The present study summarizes the data, concerning the historical and the current status of the nesting population of the common crane on the southern margin of its nesting area on the Khmelnytskiy region territory, based on the analysis for 1800–2022. In the chronological plane the common crane is indicated as nesting, migratory (1800–1950), migratory (1951–1980), nesting, migratory (1981–1998), nesting (1993–1994), nesting, migratory (1999–2015). Based on the information presented in the article, as of 2022, the common crane in Khmelnytskiy region is a rare, nesting, migratory bird and common during seasonal migration. The material, presented in the article by the authors over the period of 2000–2022 as part of individual studies, reveals the current state of the nesting, number and some aspects of the nesting ecology. Thus, during the study period, 37 occurences of the species in the nesting season were recorded. The estimated nesting population in the study area accounts 21–25 pairs. Wetland complexes, which have status of the nature reserve fund objects of the local and national importance, where the 72.0–85.7 % of the local pairs of the total population in the region are concentrated. The Maliovanka Regional Landscape Park is of great importance for the protection and conservation of the species, where 60.0–71.4 % of the regional nesting population are concentrated. According to our data (n=34) the common crane individual nesting grounds in the nesting season were found in 3 types of landscape – the marshy banks of the decayed peat mines (39,4 %), transitional mesotron bogs (36,3 %) and swampy forests (mainly alder) in the floodplains of the small forest rivers (Lizne, Hnylyi Rih, Vilia). It has been established that the species has dispersed over the past 20 years in the westerly vector across the entire width of the Male Polissia from the Zhytomyr region towards the Rivne region. This is also confirmed by the findings of the territorial pairs in the last decade in the Male Polissia in Rivne and Lviv regions. It has been established, that the most suitable conditions for the nesting are in the eastern part of the Male Polissia in Khmelnytskiy region, due to the presence of the westland complexes, including the revived older peat mines of the 40–60s of the XX-th century. The presented in this article data may become a starting point for further monitoring and protection of the species.
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