Fauna and population of passerine birds in the lower reaches of the Bolshaya Rechka River (Altai Territory, Bolsherechensky Reserve)

Abstract

The aim of the work is to supplement the current data on the fauna and population of passerine birds on the Nature Reserve "Bolsherechensky", located in the Altai Territory in the lower reaches of the Bolshaya Rechka River. The territory of the preserve is typical for the Verkhneobskiy forest area. One of the primary duties of the Nature Reserve is to protect the habitats of rare and endangered bird species. However, the modern avifauna in the reserve, despite several previous reports, remains underestimated and not sufficiently studied. Our work has been carried out over the spring and summer of 2012, 2013, 2017 and 2021. The number of species was estimated based on their density obtained during the survey, and a point scale was used to describe the species. We concluded that the summer (breeding) passerine bird populations of the Nature Reserve "Bolsherechensky" consist of 12 families and 35 species, while the presence of 15 rare bird species was registered in the Reserve. Our results will enrich the data bank on the fauna and the population of passerine birds of the lower reaches of the Bolshaya Rechka River in the Nature Reserve "Bolsherechensky", which can be used to improve biodiversity conservation measures.

Keywords

• passerines
• population
• number
• altai territory
• verkhneobsk forest area
• bolsherechensky sanctuary