FIRST RECORDS OF NESTING BY THE EURASIAN PENDULINE TIT REMIZ PENDULUS L. IN KARELIA (NORTHWEST RUSSIA)

Abstract

The paper documents the first nesting records of the Eurasian penduline tit Remiz pendulinus L. in Karelia (North-West Russia). Breeding cases were recorded in 2020 and 2021 in the surroundings of Shuya Village, 6 km from the city of Petrozavodsk. Nests were found in areas of small-leaved vegetation in the vicinity of wet abandoned and overgrown farmland. One of the nests found in 2021 contained a clutch of 6 eggs. The stage of embryogenesis indicated incubation interrupted after about a week. Despite the breeding failure, the birds’ nesting for two seasons evidences the prospects for continuing breeding attempts by the Eurasian penduline tit in Karelia. The general dynamics of this species’ penetration into North-West Russia shows that in the course of three decades Eurasian penduline tits in the territory of Saint Petersburg alone have advanced from single breeding cases to forming several colonies with numerous nests. The fact of the Eurasian penduline tit breeding in Karelia indicates a continuous northward shift in the distribution range of this species.