Abstract—The Yamskie Islands archipelago is regarded as a key marine bird area of global importance and since 1982 has been part of the Magadanskii Nature Reserve. The first survey of seabird numbers was conducted there in 1974 by A.G. Velizhanin. So far, his data for the Atykan, Baran, and Khatemalyu islands remain the only available information. On August 3, 2016, full photo surveys of the colonies of seabirds on these islands were carried out. The species list of all three islands includes six seabird species breeding in open nests: the Northern Fulmar, Pelagic Cormorant, Slaty-backed Gull, Black-legged Kittiwake, and Common and Thick-billed murres. Breeding of six auklet species in hidden nests and screes was confirmed: the Spectacled Guillemot, Tufted and Horned Puffins, Parakeet Auklet, and Crested and Least Auklets. The total numbers of seabirds nesting on Atykan, Baran, and Khatemalyu islands amount to more than 305 900, 103 500, and 102 000 individuals, respectively. In comparison with the previous counts, the following numerical trends have been noted. Considerable growth in the abundance of the Northern Fulmar on Atykan and Baran islands, the expansion of this species to Khatemalyu Island, and its presently high numbers on this island have been observed. The nesting population of the Black-legged Kittiwake has grown on all islands by more than twice. The abundance of the Pelagic Cormorant, which is the rarest species on the archipelago, has grown on Baran and Khatemalyu islands, which are both located closer to the mainland, with the first nests having already appeared on the most remote Atykan Island. A growing abundance of murres is noted only for Atykan Island. The stable numbers of murres on the small Baran and Khatemalyu islands possibly reflects the maximum saturation of nesting rocks accessible to murres.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Andreev, A.V., Yamskie Islands, in Morskie klyuchevye ornitologicheskie territorii Dal’nego Vostoka Rossii (Marine Important Bird Areas of the Far East of Russia), Artyukhin, Yu.B., Ed., Moscow: ROSIP, 2016, рр. 78–80.
Belopol’skii, L.O., The role of interspecific relationships in the development of coloniality in birds, Zool. Zh., 1956, vol. 34, no. 3, pp. 589–600.
Golubova, E.Yu. and Pleshchenko, S.V., Seabird colonies in the northern part of the Sea of Okhotsk, in Vidovoe raznoobrazie i sostoyanie populyatsii okolovodnykh ptits Severo-Vostoka Azii (Species Diversity and Population State of Semiaquatic Birds of Northeast Asia), Magadan: SVNTs, 1997, pp. 141–162.
Gosudarstvennaya geologicheskaya karta SSSR. Masshtab 1 : 200 000 (GGK-200). List O-56-V, VII, XI, XII (State Geological Map of the USSR, Scale 1 : 200 000 (GGK-200), Sheet O-56-V, VII, XI, XII), 1976.
Khoreva, M.G., Flora ostrovov Severnoi Okhotii (Flora of Islands of the Northern Part of the Sea of Okhotsk Region), Magadan: Inst. Biol. Probl. Severa, Dalnevost. Otd., Ross. Akad. Nauk, 2003.
Kondrat’ev, A.Ya., Zubakin, V.A., Kharitonov, S.P., Tarkhov, S.V., and Kharitonova, I.A., The study of bird colonies on islands Matykil and Kokontse (Yamskie Islands) and Pyagin Peninsula, Byull. Mosk. O-va Ispyt. Prir., Otd. Biol., 1993, vol. 98, no. 5, pp. 21–31.
Lotsiya Okhotskogo morya (Sailing Directions of the Sea of Okhotsk), vol. 2: Severnaya chast’ moray (Northern Part of the Sea), 1986.
Mochalova, O.A. and Khoreva, M.G., Flora and vegetation of Matykil Island (Sea of Okhotsk) and their characteristic features due to the impact of colonial seabirds, Vestn. Sev.-Vost. Nauchn. Tsentra, Dal’nevost. Otd., Ross. Akad. Nauk, 2009, no. 4, pp. 35–47.
Mochalova, O.A. and Zelenskaya, L.A., The vegetation cover and marine colonial birds of Ostrovnoi Cape (Bering Island, Commander Islands), in Biologiya i okhrana ptits Kamchatki (Biology and Conservation of Birds of Kamchatka), Moscow, 2010, vol. 9, pp. 74–81.
Mochalova, O.A., Khoreva, M.G., and Zelenskaya, L.A., The vegetation cover in habitats of puffins on the islands of the North Pacific, in Biologiya i okhrana ptits Kamchatki (Biology and Conservation of Birds of Kamchatka), Moscow, 2006, vol. 7, pp. 107–115.
Velizhanin, A.G., Rookeries on Yamskie Islands, Okhota Okhot. Khoz-vo, 1975, no. 7, pp. 18–19.
Zelenskaya, L.A., Abundance and distribution of birds on the Matykil Island (Yamskie Islands, the Sea of Okhotsk), Zool. Zh., 2009, vol. 88, no. 5, pp. 546–555.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The equipment and financing of the expedition to the Yamskie Islands in 2016 was performed by the administration of Magadanskii State Reserve. The author expresses gratitude to the directorate of the reserve in the person of director Yu.I. Berezhnoi and the deputy director in science I.G. Utekhina. Special thanks are given to the staff of the reserve A.I. Kotyukh and I.V. Uchuev, who took direct part in the conducting of surveys from a motor boat. The author is extremely grateful to his colleagues M.G. Khoreva and O.A. Mochalova (Institute of Biological Problems of the North, Far East Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences) for identifying plants from photographs.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interests. The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Statement on the welfare of animals. This article does not contain any studies involving animals performed by any of the authors .
Additional information
Translated by L. Solovyova
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zelenskaya, L.A. Seabirds Breeding in Open Nests on the Yamskie Islands (Sea of Okhotsk): Numbers and Distribution. Biol Bull Russ Acad Sci 45, 1067–1075 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1062359018090169
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1062359018090169