Races:
Gallinula chloropus chloropus Linnaeus, 1758

Synonyms

Gallinula chloropus turkestanica Zarudny, 1918
Gallinula chloropus lucida Dunajewski, 1938
Gallinula chloropus vestigialis Clancey, 1939

Description

Numerous, in places common breeding migrant. Inhabits fresh and salty lakes, pounds and rivers with low current, which have reed-beds, reed mace or bush thickets and plots of open water nearby. Arrives in pairs mostly, in end April or early May. Last migrants recorded early June. Breeds in separate pairs, no less than 70-100 m apart. Nest is built on water in reed-bed or bush from dry stems and leaves of different plants lined with green leaves, at 10-15 cm above water. Clutches of 6-12 eggs in May – end June. Incubation lasts 19-22 days. Juveniles hatch in June – early August, and very early begin to independent life. Two broods, repeated breeding after loss of nest is common. Autumn migration begins end August. From northern areas disappears in early October, in southern ones latest birds observed in end October – November.

Distribution

Breeds widely in plain Kazakhstan from southern border to north up to lower reaches of Ilek river, Naurzum, Kurgaldzhino, Shortandy area, Semipalatinsk and Zaysan lake. On migration occurs everywhere. The winter record (31 December 1993) in Aksu-Dzhabagly is known.

References

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