April 1 is an environmental holiday – International Bird Day. We will celebrate it by publishing notes from our ornithologist, Professor Natalia Lebedeva. In the second half of March, Natalia Viktorovna started the field season, embarking on the first coastal expedition this year to the area of the Kuban floodplains and the Temryuk Bay of the Azov Sea.
The goal of the research was to study bird migrations. Despite the early arrival of spring in the South of Russia, a sharp cold descended from the end of the second ten-day period of March, with temperatures dropping below zero combined with strong winds. At this time, the migration of waterfowl was still ongoing. Migratory flocks of White-fronted and Greylag Geese were also noted. The latter stopped in rice fields; migration of the mute swan, northern shoveler, smew, and other ducks was underway. Flocks of the Common Pochard were noted. Unfortunately, a sharp decline in the numbers of this species is being observed. But there are also good news: for the first time in the last 6 years, flocks of a rare species – the ferruginous duck – were noted, which was discussed in a lecture at the MMBI young scientists conference (link to the proceedings). One hypothesis for the species' population decline is the impact of ecotoxicants (dibenzodioxins and dibenzofurans) on the reproductive behavior of this duck species, which presumably led to the collapse of the population size.
Overall, in the second half of March 2025, the number of birds in the floodplains and the bay was significantly lower than in previous years during the same period. And although the problem with fuel oil pollution was not felt in Temryuk Bay – no dead or oiled birds were found, the coastal zone was clean – nevertheless, the number of grebes was lower than in previous years. This group of birds suffered the most from the fuel oil spill. Another problem that will undoubtedly affect the number of birds nesting in reed beds was the destruction of reed stations over a large area by a major fire. Dead eurasian coots and mute swans were found in the floodplains. Thus, birds are experiencing a complex of negative environmental factors that could have a cascading effect on many species.
Photos by Natalia Lebedeva:
White-fronted Geese
Reed Bunting
Dalmatian Pelicans
Eurasian Oystercatchers
Mute Swans
A pair of Greylag Geese
Greylag Geese in a rice field
Great Black-headed Gulls in a rice field
Great Black-headed Gull
Ornithologist Natalia Lebedeva during fieldwork
