Races:
Chlidonias nigra nigra Linnaeus, 1758

Synonyms

Chlidonias niger

Description

Common breeding migrant. Inhabits fresh lakes, pounds or rivers with slow current covered by surface vegetation, and on sedge marshes rare. In spring arrives in mid-April or May, in small flocks of 8-20, very rare up to 70-100 birds. Breeds in colonies of 10-100 pairs mostly, and in separate pairs very rare. Nest is built on small heaps of dry reed stems or on leaves of water vegetation (water lily, for example) from dry pieces of reed stems and reed mace, at 0.5-2.5 m each of other. Main part of nest is under water. Clutches of 1-4, usually 3 eggs from mid-May until early July. Such long period explained by repeated breeding after loss of clutches (out of Marsh Harrier mostly). Both parents incubate for 14-17 days and care for juveniles, which hatch in mid-June – early July and begin to fly at 20-25 days old. Flying juveniles recorded very rare in end June, mostly in July – early August. Autumn migration early, most breeding areas they leave until end of August, some birds linger up to mid-September.

Distribution

Breeds and occurs on migration in plain Kazakhstan everywhere. Twice, 7-8 June 1976 and 31 August 1978, observed on Markakol’ lake at 1450 m.

References

Gavrilov E. I., Gavrilov A. E. "The Birds of Kazakhstan". Almaty, 2005
Э.И.Гаврилов. "Фауна и распространение птиц Казахстана". Алматы, 1999.