Current Structure of the Fauna and Features of Bird Distribution in Crimea

Abstract

A list of the Crimean bird fauna is presented to reflect the current state of knowledge and to characterize the status and environmental specificity of the species involved. For the first time, an analysis of the phenological and ecological structure of the Crimean avifauna as a whole is carried out, separately for the mountain and plain parts which support various zoochorological subunits. The special position of foothills as an area transitional between the coastal zone and the forested steppe belt is shown. Based on the literature record and collections available for the territory of the peninsula during the entire period of research (1795–2019), 385 species of birds are listed, including nine found only as fossils. The present avifauna encompasses 320 species belonging to 53 families and 19 orders. Four orders (Passeriformes, Charadriiformes, Anseriformes, Falconiformes) comprise 254 species, or 78.6% of the Crimean avifauna, while the remaining orders contain from one to 13 species each. As regards the ecological structure, limnophiles (42.3%) and dendrophiles (34.5%) dominate, while campophiles account for 11.3%. In distribution, the largest number belong to the group of migrants (252 species, or 79% of the Crimean avifauna), including species the local populations of which are settled (20), nesting-migratory (82), and those arriving for wintering (69). For 197 species (61.8%), nesting has been reliably documented, and a further eight species can be classified as most probably nesting. There are 99 migrant species, of which 17 overwinter and five more do this sporadically. As many as 167 species (52.4%) have been recorded during the winter season, 58 of them being sedentary, 63 species regularly passing the winter, 42 rarely or sporadically doing so, and 31 species occurring only in winter. The summering group includes 45 species, most of which are northern migrants (Charadriiformes, 21, and Anseriformes, five), as well as western Palaearctic ones (four). At least 26 species, as well as probably a further 17, can be assigned to the group of “vagrant birds,” while six species are classified as “nomadic birds.” Features of the distribution of birds over the territory are revealed when comparing the avifauna of various zoochorological subunits. The bird species diversity is decreased both from the plain (97.5% of all fauna) to the mountainous (90.3%) areas of Crimea and from the foothills (89.9%) to the mountain forest belt (53.6%). Within the steppe zone, there are more migrants (242 vs. 218), nesting (159 vs. 128) and nesting-migratory (83 vs. 62) species than in the mountains. At the same time, most of the sedentary species have been recorded in the mountainous area: 31 vs. 18 on the plain. Migrations of birds due to diurnal and seasonal rhythms are known for at least 54 species, but only 23 of them roam the steppe, and 21 species are nomadic in the mountains.