numbers with historical data. In 2017, the numerous species were the Common Murre and the Thick-billed Murre (more than 45.5 thousand individuals, two species combined), the Black-legged Kittiwake (more than 13.5 thousand individuals), and the Slaty-backed Gull (more than 1.5 thousand individuals). Common species included the Tufted Puffin (324 individuals) and the Pelagic Cormorant (280 individuals). Rare species embraced the Spectacled Guillemot (13 individuals) and the Horned Puffin (7 individuals). The Parakeet Auklet, observed in small numbers in 1994, was not recorded in 2017. The numbers of the Tufted Puffin may be underestimated, assumingly making about 1.5-2 thousand individuals. The total number of breeding seabirds (more than 61 thousand individuals) might have been stable for decades, despite the relative accessibility of the island to humans. The Common Murre population has slightly declined (from 47K to 44K individuals), presumably due to regular egg harvesting. Simultaneously, there has been an increase in the number of Slaty-backed Gulls and Pelagic Cormorants.