Abstract
Over the past two decades, the range of the desert wheatear has expanded and the species has started breeding in northwestern Kazakhstan. There are, however, almost no studies on the breeding biology of this northwesternmost population. In this paper, we provided data on the breeding biology and space use of the desert wheatear near the village of Isatai, Atyrau Region, Kazakhstan. In 2012–2016, no fewer than 17 breeding pairs bred each year as a dense settlement next to Isatai within a 650 × 470 m plot. The local density was thus 0.55 pairs per ha, and the distance between the neighboring pairs was usually less than 100 m. Such dense settlements seem to be unusual for the desert wheatear in Kazakhstan. We assume that the local features of limited cattle grazing may have caused the formation of this dense settlement. At the same time, the habitat and nest site selections, as well as the breeding phenology, of the desert wheatear in the vicinity of Isatai are generally the same as in southern Kazakhstan (i.e., in the central part of the species’ range).
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors are grateful to the staff of the Ganyushkino branch of the Atyrau anti-plague station and especially to A.A. Bashmakov for help in finding a convenient place to work and for hospitality.
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Matyukhin, A.V., Opaev, A.S. & Davydova, Y.Y. Breeding Biology of the Desert Wheatear (Oenanthe deserti, Muscicapidae, Aves) in Northwestern Kazakhstan. Biol Bull Russ Acad Sci 49, 909–914 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1134/S106235902207010X
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S106235902207010X