Berkut. Vol. 6. Is. 1-2. P. 67-69.

 

PHENOLOGY OF AUTUMN MIGRATION OF THE MALLARD IN UKRAINE

 

V.N. Grishchenko

 

Фенология осенней миграции кряквы в Украине. - В.Н. Грищенко. - Беркут. 6 (1-2). 1997. - Данные собраны при помощи фенологической анкеты, использованы также литературные сведения и личные наблюдения. Полученные материалы охватывают период в 25 лет (1970–1995 гг.). Фенодаты группировались по областям. По средним многолетним данным построены карты начала и окончания осеннего пролета. На них выделяются два широких фенологических русла пролета и две области запаздывания. Расположение их во многом сходно на обеих картах. Фенологические русла указывают на размещение основных пролетных путей. Направление миграции к концу пролета смещается больше к юго-западу. Это может быть связано с миграцией в разные сроки двух популяций.

Key words: Mallard, Ukraine, migration, phenology, map, flyway.

 

 

T.P. Shevareva (1968) according do ringing da­ta has identified 9 geographical populations of the Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) on the territory of the former USSR. Ducks of the South population breed in Ukraine. For them con­si­derable season movements are not characteristic. Through Ukraine pass also flyways of the Central population that breeds to the south from the Upper Volga. Its wintering area includes the Balkan Peninsula, northern part of the Azov-Black Sea basin, eastern coast of the Black Sea. A lot of mallards remain to wintering on non-freezing waters on the whole territory of Ukraine. D.A. Scott and P.M. Rose (1996) re­cognized 5 population in Western Eurasia based on the main wintering regions. The territory of Ukraine is in limits of the west Mediterranean population and the Black Sea — east Mediterra­nean population.

 

Material and methods

 

The main material for this article was collected with the help of special pheno­logical questionnaire (Grish­chenko, 1994a). The department of zoology of Kiev univer­sity have been sending it on the all territory of Ukraine since 1975. This work have been carrying out under the direction of Dr. V.V. Serebrya­kov. The literature data (Knysh, 1994; Kri­vit­sky et al., 1996) and own observations were used too. Col­lected there­by dates cover the period in 25 years (1970–1995). They were grouped by regions. For them average dates of start and end of migration were calculated (Table). Phenological maps of migration were built on the ground of these data (Fig. 1, 2). We have used the territorial method of phenological map­ping (Grish­chenko, 1994b). Prominences of iso­phenes on maps show the direction of migration and some its peculiarities. With the help of phenological maps may be re­cognized main flyways of the species (Serebryakov, 1978).

To speak about exact times of start and end of migration of the Mallard is not possible. On one side, movements of males begin already at May and June. On other side, a lot of these ducks winter in all parts of Ukraine. Therefore, following the standpoint by Yu.A. Isakov (1952), we will understand by the autumn migration only the time of passage of the main part of population. Re­cords of obviously wintering birds in December were not con­sidered.

 

Results and discussion

 

First migrating flocks of mal­lards appear already in the first half of September, but in some places the start of passage can be delayed till November. Mean times of the start of migration are end of September — first half of October (Table). The pas­sage ends in different points during the period from end of Sep­tember till end of November and beginning of December. Mean times of the end of migration are end of October — first half of November. Variation of migration times is identical at the start and the end of passage. Average standard de­viation makes accordingly 18,4 ± 0,6 and 18,8 ± 0,6.

 

Область                                      Начало пролета                                                  Конец пролета                             

 

1. Vinnitsa                     37      4.10       3,1      19,1     1.09 – 17.11         54      7.11      2,3       16,9    5.10 – 6.12                              

2. Volynia                      19      6.10       3,9      16,8     6.09 – 29.10         20      4.11      3,6       16,0    25.09 – 2.12                              

3. Dnipropetrovsk        25      5.10       3,2      16,0     5.09 – 14.11         26      28.10   4,0       20,6    17.09 – 30.11

4. Donetsk                     20      28.09     3,9      17,4     3.09 – 2.11           15      7.11      5,1       19,7    5.10 – 3.12                              

5. Zhitomir                    19      26.09     4,7      20,6     3.09 – 13.11         28      30.10   3,9       20,5    25.09 – 27.11

6. Transcarpathian        5        27.09     10,2    22,8     8.09 – 3.11           1         2.12       –          –                 –        

7. Zaporizhzhya            18      5.10       4,6      19,7     2.09 – 10.11         12      8.11      5,0       17,2    10.10 – 29.11

8. Ivano-Frankivsk        16      7.10       4,6      18,3     4.09 – 30.10         18      31.10   3,8       16,0    28.09 – 30.11

9. Kyiv                           26      27.09     3,5      18,1     2.09 – 12.11         34      31.10   3,3       19,2    21.09 – 1.12                              

10. Kirovograd             32      4.10       3,6      20,5     6.09 – 18.11         32      31.10   4,1       23,3    21.09 – 9.12                              

11. Crimea                    17      15.10     5,6      23,1     12.09 – 18.11       7         5.11      7,0       18,6    15.10 – 1.12                              

12. Lugansk                   21      5.10       3,8      17,3     7.09 – 10.11         19      4.11      3,8       16,7    10.10 – 2.12                              

13. Lviv                         29      3.10       3,8      20,3     2.09 – 15.11         37      30.10   2,7       16,7    27.09 – 29.11

14. Mykolayiv               12      4.10       6,8      23,5     3.09 – 22.11         15      28.10   5,2       20,2    1.10 – 29.11                            

15. Odesa                      12      11.10     4,2      14,5     14.09 – 26.10       6         10.11   9,1       22,2    16.10 – 15.12

16. Poltava                    26      30.09     3,0      15,3     4.09 – 28.10         29      2.11      4,1       22,1    23.09 – 6.12                              

17. Rivne                       49      4.10       2,7      18,9     2.09 – 20.11         43      7.11      2,6       17,1    1.10 – 3.12                              

18. Sumy                       35      1.10       2,6      15,5     5.09 – 15.11         50      31.10   2,4       16,7    18.09 – 6.12                              

19. Ternopil                  20      3.10       3,8      17,2     2.09 – 6.11           36      24.10   3,0       18,1    22.09 – 29.11

20. Kharkiv                   17      17.09     2,9      11,9     3.09 – 20.10         11      26.10    6,4       21,2    1.10 – 1.12                              

21. Kherson                  8        6.10       7,7      21,9     9.09 – 5.11           12      6.11      7,0       24,3    29.09 – 1.12                              

22. Khmelnitsky           31      4.10       3,3      18,4     3.09 – 8.11           35      31.10   3,7       21,7    24.09 – 5.12                              

23. Cherkasy                 32      13.10     3,5      19,6     6.09 – 11.11         37      9.11      2,2       13,2    14.10 – 30.11

24. Chernigiv                34      29.09     2,5      14,4     3.09 – 25.10         40      29.10   2,6       16,3    25.09 – 27.11

 

Total:      Всего:         571                                 18,4                                                  628                            18,8 

 

Migration starts and ends unevenly. On phenological maps we see areas with earlier and later times (Fig. 1, 2). They have called phenological streams (Grishchenko, 1994a, 1994b) and lagging areas (Serebryakov, 1979). Two broad phenological streams and two lagging areas are distinguished on maps of migration of the Mallard in Ukraine.  Their disposition is alike on the both maps. Phenological streams show the location of main flyways. In Ukraine they are directed mainly to the south-south-west and the south-west. Till the end of passage the direction of migration displaces still more to the south-west. It may be connected with migration of two populations in different times.

 

 

Fig. 1. Phenological map of the start of autumn passage of the Mal­lard in Ukraine (1970–1995).

Рис. 1. Фенологическая карта начала осеннего пролета кряквы в Украине (1970–1995).

 

1 — isophenes                        изофены;

2 — supposed isophenes         предполагаемые изофены.

 

 

Fig. 2. Phenological map of the end of autumn passage of the Mallard in Ukraine (1970–1995).

Рис. 2. Фенологическая карта окончания осеннего пролета кряквы в Украине (1970–1995).

 

1 — isophenes                        изофены;

2 — supposed isophenes         предполагаемые изофены.

 

The map of Mallard’s populations in the book by D.A. Scott and P.M. Rose (1996) shows that  directions of its flyways in Ukraine have to be in sector from the south to the south-west. The general direction of migration is the south-west. Our phenological maps are well coordinated with these conclusions.

 

REFERENCES

 

Grishchenko V.N. (1994a): Phenological regularities of the bird autumn migration on the territory of Ukraine. - Diss. ... cand. biol. sci. Kyiv. 1-230. (in Ukrainian).

Grishchenko V.N. (1994b): Phenological mapping in the study of bird migration. - Berkut. 3 (1): 30-37. (in Russian).

Isakov Yu.A. (1952): Subfamily ducks. - Birds of Soviet Union. Moscow. 4: 344-635. (in Russian).

Knysh N.P. (1994): Materials on the phenology of the bird autumn migration in the forest-steppe part of Sumy region (according to observations in 1966-1993). - Berkut. 3 (2): 136-140. (in Ukrainian).

Krivitsky I.A., Kalchenko Yu.A., Kalchenko A.Yu., (1996): Birds of ponds of the Pechenigy fish-farm. - Birds of basin of the Seversky Donets. Kharkiv. 3: 17-24. (in Russian).

Scott D.A., Rose P.M. (1996): Atlas of Anatidae Populations in Africa and Western Eurasia. Wetlands International Publication 41. 1-336.

Serebryakov V.V. (1978): Isophenes and flyways of birds. - Second All-union confer. on bird migration. Alma-Ata: Nauka. 1: 23-24. (in Russian).

Serebryakov V.V. (1979): Some phenological regularities of the bird spring migration on the territory of Ukrainian SSR. - Diss. ... cand. biol. sci. Kyiv. 1-259. (in Russian).

Shevareva T.P. (1968): Geographical populations of the Mallard in the USSR. - Ornitologiya. Moscow: Moscow University. 9: 249-269. (in Russian).

 

V.N. Grishchenko

Kaniv Nature Reserve

258300 Kaniv

Ukraine