Деревенская ласточка (Hirundo rustica) на Камчатке: состояние популяции и история её фенотипического облика

Abstract

The Barn swallow in Kamchatka is a small species with sporadic placement, listed in the Red Book of the region. The phenotypic appearance of the Kamchatka population is mixed with the participation of light- bellied “gutturalis”, red-bellied “tytleri” (more correctly “saturata”) and a noticeable proportion of individuals with intermediate plumage colouration. The history of the finds of village swallows for the entire time of studying the birds of Kamchatka has been restored. From the first half of the XVIII to the middle of the XX century, birds with a more or less intense reddish-red color of the abdominal side of the body were more often noted and hunted (different names were used for them: “tytleri”, “saturata”, “rufa”. “erythrogaster”), and then, including during the first decades of the XXI century, light-bellied (“gutturalis”). There was an impression of a change in the phenotypic appearance of the Kamchatka population of the species, which was noted in the ornithological literature. However, it should be borne in mind that due to the small number of encounters with birds of this species, there is a high probability of a random assessment of the phenotypic appearance of the population due to small samples. In addition, in recent decades, there have been frequent flights (or flights through Kamchatka) of light-bellied individuals belonging to more southern and western races.