Distribution of the White Stork in the Crimea and some aspects of expansion of the species. - V.N. Grishchenko, E.D. Yablonovska-Grishchenko. - Berkut. 20 (1-2). 2011. - P. 52-64.
The White Stork is a convenient model species for the study of general regularities of bird expansion. The Crimea is a good model area for this aim. History of the appearance of stork nests here is relatively well known. Separate pairs nested in the northern and north-eastern parts of the peninsula already in XIX and XXth centuries. But it was only a pulsation of the breeding range. The nests soon disappeared. The stable breeding has started since late 1970s – early 1980s. We studied the distribution of the species in 2009–2011. In total, 32 occupied nests were registered (all of them were controlled in 2011). Overall number of the White Stork was estimated in 32–35 breeding pairs. It is increasing during last years. The distribution of White Stork in the Crimea is aggregated. There are three large remote breeding grounds in north-western, eastern and south-eastern parts of the peninsula and possible fourth one in the north near Sivash. Such aggregated distribution is typical for the White Stork on the border of breeding range. The separate breeding grounds were found also in Moscow region and many other territories from steppe to taiga. Formation of them is discussed. An other interesting feature: majority of stork nests in the Crimea (46.9%) were located near villages but not inside them. 18.8% of nests were built far from settlements. Only 6.3% of nests were located near houses. First stork nests appeared near paddy-fields and now majority of them are situated in this habitat. But in the newest breeding ground in the South-Eastern Crimea storks are not connected with this culture. Breeding of White Stork in the Crimea is fairly unsteady. The nests can vanish and appear in quite other places. [Russian].
Key words: White Stork, Ciconia ciconia, breeding, number, nest location, aggregated distribution.
Address: V.N. Grishchenko, Kaniv Nature Reserve, 19000 Kaniv, Ukraine; e-mail: vgrishchenko@mail.ru.