Autumn avifauna of the Shokalskiy Island (the Yamal-Nenets autonomous district)
A study of the avifauna was conducted on the Shokalskiy Island in August - October 2008 during the migration season. Out of the 67 bird species ever registered on the island, we recorded 50 species. The survey presented in the article describes the status, phenological features, nesting density, and autumn migration intensity of each species. The breeding status of 24 species was confirmed (the Red-throated Loon Gavia stellata, Black-throated Loon G. arctica, Brent Goose Branta bernicla, White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons, Long-tailed Duck Clangula hyemalis, King Eider Somateria spectabilis, Steller’s Eider Polysticta stelleri, Rough-legged Buzzard Buteo lagopus, Willow Grouse Lagopus lagopus, Rock Ptarmigan L. mutus, Red Phalarope Phalaropus fulicarius, Red-necked Phalarope Ph. lobatus, Little Stint Calidris minuta, Dunlin C. alpina, Pomarine Skua Stercorarius pomarinus, Parasitic Skua S. parasiticus, Long-tailed Skua S. longicaudus, Heuglin’s Gull Larus heuglini, Glaucous Gull L. hyperboreus, Arctic Tern Sterna paradisaea, Snowy Owl Nyctea scandiaca, Horned Lark Eremophila alpestris, White Wagtail Motacilla alba, and Snow Bunting Plectrophenax nivalis). Three more species (the Grey Plover Pluvialis squatarola, Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula, and Turnstone Arenaria interpres) are very likely to breed on the island as we observed either birds of the species in distress or found abandoned nests. The small islands at the southeastern coast of the Shokalskiy Island were grounds for breeding colonies of the Brent Goose, Heuglin’s, and Glaucous Gulls. Gorchakovskiy A. A. (2015) reports breeding of the Temminck’s Stint Calidris temminckii, Curlew Sandpiper C. ferruginea, and Bluethroat Luscinia svecica and presumes breeding of the Pacific Golden Plover Pluvialis fulva and Northern Wheatear Oenanthe oenanthe. The status of some species (the Bewick’s Swan Cygnus bewickii, Red-breasted Merganser Mergus serrator, and Ruff Philomachus pugnax) remains unclear. The number and diversity of birds on the island steadily increased from August to mid-September. The maximum density of birds was recorded in the first half of September. Intensive bird migration was observed in the first and second decades of September. After the snow cover had formed (26-27 September), only gulls, some waders and passerines like Grey Plovers, Dunlins, Sanderlings Calidris alba, Horned Larks, and Snow Buntings stayed on the island. Sandpipers and Horned Larks left on 27-29 September. Heuglin’s Gulls, Glaucous Gulls, and Snow Buntings were the last birds remaining on the island as we recorded a small group of them just before the departure on 4 October, 2008.