Ecological Groups of Birds Formed Within the Limits of the Yaitskoe Lake Natural Monument (Samara Region)

Abstract

The article analyzes the composition of ecological groups of birds registered within the limits of the Yaitskoe Lake Natural Monument. Yaitskoe includes 9 reservoirs of different sizes formed on the basis of the left-bank arm of the Samara River, which strongly meandered for more than 300 years in the estuary part of the Samara River. The lake is located 200 m from the southern border of Samara and less than 200 m from the Yuzhny Gorod new residential district. It was revealed that the avifauna of the Yaitskoe Lake Natural Monument includes 90 species of birds, of which 3 species are northern migrants, 11 periodically nest here and 76 nest almost regularly. These 90 species are belonging to the following orders: Podicipediformes (4), Ciconiiformes (4), Anseriformes (10), Falconiformes (10), Charadriiformes (8), Lariformes (5), Gruiformes (1), Ralliformes (4), Apodiformes (1), Cuculiformes (1), Columbiformes (2), Strigiformes (3), Coraciiformes (1), Upupiformes (1), Piciformes (2), Passeriformes (33 species). The avifauna of the Yaitskoe Lake Nature Monument can be divided into three (3) ecological groups: aquatic, swamp-meadow and shrub-forest birds, as well as a group of birds of prey associated with different coastal-aquatic biotopes. Aquatic group include: divers (4 species of grebes), aquatic-terrestrial (goose-like and coot — 11 species), aquatic-aerial (gulls and terns — 5 species); swamp-meadow: sandpipers of shoals — 6 species, shanks — 5 species, grass-climbing — 16 species; shrub-forest: ground-dwellers — 4 species, tree-climbers — 20 species, aerial hunters — 6 species; birds of prey include: soaring flyers — 3 species, fly-flyers — 6 species, hawks — 1 species, falcons — 3 species.